7 settings & time periods Assassin's Creed needs to visit after Mirage
Assassin’s Creed is quite the globetrotting series, having taken players to all corners of the world, as well as a plethora of different time periods. Whether you’re more interested in swashbuckling your way through the era of Caribbean pirates or prefer to take a walk on the historical side through the peak of Ancient Greek civilisation, there’s something for everyone in Assassin’s Creed.
Well, almost everyone. Despite 14 entries in the mainline series, there’s still plenty of history for Assassin’s Creed to insert itself into, further expanding the lore of the long-running battle between the Templars and the Hidden Ones.
As such, here are eight settings and time periods that we think the Assassin’s Creed series needs to visit after Mirage.
Ancient Roman Empire
Click to enlargeDespite Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood taking place within Rome itself, and Odyssey taking place during the height of conflict between the Romans and the Greeks, there hasn’t yet been a game that focuses directly on a Roman protagonist.
What’s more, plenty of the deeper Assassin’s Creed lore is already based upon Roman mythology, with key figures from the Isu precursor race borrowing names from Roman gods: Juno and Minerva, for example.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and by extension Mirage, are already exploring how the Isu tie into the world’s wider mythology, so it seems as though a game set in the Ancient Roman era would fit in rather nicely with the current slate of periods.
The upcoming Assassin’s Creed Hexe is touted to be set during the Witch Trials of the Roman Empire, but those took place in the early 1600s (yes, the Holy Roman Empire did in fact last that long). While this will certainly sate our appetite for some Roman action, it’s not quite the Ancient twist we’d like to see from the series.
Tudor England
Click to enlargeYes, Assassin’s Creed has technically visited England twice now with both the Syndicate and Valhalla instalments taking place in our homeland - but what’s one more outing, eh?
Anyone who grew up in England will likely be well-stocked with knowledge of the Tudor era of British history, given it was a mandatory study topic for basically everyone over the age of 12 in our education system. As such, you’ll know that there’s a wealth of history packed into a few short decades that Assassin’s Creed could have a lot of fun with.
Of course, there’s Henry VIII and his six wives, of which there’s so much drama that an entire musical has spawned based on its dramatic events. There’s also the intermittent conflict between England and Spain, which vaguely relates to why Britain now claims Gibraltar. Looking further north, there’s also the rivalry between Scotland and England, with scope to explore how the Jacobite movement came to be with key figures such as Bonnie Prince Charlie and Mary Queen of Scots.
Trust me, a lot can happen in 100 years, and it’s all rife for exploring through the lens of Assassin’s Creed.
Modern Day
Click to enlargeListen, hear me out here - I know everyone bangs on about how much they hate the modern-day sections of Assassin’s Creed. However, I’m firmly of the opinion that these sections are mostly dull because they aren’t given time to breathe, and they take time away from the main historical setting that’s far more fleshed out.
Ubisoft has spent the last 15 years cultivating an Assassin’s Creed universe that stems from the modern era, all branching out from the invention of the Animus. With plenty of established characters and any modern-day city to choose from, there’s plenty of scope for Ubisoft to flesh out a modern-day Assassin’s story.
The Watch Dogs games are already halfway there. Just swap out the hacking theme for one that involves a bit more stabby action and jumping off tall buildings and you’re golden.
Inca Empire
Click to enlargeAfter 15 years of Assassin’s Creed, South America is one of the very few continents that remains untouched by the series. It’s about time we got some jungle exploration in Assassin’s Creed, and where better to start than with the Inca Empire?
With 300 years to choose from between 1200 and 1533 AD, there’s a wide timescale for Ubisoft to choose from here in an era of history that’s seldom explored in Western media. What’s more, the gorgeous vistas of South America lend themselves well to the gorgeous visuals that Ubisoft’s art teams usually conjure up.
And of course, that jungle locale would certainly lend itself well to the tree parkour system that’s been left mostly unused since the days of Assassin’s Creed 3 and 4. The stars are all certainly aligned on this one.
Mongol Empire
Click to enlargeAlthough we’re finally getting two full-fledged Assassin’s Creed games set in the East with Jade and Red, we’d still like to see an Assassin’s game that explores the Mongol Empire. Following the warlord Genghis Khan on his quest to conquer as much of Asia as possible, we can see plenty of potential for an interesting plot here.
Posing as either one of Khan’s mercenaries or even going up against him as an opponent could serve as the framing to an excellent Assassin’s story in another area of history that’s rarely explored in gaming.
World War II
Click to enlargeAssassin’s Creed Unity gave us a brief glimpse of what World War II could look like in Assassin’s Creed during a short flashback (or forward?) sequence. It certainly piqued our interest, which is why we’d love to see an entire entry during the time if possible.
Of course, World War II didn’t get its name from being situated in just one location. There are numerous theatres of war that Assassin’s Creed could choose to recreate, perhaps switching between multiple as the story progresses. We can see plenty of potential in exploring a Nazi-occupied Berlin, with the same going for London during the Blitz, or Moscow under the rule of Stalin.
There’s no doubt a tale of espionage to be told here, especially since it’s not a huge step to see the Templars having a hand in causing the global turmoil in the first place.
British Raj
Click to enlargeThis is unlikely to be news to most, but the British were pretty big on the whole ‘colonialism’ thing back in the day. So much so, that there was a period between 1858 and 1947 called the British Raj, when the British Crown ruled on the Indian subcontinent.
This area of history was explored briefly in a chapter of Assassin’s Creed Chronicles, but it would be fantastic to explore this period more extensively in a fully-fledged mainline game. Much like the Inca Empire, India is home to some stunning scenery and dense cities - plenty for the team at Ubisoft to work into an attractive setting for an Assassin’s game.
Those are all the places and periods we can think of that would suit a mainline entry in the Assassin’s Creed series. It may well be that Ubisoft decides to visit these in future releases - if so, we only claim that we manifested it right here at GGRecon.
For more Assassin’s Creed guides, be sure to check out our homepage. We recently got a glimpse at the protagonist for Assassin’s Creed Red in new concept art, plus we’ve ranked all of the main-line games from worst to best.
