5 Surprisingly Good Assassin’s Creed Spin-Off Games

Assassin's Creed has garnered a massive following in millions. With each year, Ubisoft has worked at releasing a game each year. Close to 15 years later, the franchise boasts twelve mainline games, seventeen spin-offs, and other short films and transmedia projects.

While the mainline games offer thrilling historical adventures, there exist Spinoff games that are well worth your time. Additionally, mainline games tend to focus on popular eras and territories. With spin-off games, you’re more likely to explore new periods, characters, and gameplay you may wish to have featured in the main releases. 

Before you settle into the more popular mainline games, here are five surprisingly good Assassin's Creed spin-off games you will enjoy playing. Read on.

5. Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles (2008)

In the early beginnings of the Assassin's Creed franchise, Ubisoft released Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles as a prequel to the first Assassin's Creed mainline game. Given its early release, the gameplay was impressively good. 

Taking advantage of the touch-screen features of the Nintendo DS, the game took platforming to a new level with mixed stealth and combat. The graphics were pretty cool. The storyline is straightforward, and the mechanics are violent enough to execute Assassin's Creed style flawlessly, though less bloody. 

As it’s a DS game, the role-playing open-world adventures of the franchise are pretty limited. However, it utilizes visuals and touch-screen features well enough for fluidity and platforming exhilaration. 

4. Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India (2016)

As a second-installment to a three-part Assassin's Creed Chronicles series, India did averagely well compared to the other installments. The game is set in the 19th century Sikh Empire when the region was the ‘crown jewel’ of the British Empire.

Unfortunately, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles gives little to no room for exploring the historical features at the time. In brief, much of its flaw is owed to attempting to adapt an open-world role-playing game into a platforming, 2.5-dimensional stealth game.

Along with disappointing explorative features, the game had pressing issues with its mechanics. It felt more like a puzzle-solving game than a combat one for most gamers. From increasingly frustrating attempts to complete each checkpoint to complete perfection, it didn’t help much that the controls were not precise enough to achieve said perfection. 

Still, the game features beautiful backdrops and an impressive attempt to employ a completely different gameplay mechanic. For this reason, India is deserving of a worthwhile mention but falls short of taking the top spot. 

3. Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China (2015)

China is the first installment of the Assassin's Creed Chronicles series spin-off game. Therefore, it’s the first entry into a platforming adaptation of the stealth Assassin’s Creed games. Additionally, the game adopts a unique artistic style with Eastern-inspired gameplay. 

In essence, instead of arguably distracting cutscenes and side missions, Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China adopted a storybook theme. So players can focus more on achieving their goals. It also meant lesser hours to complete each entry. 

The game takes place in 16th century Imperial China. It features Shao Jun, where gamers must tactfully conquer the Templar organization known as the Eight Tigers. With seamless integration of stealth mechanics and a delightful art style to match, you’re sure to enjoy a fun gaming experience. 

As the game has shorter runtimes and a minimalistic setup, you may find it falls short of a genuinely impeccable Assassin's Creed game. However, spin-offs generally have lesser time and effort put into their build. So, we’re giving it a pass. 

Generally speaking, the explorative environments are limited. However, the mechanics are challenging enough to make it well worth the try.

2. Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation (2012)

Ubisoft released Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation alongside Assassin’s Creed III as a spin-off game. Thus, it featured similar gameplay. The significant difference is that it explores new frontiers and introduces the franchise to a female protagonist and antagonist. 

It is set between 1765 and 1777 in Louisiana, with gamers playing as the French-African Aveline de Grandpre assassin. The protagonist uses her father’s trading connections to free enslaved people throughout the city in the main story. 

Though taking players back to a time of societal prejudice, the spin-off does a great job of bringing mixed-race characters to the forefront of its gameplay. Thus, it weaves the storyline around navigating impossible odds to inspire and inject hope for the future into its narrative. 

Furthermore, the protagonist could disguise herself in specific missions by changing into different clothes. So, Aveline could present herself as an enslaved person or a wealthy lady to access restricted areas. These unique mechanics make Liberation one of the best spin-off titles ever made. 

1. Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia (2016)

The third installment of the Assasin's Creed Chronicles series takes place in 1918 Russia. Continuing with the side-scrolling 2.5-dimensional gameplay style, Russia features Nikolai Orelov, who must retrieve a Precursor box.

One thing about spin-off games is they offer immense opportunities to explore unaccounted stories and heroes of older titles. For instance, if you’re a hardcore fan of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, you may remember the Precursor box from Assassin’s Creed Rogue and Assassin’s Creed Unity main titles. In the end, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia brought the significance and legacy of the box to the light. 

Honestly, you’ve got to love spin-off titles for how gorgeously they push existing boundaries. Given the hundreds of years in the Templar-Assassin war, hardcore fans will appreciate changing gameplay and getting answers to storyline questions. Thus, a thumbs up on throwback explorations of forgotten chapters to provide depth into older titles of the series. Aside from sparking interest in mysterious stories of the past, the Assassin’s Creed Chronicles series is an impressive adaptation of a side-scrolling mapping to an Assassin's Creed stealth game. 

That’s it for our top five surprisingly good Assasin's Creed spin-off games. Do you agree with our Assasin's Creed spin-off listing? Are there other spin-off games you’ve enjoyed playing? Feel free to leave us a comment below or our socials here on your experiences thus far. 

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