Summary
- Assassin's Creed games explore mature themes like child death, child labor, and mental illness.
- Some games like Origins and Odyssey have graphic violence and sexual content.
- Valhalla and 3 focus on brutal killings and mistreatment of Native Americans.
The Assassin's Creed franchise is no stranger to mature themes, which is no surprise considering the premise is the player taking control of one of several career assassins. Each game has its own list of different mature concepts on show, often coinciding with the historical period in which it takes place.
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This list looks at five games with the most mature themes, with various historical periods playing host to several upsetting and disturbing ideas. These games are ranked in order of how prevalent the themes are in each game and how much of an overall impact they make to the entire game experience.
This list contains spoilers!
5 Assassin's Creed Origins
A Hard-Hitting Child Death
Assassin's Creed Origins
- Released
- October 27, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Open-World
Starting off the list, Assassin's Creed Origins has the franchise's standard array of bloody murdering and black market dealings. What sets it apart from the majority of its predecessors is an event early into the game's narrative. With an opening full of graphic violence (which does tone down once the game opens up), what sticks out most is the murder of a child.
While murder is par for the course with Assassin's Creed, it is very rare to see a child killed in any game, especially so early into a game. Outside of this, Origins feels somewhat tame compared to other games in the series, once the player has passed the initial shock of this horrific scene.
4 Assassin's Creed Syndicate
Experimenting On The Mentally Ill And Child Labor
Assassin's Creed Syndicate
- Released
- October 23, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
Similarly to Origins, Assassin's Creed Syndicate is relatively tame, and the scenes that stick out are not specifically violent. Rather, the uncomfortably dark themes behind each moment make them feel so deeply disturbing. The game is set in London in 1868, during the Second Industrial Revolution. As such, many of the societal ideas regarding the treatment of children and the mentally ill are outdated, being shown on screen in the form of child labor and experimentation.
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While the player can help free the child laborers and get revenge for their poor working conditions, these themes are still relatively upsetting for many. Syndicate also has a DLC that focuses on the crimes of Jack the Ripper, who committed several vicious murders of women in London, adding another mature theme should the player choose to continue playing outside the main game.
3 Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Vikings Being Vikings
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
- Released
- November 10, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
Assassin's Creed Valhalla marks the point on the list where the mature themes begin to be seen as more integral parts of the game and its narrative. Valhalla is a game centered around the Viking invasion of Britain in the 9th century. As such, many of the main characters in the game are much more brutal than those in other Assassin's Creed games, slaughtering villages in order to further their hold on the land.
While not quite as shocking as the moments seen in Origins and Synicate, Valhalla has a higher level of bloodshed and gore throughout the entire play time of the game, making it feel like an overall more mature experience. Although not every situation has to be resolved with violence, diplomacy seems to be an afterthought to most of the characters, with violence being the easier option.
2 Assassin's Creed 3
Brutal Assassinations And Mistreatment Of Native Americans
Assassin's Creed III
- Released
- October 30, 2012
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language
- Genre(s)
- Action, Open-World
Assassin's Creed 3 has a similar overall level of violence to Valhalla, if not slightly less bloody. Unlike Valhalla, both the player and the enemies in the game can utilize guns, thanks to the setting being colonial America, which makes some of the combat feel less intimate and brutal. Unlike Valhalla, however, Assassin's Creed 3 does involve the player hanging their enemies, which is a specifically disturbing image.
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On top of the general level of violence, Assassin's Creed 3 is also set during a time in which the treatment of Native Americans was notoriously poor, which is reflected through the game's story and world. While the language used throughout the game is relatively tame, how the Native American people, specifically those in Connor's tribe, are treated and eventually massacred is generally upsetting, especially when they are forced to turn against each other.
1 Assassin's Creed Odyssey
Huge Amounts Of Sex And Violence
Assassin's Creed Odyssey
- Released
- October 15, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Open-World
The final game on this list is Assassin's Creed Odyssey, a divisive entry in the series set in Ancient Greece. The player takes control of a mercenary, traveling around the Greek Isles to hunt down a shadowy order that is behind the instability of the world the character finds themselves in. Where Odyssey finds itself standing out is in its level of sexual and gory content throughout, with the player character able to engage in several sexual encounters with different partners.
With the mechanics of "assassination" being all but removed in favor of RPG leveling mechanics, there are fewer intensely gory scenes than in other games. However, the amount of violence and various dead bodies seen throughout the game's open world rivals that of its franchise cohort. While Assassin's Creed Odyssey can be a fantastic tool for teaching Greek history, the main game is full to the brim of mature and explicit visuals, making it one of the hardest games to recommend to a younger audience.
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