While ranking the best protagonists of the Assassin’s Creed series is common practice, appreciation should be spared for the maps available as well. After all, it’s these locations that set the tone for the series, and pretty much the whole playthrough for gamers is dedicated towards exploration.
There have been about two dozen Assassin’s Creed games by now, but only a certain amount of them are considered main entries. In this list, only the mainline series games have been considered, as these offer the best maps for fans. Here are all of these maps ranked, according to their quality, the entertainment value they present, and what makes them stand out.
11 Assassin's Creed Unity - Paris
Unity is one lower end of the spectrum in regards to overall quality, and one of the major factors to this comes down to Paris being such a bore. There’s really not much to say about this map, being rather bland with a simplistic city and a few landmarks that aren’t exactly fun to traverse either.
There’s not much to do where side missions are concerned either, with Paris’ only feature being the scale of particular locations where, apart from crowds, there’s no depth in quality.
10 Assassin's Creed Rogue - North American Colonies
The issue with this game, apart from the terrible main character, is that the map is far too scattered. Other than New York, there are hardly any places to go where one can explore for more than a few minutes.
It avoids being a total disappointment due to the option of using the ship to cross the seas over to new locations. However, there’s hardly anything to see in these places other than completing the odd synchronization viewpoint.
9 Assassin's Creed - The Holy Land
The first game wastes quite some time in confusing one about the Animus, which is a shame since time could’ve gone into improving the map. And yet, it’s not a total loss, as the cities of Acre, Jerusalem, and Damascus all have their own unique identities.
The scale of these places is definitely a problem, with it taking hardly any time to explore these cities once you arrive there. The presence of the frontier to arrive in these areas bolsters the map quality a bit, with several areas to check out.
8 Assassin's Creed III - American Frontier
This was the map meant to be the most ambitious in the series. Despite being much larger than any seen previously, cities such as Boston and New York fail to stand out. One-note in personality, these maps basically seem like towns from the Old West.
However, the vast frontier lying in between these cities does make use of the map’s scale. Filled with animals to hunt and enemies to encounter, the frontier is the place to be for fans looking to uncover exciting adventures. There's even more to be found in the George Washington-based DLC.
7 Assassin's Creed Syndicate - London
It’s too bad that Syndicate doesn’t feature a map unique enough for protagonists Evie and Jacob, with the backdrop here huge but linear. Other than being a big city, London doesn’t have stuff that makes it sit in one’s memory.
The lack of water-based locations serves to lower the map’s quality, although the palace areas do evoke the sense of royalty the game shoots for. The fun part about this map has to do with claiming areas back from the bad guys, which opens up the motivation to traverse the city.
6 Assassin's Creed II - Italian Cities
There are four main cities of Florence, Tuscany, Venice, and Forli that make up the maps for Assassin’s Creed II. Like the original game, this one also does a good job in making each individual city look distinct from one another.
The main selling point of this game’s maps, though, are the many hidden crypts and areas to uncover. This not only bolsters the replay value, but also gives way for the cities to be explored. While the downside is the smaller scale of these areas, they remain engaging due to quests like the search for glyphs and texts making players roam the entire map.
5 Assassin's Creed: Revelations - Constantinople
On the outside, Constantinople might seem unspectacular, but the place is very rewarding when taking into account how involved the player is in claiming its areas. Not only do climbing landmarks make one appreciate the depth in the city, the many places to purchase and upgrade allows the player to stay invested.
A lot of jokes have been made about Ezio feeling very comfortable in Constantinople, and it’s for a good reason. The city offers quite a few side missions to go with the parkour-based unlocking of locations, creating a deeper connection with the map.
4 Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - Rome
While this game is rightfully accused of making too much about the Pieces of Eden, Rome itself is a treat to be a part of. Being the first game in the series where one location was the main map, Brotherhood shines in making Rome feel like home.
Comprising of mountainous regions, a few rivers here and there, and a whole lot of landmarks, Rome comes across as a legit place to be. The size of the map might have been eclipsed since its release, but it still holds up as a vast city due to the unique locations and the number of areas to unlock.
3 Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Greece
Easily the biggest map for any Assassin’s Creed game, Odyssey lives up to its epic nature. The downside, though, is that a lot of padding is involved where useless mountains and barren areas have to be crossed. Still, the game does make up for it through the water-based locations.
The map also does a good job in separating the essence of one area from another, with it being very noticeable when a fresh location has been found. While some places are much better than others, it’s no doubt fun exploring the enormous world of Greece this game gives out to players.
2 Assassin's Creed Origins - Egypt
With this entry, the series permanently shifted to a set template in its games, with the map now being one enormous landmass. The sheer size of Egypt instantly makes it one of the very best maps in the franchise, as players have countless places to visit.
Downgrading the importance of water-based exploration leaves out room for areas like pyramids and vast frontiers to explore. With several hidden locations found at frequent moments and a flavor of the culture available too, Assassin’s Creed Origins really knows how to capture the player’s interest using its map.
1 Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - The Caribbean Islands
Never has a game given so much motivation for one to adventure across every single area in a map than Black Flag. This one scatters the world across a variety of islands, none of which you’d want to leave out in your exploration.
There’s a fine balance of water and land-based areas, with a particular taste for the Caribbean setting. The many enemy ships found at sea, places to plunder, and parkour opportunities in lush island settings allow the map to be vibrant in its execution. All things considered, this game gives the best reason to explore each area, and it’s certainly worth the experience.