Aroni, G., Bregni, S., McDonald, H., 2019.
Assassin's Creed (Series)
| Output Type: | Chapter in a book |
| Publication: | Learning, Education & Games: 100 Games to Use in the Classroom & Beyond |
| Brief Description/Editor(s): | Schrier, K. |
| Publisher: | Carnegie Mellon University ETC Press, Pittsburgh, PA |
| ISBN/ISSN: | 9780359984015 |
| URL: | doi.org/10.1184/R1/10557950.v1 |
| Volume/Issue: | 3 |
| Pagination: | pp. 32-38 |
The Assassin's Creed (AC) series is one of the most successful video game series (Gaudiosi, 2014).
Currently (as of April 2018), the series comprises ten narrative-driven standard game chapters, each
covering different chronological eras and locations, with a narrative arc that spans from Ptolemaic
Egypt (the most recent entry) through the Holy Land at the time of the third Crusade; Renaissance
Italy; the Americas in the Colonial Era; and the French Revolution. Gameplay is centered on openworld
exploration, collecting hints and evidence and gathering or delivering information. The
narrative centers on two secret societies, the Assassins and the Templars, who have been at war over
the total control of humankind. The player engages in a quest to recover ancient "magical" artifacts called "Apples," which the Templars covet for their plans to take control of the world. When asked
how students might use AC as a learning tool, the development team at Ubisoft explained that each
game "does contain a Database of historical places, people and events which expands and fills out as
the player proceeds through the narrative and explores the world. [Players might] stop after each story
sequence and read as much of this Database as they can. It's well researched and full of information,
and apart from a few entries specific to Assassin's Creed, it's all historically accurate" (McDonald and
McDevitt, 2017).
