10 Games That Drew Inspiration From Assassin's Creed
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Caitlin Johnson
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re looking at games that have taken a LOT of inspiration from “Assassin’s Creed” over the years. We’re not saying any of these are great – in fact, many are some of the greatest games of all time – but they definitely wouldn’t have been the same without “Assassin’s Creed”.
“Mafia III” (2016)
The first two “Mafia” games were heavily inspired by “GTA” and remain widely beloved. The third entry, however, wasn’t as well received. Hangar 13 took the criticism that people wanted “Mafia II” to be longer and have more side content to heart and approached “Mafia III” by loading it up with territories to take over and side missions to complete, feeling very similar to “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate” - but also to even older games, like “Rogue”, which had a similar gang/territory system. It also pulled from “Assassin’s Creed” in another key way: the entire story sees Lincoln Clay systematically targeting and assassinating members of the Italian mafia, to seize control of the city.
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor” (2014)
One of the greatest “Lord of the Rings” games ever made, “Shadow of Mordor” never really hid its influences. Its third-person combat drew heavily from the “Arkham” games, which we’ll be talking about soon, but it also had a parkour system and towers you can fast travel between. Although, interestingly, it wasn’t until 2013’s “Black Flag” that Ubisoft had the idea to let you fast travel between viewpoints. But we can’t forget that the thing that set “Shadow of Mordor” apart from other games, its nemesis system, was soon adopted through the mercenary system of “Assassin’s Creed Odyssey”. That was until 2021 when Warner Bros. finally got its patent through. So much for give and take.
“The Saboteur” (2009)
What if there was an “Assassin’s Creed” set during the Second World War, with players tasked with helping the French Resistance? Wonder no more, because we’ve had a game just like that since 2009. “Unity” only gave us a small taste of a wartime “AC” in one of its rift missions, where Arno climbs the Eiffel Tower and guns down enemy planes. But “The Saboteur” is an entire game like that, with players working to undermine the Nazis from within and liberate the city – generally by assassinating people. Later “Assassin’s Creed” games definitely adopted this formula more, but “The Saboteur” also included a very similar parkour system. Unfortunately, though the game is great, it didn’t sell well, and Pandemic was shut down by EA.
“Days Gone” (2019)
The first of numerous first party Sony games on this list, “Days Gone” was pretty popular with everybody who played it – which, unfortunately, wasn’t enough people for Sony to take a chance on a sequel. While “Days Gone” has a much more human story than “Assassin’s Creed”, which has become increasingly preoccupied with its demigod protagonists, the two games are very similar when you look at the way the open worlds are designed. “Days Gone” also has a settlement system in which Deacon works to earn the favour of the people living there. This is a little like the side missions Connor undertakes to build up the Davenport homestead in “Assassin’s Creed III” – but easily, “Days Gone” did it better.
“Batman: Arkham” series (2009-)
A lot of core elements of the “Arkham” games actually appeared in “Assassin’s Creed” first. Only one “AC” game existed at the time “Arkham Asylum” released, with “AC II” releasing three months later, but the inspiration is clear in one key area: detective vision. Though the “Arkham” games are often credited with developing this now-ubiquitous game mechanic – with everyone from Arthur Morgan to the characters in “Watch Dogs” having it – it appeared as eagle vision in “Assassin’s Creed” first. Later in the series and “Arkham” would draw even more from “Assassin’s Creed” by having Batman take out forts full of enemies in “Arkham Knight”, for better or for worse. And, of course, there’s the heavy stealth focus.
“Saints Row IV” (2013)
Of all the games that should draw from “Assassin’s Creed”, “Saints Row” probably isn’t one of them. And, indeed, “Saints Row IV” was the series’ most unpopular game until the 2022 reboot. Originally intended to be a DLC parodying alien invasion movies and “The Matrix”, “Saints Row IV” didn’t need to be a full game, and it ended up full of bloat. This mainly consisted of territory takeover missions as big sections of the map – or, simulation – are liberated by the Boss. How do you liberate the map, you ask? By climbing up huge towers and synchronizing those viewpoints, of course! Not that any non-“AC” game would be bold enough to use the word “synchronize” to describe a game mechanic anymore.
“Shadow of the Tomb Raider” (2018)
While “Tomb Raider” is a much older series than “Assassin’s Creed”, and highly influential in its own right, it reinvented itself with the reboot trilogy. These games are definitely more inspired by “Uncharted” than “Assassin’s Creed”, but the final entry in the trilogy goes heavy on the stealth. It’s actually got even more complex stealth than “Assassin’s Creed”, with Lara able to cover herself in mud to blend into walls and go prone to sneak. And, of course, she can do stealth takedowns. She’s also looking for legendary historical artifacts, though the use of MacGuffins pre-dates the entire medium of video games; these artifacts DO have devastating effects, though, much like Pieces of Eden.
“Horizon Zero Dawn” (2017)
A lot of “Assassin’s Creed” tropes reappear in “Horizon Zero Dawn” and its sequel. Aloy’s Focus provides her with a version of detective vision; there’s third-person action gameplay with a limited array of weapons; she has to scale Tallnecks to hack them and unlock the map; and, crucially, she’s piecing together what happened to a long-lost, precursor civilization. That civilization is humanity, not a race of ten-foot-tall gods with magical apples, but she still spends an awful lot of time having the plot delivered to her via holograms from the past – just like how the Isu communicate with humans in the future. They’re practically the same game when you look at it that way.
“Skull and Bones” (2024)
The only Ubisoft game on our list, maybe it’s a little cold to describe “Skull and Bones” as a knock-off since it was originally intended to be a quick, easy, multiplayer spin-off from “Black Flag”. But it’s not an official “AC” game and it’s more shameless than most, taking over ten years to develop a worse, more limited version of “Black Flag” that had already been beaten by “Sea of Thieves” years ago. Even more shocking was Ubisoft calling it the company’s first quadruple-A game and then trying to charge $70 for it. If you played it, you know that it was neither quadruple-A nor worth all that cash, and Ubisoft has now squandered all the goodwill it built through “Black Flag’s” best-in-show naval combat.
“Ghost of Tsushima” (2020)
Sucker Punch was already drawing heavily on “Assassin’s Creed” in its older games, with “Infamous: Second Son” having a lot of Ubisoft-style base and territory takeover missions. But “Ghost of Tsushima” is the most “AC”-like non-“AC” game out there. It’s got parkour, fun melee combat, a historical setting, an open world, and a core game mechanic of tracking down and assassinating targets. With “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” on the horizon, we’re sure to see this influence reversed, with Ubisoft now taking inspiration from everything Sucker Punch did to improve upon this now decades-old formula. We doubt that “Shadows” will have a black-and-white filter, though.
Let us know in the comments which game you think is the most like “Assassin’s Creed”.
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