Assassin's Creed

Assassin’s Creed is a non-linear action-adventure game. You play as Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, a 12th-century Levantine Assassin during the Third Crusade, with his life experienced through the Animus by his 21st-century descendant, Desmond Miles.

Desmond Miles, a bartender, is kidnapped by Abstergo Industries and forced to become a test subject for the Animus, a machine that can simulate genetic memory. Abstergo’s goal is to use Desmond to access the memories of his ancestor Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, a member of the Assassin Brotherhood in 1191 during the Third Crusade in the Holy Land. Desmond struggles to adjust at first, but soon begins reliving Altaïr’s exploits over the next several days. The story primarily shifts to Altaïr’s point of view, with periodic returns to Desmond when Animus issues arise or the Bleeding Effect begins. The game opens with Desmond entering Altaïr’s memories, but synchronization problems quickly surface. Lucy Stillman and Warren Vidic argue over Desmond’s safety while he remains in the Animus. After several glitches, Desmond exits the machine and Vidic explains how the Animus works before starting its tutorial program. Once Desmond completes the tutorial, he re-enters the nearest stable memory. Lucy explains that to increase synchronization, Desmond must relive key moments of Altaïr’s life until he reaches the final memory containing the information Abstergo seeks. Altaïr is first seen attempting to retrieve an artifact from Solomon’s Temple, one of the Pieces of Eden, alongside Malik Al-Sayf and Malik’s brother Kadar. Their mission is stopped by Robert de Sablé, Grand Master of the Knights Templar and a sworn enemy of the Assassins. During the attempt, Altaïr breaks all three tenets of the Assassins’ Creed while trying to kill Robert, and fails. In the aftermath, Kadar is killed and Malik’s left arm is crippled and later amputated. Altaïr returns to the Assassin stronghold at Masyaf to apologize, but Malik—who survives de Sablé—returns with the artifact and condemns Altaïr’s arrogance. After the Assassins narrowly repel a Templar counterattack, their leader Al Mualim demotes Altaïr to a novice but offers him a path to earn his rank back. Al Mualim assigns Altaïr to assassinate nine key figures across Jerusalem, Acre, and Damascus to help bring peace between Crusader and Saracen forces. Each target is based on a historical figure from the Third Crusade, including Majd Addin, Garnier de Naplouse, Jubair al Hakim, Abu'l Nuqoud, Sibrand, William of Montferrat, and Robert de Sablé. As Altaïr completes each assassination, he learns how the targets are connected to Robert and the Templars, and how their shared plan is to end the Crusades and seize control of the Holy Land. He discovers Robert’s final scheme: unite Christian and Muslim forces against a new common enemy—the Assassins. Altaïr defeats de Sablé before Richard the Lionheart, unable to convince the king that ending the war would benefit both sides, but he stops Robert’s plan. From de Sablé, Altaïr learns that Al Mualim was secretly a Templar and used Altaïr to eliminate the other members who held the secret of the treasure’s power, allowing Al Mualim to keep the artifact for himself. Altaïr returns to Masyaf to confront his master. Al Mualim reveals the truth: the Piece of Eden creates illusions. He denounces religion and other seemingly supernatural events—such as the Ten Plagues of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and the presence of Greek gods in the Trojan War—as illusions produced by the artifact. He then declares his intent to use the Piece of Eden to compel humanity into a brainwashed state, ending all conflict. Altaïr eventually sees through the artifact’s deceptions and kills Al Mualim. When Altaïr recovers the Piece of Eden, it activates and displays a holographic world map marked with the locations of other Pieces of Eden across the globe. When Desmond’s session ends, he learns Abstergo is a modern-day front for the Templars, who are already pursuing other artifacts using the locations revealed in Altaïr’s memories. He also learns modern-day Assassins attempted—and failed—to rescue him before the memory sequence was complete. A high-ranking Templar, Alan Rikkin, orders Desmond’s death, but Lucy Stillman saves him. At one point, she tucks her ring finger into her palm, referencing the Assassin tradition of cutting off the finger. Desmond remains trapped in Abstergo’s laboratory, but the Bleeding Effect leaves him with traces of Altaïr’s abilities, including Eagle Vision. Using it, he sees strange messages painted on his room’s walls and on the lab floor. These messages reference different cultural visions of the end of the world, including repeated mentions of 21 December 2012—the date Abstergo plans to launch a satellite that will “permanently end the war.” It is suggested this would work similarly to how Al Mualim hypnotized Masyaf, but on a far larger scale. The game ends with Desmond trying to understand what the images mean and who painted them.