Assassin's Creed

Assassin's Creed from 2007 was the first installment of Ubisoft's series to build its gameplay around observation, stealth, and targeted assassinations within vast recreations of medieval cities. Playing as the assassin Altaïr, the player moved through Jerusalem, Damascus, and Acre, climbed buildings using a free-running movement system, and completed side tasks before proceeding to the main target. The entire story was also framed by a science-fiction plot involving a device called the Animus, through which the modern-day protagonist Desmond Miles relived the memories of his ancestor — this dual narrative went on to become a hallmark of the entire series. The game drew attention at the time particularly for its handling of crowds and cities, though it was criticized for the repetitiveness of the side missions that preceded the main assassinations.

The PlayStation 3 version launched alongside the Xbox 360 release in November 2007, so the two console versions barely differed from each other in content or technically — it was essentially the same game with the same content, just with a different controller button layout. The difference only showed up after launch: trophy support on the PlayStation 3 didn't exist yet at the time, and Sony only introduced it in mid-2008, so PS3 players had to wait for an additional update for the ability to collect trophies in Assassin's Creed, while Xbox 360 players had access to achievements from day one. For achievement hunters, the launch PS3 version was thus an incomplete experience for several months, though this had no effect on the gameplay itself, and the game ran at the same frame rate and resolution on both consoles.

Before the game arrived on PC a year later, both console versions remained the main reference for how Assassin's Creed was meant to look and play — the PC version was accompanied by discussions about its then-controversial copy protection requiring a constant internet connection. The console editions thus retained their reputation for a long time as the most convenient way to enjoy the series without such complications.

Why play it: Anyone wanting to avoid the then-controversial PC protection requiring a constant internet connection found a more convenient, trouble-free way to enjoy the game in the console version.