Assassin's Creed

Assassin's Creed, released in 2007, took place in three historical cities of the Third Crusade - Jerusalem, Damascus, and Acre - where the player, in the role of the secret assassin Altaïr, engaged in tailing targets, stealth, and free movement across rooftops and city walls. Between individual assassinations, the player returned to the present, where a character named Desmond Miles relived his ancestor's memories through a device called the Animus - a framing story that became a defining trait of the entire series. At the time, the game was among the first to show what a truly living virtual city full of crowds, guards, and side quests could look like, though the repetitive structure of those side missions was among the most common criticisms from reviewers.

The Xbox 360 version launched on the same day as the PlayStation 3 version, and in terms of content and graphics both console editions were practically identical, including the same frame rate and resolution. The difference lay in online service support: Xbox Live offered a working achievement system from day one, so Xbox 360 players could earn points for completed challenges from the very start. PlayStation 3 didn't yet have a trophy system at the time - Sony didn't introduce it until mid-2008, and Assassin's Creed only received it via a later update. The Xbox 360 version was therefore, at the moment of release, the more complete choice for achievement hunters, even though this changed nothing about the actual playable content, game length, or difficulty - it really was just a difference in the two platforms' supporting online systems.

Assassin's Creed launched one of the generation's most significant action series on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and a year later also received a PC version, which, however, came with its own set of technical quirks, including a then-discussed anti-piracy protection requiring a constant internet connection. Thanks to this, the console versions maintained a reputation as the more convenient choice for players who wanted to avoid such complications.

Why play it: For players who wanted to avoid the much-discussed anti-piracy protection requiring a constant internet connection on the later PC version, the console version remained the more convenient way to start one of the generation's most significant action series.