Assassin's Creed: Should I play them all? Or skip around?

[Rakewell]

Hello all,

The Steam sale has me thinking.

I played and really enjoyed AC2 and Brotherhood (skipping AC1 altogether) and I want to get back into the series.

Are they all good enough to play in order? Or should I skip to something later? III? IV? Unity?

Or will I miss plot?

Thanks...

Rakewell

 

[cbrunny]

There isn't really much plot to miss, unless you really want to know what happened with Desmond.

I really liked the modern story, disappointed that they don't do it anymore.

AC1 had a very cool modern plot, but if you've already played AC2, you've ruined it anyway lol. I wouldn't worry about it. Altair was pretty awesome though.

Most people suggest skipping AC3, but I loved it. Most people love AC:BF, but I did not.

AC2 and AC2 Brotherhood were excellent games. Highly suggest playing those. The rest, check out reviews and see what interests you. Avoid Revelations if you don't care about the modern story.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

AC2, AC2: Brotherhood and AC4: Black Flag are all must plays. AC1 was OK at the time but AC2 made it completely obsolete. AC: Revelations didn't hold my interest. I never bothered with AC3 because of mixed reviews. Seeing as how you've already done 2 and Brotherhood, I'd skip 1 entirely, and depending on how much of a completionist you feel like, skip Revelations and III as well. But you HAVE to play Black Flag; it's phenomenal.

 

[fixxor]

I've had AC1 forever now and never completed it. My last attempt I got really close but just couldn't drag through it. Climbing the towers just got so old and everything else was so repetitive. I have AC2 and heard that is better, also have AC4 now that I think of it and that seems pretty cool (played it like an hour or so).

 

[futurefields]

wait till they go 75% off

 

[tidy]

.

 

[mmntech]

The first Assassin's Creed just wasn't that good. Even when it was new. Thin characters, boring plot, very repetitive gameplay, and stiff controls. It served as little more than a tech demo for the 360/PS3. Sort of the first time we saw cities modeled in such detail and filled with so many NPCs. Outside that, it's a dull game.

The series came into it's own with Assassin's Creed II, which is a masterpiece IMO.

Play:
-Assassin's Creed II
-Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
-Assassin's Creed: Revelation
-Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Skip:
-Assassin's Creed
-Assassin's Creed III
-Assassin's Creed: Unity

 

[Atomic Playboy]

I don't know why people act like the first Assassin's Creed is somehow obsolete. It has:

1) A completely different story.
2) A completely different setting.
3) Altaïr the badass (vs Ezio is the ponce).
4) Better story if you pay attention to it. AC2's story was a contrived cliché-fest focused too much on that muppet Ezio. AC1's story was driven by more subtle sub plots.
5) The best combat of the first 4 games. After the first game, the combat got too smooth and flashy. Although they carried over most of the mocap from the first game, the new moves they added were too fanciful. As I've said many times, despite having less variety, AC1 combat was raw and visceral and puts the rest of the games to shame.
6) Half decent mouse input. I've only tried the first four games, but aside from AC1, they all have appalling mouse acceleration. AC1 still has pixel skipping, but at least it's playable.

I can see why AC1 might pose a problem for the typical COD-playing ADHD gamer of today, but if you've got the patience, it's well worth playing. I've played the whole thing 5 times, and spent countless hours just messing with guards and exploring the holy land. Unfortunately DX10 mode seems to have got broken somewhere since 2012 (stutters - probably something to do with Nvidia's drivers). The game has a horrible post-processing haze effect everywhere but Damascus, but it's no worse than the upper-screen pseudo-HDR effect in Brotherhood, or that horrible glassy/smoky effect in Revelations.

While I can entertain the idea that UT2004 made UT2003 'obsolete', the idea that AC2 made AC1 'obsolete' is thoroughly absurd.

The other thing that AC1 has is one mission: follow a target here, eavesdrop on a conversation there, pickpocket an item over here, assassinate your target. And then you repeat that exact sequence of events again. And again. And again. And then four more times. And then once more for good measure. It gets SO repetitive. At least AC2 threw in some minigames and other events to mix up the gameplay a little. Oh, now I'm in a carriage chase. Oh, I'm hang gliding around Renaissance Venice, as was the style at the time. Sure, I'll go build up my uncle's summer house, whatever. AC1 was a fine opening act; AC2 polished the whole thing up and made a great game out of it. Which might be why every single professional reviewer called AC2 "an improvement on the original in every way."

