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With the announcement of Assassin's Creed Shadows and its Japan-based setting, fans of the franchise are keen on determining which Assassin's Creed games have the best open world. Featuring titles from this 15-year-long franchise set around continental or city-wide themes, the list of best open world Assassin's Creed games is heavily influenced by map size, design, and gameplay.
In this article, we look at some of the best open world games from the Assassin's Creed franchise and discuss their maps before AC Shadows releases in November 2024.
Note: This article is subjective and reflects the author's opinions. Certain sections may contain spoilers.
Top Assassin's Creed games with the best open world
1) Assassin's Creed Odyssey
Odyssey is a no-brainer addition to the list of best open-world Assassin's Creed games to play. It comes in as the top entry thanks to its massive map that features whole Greek mythological themes. The protagonist starts their story in ancient Greece during the Peloponnesian War era. After some critical mystery unraveling, they end up in several mythological settings.
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These include Elysium, denoting Paradise ruled by Persephone, Underworld, which represents Hell under the rule of Hades, and finally, Atlantis, the legendary lost city that housed an advanced race of beings. The design of these three maps and their influence on your character's journey is an Odyssey in itself.
2) Assassin's Creed Unity
Unity houses the mesmerizing setting of Paris during the French Revolution. The game throws players into numerous historical events, including the Storming of Bastille, the September Massacres, the Execution of the King, and so on. The civil unrest on the streets and the condition of the people in the slums make Unity worth playing.
What makes Unity one of the best open world games from the Assassin's Creed series, are the streets of Paris which adeptly depict the famine during the pre-revolution phase. The architectural portrayal of France is another important factor. The accuracy and level of detail in Unity also received high praise. In fact, after the Notre Dame fire of April 2019, architects used AC Unity as the basis of its reconstruction.
3) Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Set around 873CE, Valhalla is another notable entry in the Assassin's Creed franchise that features a massive map. It depicts the Anglo-Saxon period of England as well as other European regions like Norway and Ireland. Players get to conduct river raids across maps like Dee, Severn, and Exe. All of these areas offer a lot of ground to cover in one's journey as a Viking.
This experience is further expanded with DLCs. Maps that incorporate Norse Mythology like Asgard, Jotunheim, and Svartalfheim take players through their journey as a godly reincarnation.
Valhalla stands out as one of the best open world games thanks to its vast expanse of Viking and Norse settings. Besides that, it boasts a massive arsenal of weapons to brandish and an extensive storyline to follow through.
4) Assassin's Creed Origins
Origins brings a fantastic protagonist Bayek of Siwa, who takes players on a journey across the vast sandy expanse of Egypt in the Ptolemaic Era. Having experienced a severe loss in the past that drives him, Bayek guides them across beautiful dunes, oases, and Pyramids.
In this journey, players come across some historic Egyptian figures who play important roles. Having the option to roam around the sands of Egypt, Sinai, and the Valley of the Kings, Origins paints a beautiful picture of the maps from 49 BC to 43 BC.
Players come face to face with several entities from Egyptian Mythology and become a part of the history that witnesses the origins of the Assassins. What makes Assassin's Creed Origins stand out as one of the best open world games in this franchise is the depiction of Egypt and how it incorporates all fascinating elements of the map into the narrative.
5) Assassin's Creed Syndicate
Syndicate is another notable addition to this list thanks to the beautiful setting of England during the Industrial Revolution period. The game finds players in the franchise's first twin-protagonist approach. They experience the streets of London during the peak of the dark times of the Revolution. Our twin protagonists interact and employ the help of esteemed figures like Alexander Graham Bell, Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Florence Nightingale, and so on.
Machinery starts to get prioritized in day-to-day life just as it does amongst our Assassins. What makes Syndicate one of the top Assassin's Creed games with the best open world is mainly two-fold: the depiction of advancement in technology with the Industrial Revolution in London. And the other is the steady rise in gangs, low-wage slave labor, child labor, and so on.
