It’s almost difficult to believe that the Assassin’s Creed series has been around for thirteen years. With the recent entry Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla knocking Call of Duty from the top spot in the UK charts, it's obvious the series isn’t going to disappear anytime soon.
Up until the ninth major entry in the series – Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate – the combat system mostly relied on a variation of a “paired animation system” which uses scripted counters, finishers, and combinations. While each title differed in the same way, after nearly a decade the series needed a revamp, which began with Assassin’s Creed: Origins' new action-based system. There will always be fans of both mechanics but let’s see which ranks as the best in the series.
10 Assassin’s Creed
Even though it’s a bit clunky and slow by today’s modern standards, the combat in the original Assassin’s Creed still does a great job capturing the methodical pace of a medieval sword fight. Counters are satisfying to pull off because the fights can be so challenging and the weaponry feels like it has a real sense of weight to it.
There is a decent range of weapons that captures the brutality of a medieval battle really well. Better still, the fights against the Templars are almost always entertaining back and forth affairs that require thought and strategy.
9 Assassin’s Creed II
With a brand new setting based during the Italian Renaissance comes a more refined combat system that combined elements of both fencing and brutal swordplay. It’s also more complex than the first game in that it brought in a more responsive counter system and the ability to disarm one’s opponents.
Furthermore, the game’s protagonist Ezio can now wield two Hidden Blades at once and wield axes, maces, and poison blades. It was the first game in the series to really make the player feel empowered even when surrounded by a gang of enemies.
8 Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
The third entry in the Ezio trilogy, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations shows off a more refined and improved combat system that feels like an evolution of what began with the second mainline title in the series.
Chaining strikes together is now more fluid than it was in the predecessors and landing counter strikes is more responsive. In addition, players can also land execution strikes in quick succession when surrounded by a group of enemies.
7 Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
It doesn’t get more swashbuckling than Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. The combat, while simplistic, is incredibly satisfying and enjoyable to play. Like its predecessors, Black Flag is all about figuring out the best strategies in a fight from taking down brutes to dueling with captains.
It’s probably fair to say that Black Flag is quite easy especially compared to the original Assassin’s Creed and the Ezio Collection but it’s much more fluid and is always entertaining especially when boarding enemy ships after a naval battle. Considering it was a PlayStation 4 launch title it still holds up very well on a visual level.
6 Assassin’s Creed: Rogue
Assassin’s Creed: Rogue plays and looks like a follow up to Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag with its visuals slightly scaled back for last-gen systems. However, it’s still a great looking title that holds up very well in its PS4 and Xbox One remaster that released in 2018.
Rogue was quite overlooked at the time of its release because all of the focus was on the more advanced looking Assassin’s Creed: Unity, but many would argue that it’s the better game of the two. The combat system is almost identical to Black Flag but the protagonist Shay Cormac feels more powerful and brutal to control. In addition, the fighting and stealth combat systems have more quality of life improvements and the combat is more timing-based with counters taking inspiration from the Batman Arkham Knight series.
5 Assassin’s Creed III
Taking inspiration from films like The Last of the Mohicans and The Patriot, Assassin’s Creed III has one of the most interesting and fun combat systems in the series. The lead protagonist Connor plays every bit like the warrior he’s supposed to be and provides players with an amazing sense of power.
The only downside of that power, however, is that it can be accused of being a little bit too easy, but when it’s as enjoyable as Assassin’s Creed III it really doesn’t matter. Connor feels like he was designed to wipe out waves of enemies in large scales battles and the game perfectly captures that.
4 Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
Set in Ancient Greece, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey is the second game in the rebooted series that features a new modern-day protagonist Layla Hassan and a new hitbox combat system. The combat system in Odyssey is faster than Origins but does lack the weight and impact of that game.
However, for players that prefer speed and using counters and dodge mechanics instead of a shield to fight off enemies, Odyssey nails a sense of ferocity. The only downside compared to its predecessor is the time it takes to beat certain enemies as some fights can feel drawn too out. However, it’s still a good fighting system that’s almost comparable to FromSoft’s Bloodborne.
3 Assassin’s Creed Origins
Assassin’s Creed: Origins serves as both a prequel and reboot for the series by featuring a larger more open world that’s set in Ancient Egypt, a new modern-day protagonist, and a combat system that does away with the scripted countermoves and finishing moves of its predecessor in favor of a hitbox fighting system that’s similar to the Demon's/Dark Souls series.
The combat in Origins is both fast and weighty and is arguably better balanced than the more aggressively paced Odyssey. There feels like there’s more freedom to approach combat with stealth or in all-out brawls. There are lots of weapons and weapon classes that can offer different approaches to gameplay.
2 Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
Released in 2020, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla is the third entry in the Layla Hassan trilogy and it takes place during the Viking Invasion of Britain. The combat in Valhalla feels like the perfect balance between the mechanics in Origins and Odyssey.
Furthermore, Valhalla manages to reintroduce many of the stealth mechanics made popular by the Creed titles that preceded Origins while also encouraging the kind of violent brutality that’s expected of a Viking warrior.
1 Assassin’s Creed Unity
Released in 2014, Assassin’s Creed: Unity was something of a controversial title that released with a lot of bugs and performance issues. This is likely because the developers were far too ambitious with what is still one of the best looking titles in the series which may have cause optimization issues.
However, not only has the game been patched to acceptable levels, but Unity’s ambitious title can now be experienced as it was meant to by fans of the series. One major area where the game excelled was its combat system which combined all of the best parts of its predecessors into a very challenging and entertaining fencing system that felt more reactive than scripted. All enemies on the battlefield felt like they could be a threat and finishing executions never got old.