I'm not saying that your opinion is wrong; AC1 is a fine game. But your opinion is not shared by many.

 

[master_shake_]

The first Assassin's Creed just wasn't that good. Even when it was new. Thin characters, boring plot, very repetitive gameplay, and stiff controls. It served as little more than a tech demo for the 360/PS3. Sort of the first time we saw cities modeled in such detail and filled with so many NPCs. Outside that, it's a dull game.

The series came into it's own with Assassin's Creed II, which is a masterpiece IMO.

Play:
-Assassin's Creed II
-Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
-Assassin's Creed: Revelation
-Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Skip:
-Assassin's Creed
-Assassin's Creed III
-Assassin's Creed: Unity

this

 

[tidy]

.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

And I'm not saying that the game was perfect, or even better than AC2 on the whole, but there were regressions in AC2 regardless of what any 'professional' reviewers think. Since when have the knuckle walkers that call themselves 'professional' reviewers been sharp enough to pick up on things like mouse acceleration?

Who plays Assassin's Creed with keyboard/mouse? It's made for a controller and it plays like it.

 

[tidy]

.

 

[Sable]

Just play Black Flag, it's great.

 

[Stringjam]

It plays infinitely better on M&K, when the mouse input isn't demented.

I tend to agree. I much prefer the KB/M for these games.

 

[Anomaly1964]

The first Assassin's Creed just wasn't that good. Even when it was new. Thin characters, boring plot, very repetitive gameplay, and stiff controls. It served as little more than a tech demo for the 360/PS3. Sort of the first time we saw cities modeled in such detail and filled with so many NPCs. Outside that, it's a dull game.

The series came into it's own with Assassin's Creed II, which is a masterpiece IMO.

Play:
-Assassin's Creed II
-Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
-Assassin's Creed: Revelation
-Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Skip:
-Assassin's Creed
-Assassin's Creed III
-Assassin's Creed: Unity

Should they be played in that order?

Will the give you all of Enzo's Story?

 

[Anomaly1964]

Amazon has AC 2 Deluxe edition for $5.00!!!

EDIT - Also have Brotherhood Deluxe for $7.50!

EDIT 2 - Revelations for $5.00!

EDIT 3 = Blackflag for $20.00

 

[futurefields]

Black Flag will probably hit 75% on Steam one one of the days

 

[Anomaly1964]

Playing the AC games for the first time, starting off with AC 2 using keyboard and mouse...

Man the controls seem awkward right now, hoping I will figure them out better soon...

 

[Rakewell]

Black Flag will probably hit 75% on Steam one one of the days

It's $20 today... Should I bite or wait till the end of the sale? Has it ever reached 75% off on steam before?

 

[futurefields]

wait

 

[hoorah]

I posted this in the steam sale thread but thought it would be appropriate here.

Whats the DRM status on brotherhood and revelations now? I remember AC2 had some god-awful drm at the time. Do they remove it as the game gets older? What does brotherhood and revelations have if I buy it through steam?

 

[jeffnc]

I found this review helpful.
http://www.usgamer.net/articles/which-assassins-creed-should-i-start-with-a-gateway-guide

 

[Jodell88]

I posted this in the steam sale thread but thought it would be appropriate here.

Whats the DRM status on brotherhood and revelations now? I remember AC2 had some god-awful drm at the time. Do they remove it as the game gets older? What does brotherhood and revelations have if I buy it through steam?

Ubisoft does not remove DRM from their games. I remember with AC1 you had to disconnect from the internet to have a smooth experience, otherwise it froze for a second or two after every kill.

 

[Anomaly1964]

Getting used to the controls finally, just got the white hoodie!

 

[Raduque]

Black Flag is, imo, the best of the series and the only one worth playing. I have played 1, 2, 3, Black Flag and I'm giving Unity a try. I liked Black Flag so much, I own it on 360, PC and X1!