The Making of Assassin’s Creed 15th Anniversary Review

The Making of Assassin’s Creed 15th Anniversary Review

“Nothing is true, everything is permitted.”

Returning to form in a rather decadent and celebratory way, Assassin’s Creed Mirage was released to consoles and PC on October 5th, with breath-taking reviews all the way around and minimal bugs to report. For those that have had the opportunity to play the game, you’ll notice the opening credits have a special 15th anniversary trailer commemorating the popular assassins that have come up through the years and lit the torch that put Ubisoft on the map as one of the most unique and dynamic developers in gaming history.

Assassin’s Creed has been my go-to title since the original release back in 2007, following the twelve previous main games since, not including any horrible versions or spin-off titles you might have played on Nintendo. Never again, Ubisoft, please! The most recent being Assassin’s Creed: Mirage and Valhalla. So it is my distinguished pleasure and certainly my esteemed honor to highlight a review of The Making of Assassin’s Creed 15th Anniversary Art Book, published in collaboration with Dark Horse Books and Ubisoft Entertainment, which was released back in June of this year.

“Thank you to all the Assassin’s Creed players and fans across the world. It is with your support that we have been able to continually raise the bar and challenge ourselves to create rich and innovative experiences year after year. We dedicate this book to you.”

The art book is an impressive collection of distinguished game environments and game art that built the careers of game designers and artists around the world. The book itself is broken into seven chapters that cover almost thirty pages of extensive written interviews in the back. With over 240+ pages, the art book comes in two formats. The standard edition is for the sentimental but simple collector who wishes to celebrate the iconic history of the conflict between the templars and the assassins.

This standard edition retails for about $49.99 if you choose to go direct, so if you’re looking for a bargain, I would try eBay, wait for a holiday, and hope your local bookstore has a 25% discount sale. The deluxe edition is a gorgeous collectors-only homage to the stone-cold fans of the award-winning franchise. I’m talking for those fans who have every collector’s edition Assassin’s Creed game complete with those awesome 49″ PVC dioramas and patches, including the recently announced Assassin’s Creed Mirage Limited Collectors Edition.

(*If you’d like to hear Shohreh Aghdashloo, the voice of master assassin Roshan, and Lee Majdoub, the voice of Basim, unbox Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Limited Collectors Edition alongside Art Director Jean-Luc Sala, then hit that hyperlink.)

The deluxe edition features an exclusive hardcover, a one-of-a-kind protective slipcase, and a folio containing up-scaled lithographic prints. This pristine edition retails for $99.99, tax notwithstanding, but in the eye of the beholder to lovers of the creed like me—worth it! One of my favorite assassins to ever grace the annals of Creed history was Assassin’s Creed III, which featured Connor, aka Ratonhnhaké:ton, and started what chapter three describes as the Kenway Dynasty.

I remember back in college, I wrote an analysis for a game writing class on Corey May‘s narrative work on Assassin’s Creed III, and that’s where I really fell in love with the franchise. The narrative design of these titles really is life-changing for these developers because of the immersion into the history and depth of the story, which is immortalized in the almost-collected entirety of this art book. Or at least that is the hope of Assassin’s Creed veteran Marc Alexis Cote, Vice President and Executive Producer of the franchise, who’s been behind the scenes since before Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. He had this to say in the book.

“As we shaped the course of the franchise over its fifteen years, Assassin’s Creed also changed us. As this book dives into the history of the franchise, I hope it helps you appreciate all the passion and challenges that go into creating something that is loved by millions of fans throughout the world.”

From the beginning, when Assassin’s Creed was just a Prince of Persia reboot, to the stunning Ezio trilogy that changed the face of game design, open-world gaming, and game environment art, this astonishing art book covers it all. Details about the first civilization, artifacts, and even deep dives into Abstergo are proof the effort contained in the art book can only be compared to the games it has developed for its ever-growing fan base these last 15 years and counting.

I’m taken aback by some of the character art, layouts, and environment designs. We even get to dig a little deeper into the failed attempt at giving Assassin’s Creed multiplayer, which was fun, but we all knew it wasn’t necessary. From the forgotten Assassin’s Creed: Embers short film that ended an era to the minute look into logo designs, this is absolutely not just for fans and collectors, but for those who’d like to study what these incredible developers have done over the decades-long franchise.

My all-time favorite is the last chapter, which features an extensive breakdown of the various transmedia spin-offs and series Assassin’s Creed has had in between the various main titles. Book series like Assassin’s Creed: Last Descendants and Assassin’s Creed: Fragments. While characters like Shoa Jun, who debuted in the embers short film and the 2.5 game Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China, get much coverage, her story was focused outside of the main game titles in things like mobile app games and the manga Assassin’s Creed: Blade of Shao Jun.

At every level of development, this art book literally lays out the foundation of how, why, and what it took to go into these projects that became the characters whose journeys we got to experience through our perceived animus. The only things that the art book really doesn’t give extreme details on are its toys and merchandise, but it does acknowledge its existence within the realm of all that it already has to offer.

In the scope of what art books aim to be, this is the most passionately engrossed volume of design, art, and history of a single collected game franchise in its genre’s history. I’m not saying it’s the biggest, despite Elden Ring’s Art Book stacking at over 400 pages, easy, but it’s surely an impressive documentary-style account of Assassin’s Creed game art and processes for more than a decade.

It’s packed with some factoids that would give hardcore fans nerdgasms for days, but to put it PG, it’s one of the most unique items you could archive in your vault of Assassin’s Creed knowledge, right along with the Apple of Eden, Jacob Fry’s cane, and Ezio’s classic wearable blade. Don’t forget to support your local comic store or visit your favorite artists and creators at cons.

As always, stay geeky, share the network, and don’t forget to catch me on the latest episode of Comics’N’Poptarts. I’m going to finish Assassin’s Creed: Mirage; stick to the shadows, my friends.