Assassins operate from the shadows or hidden in plain sight, striking without fear or hesitation and fleeing without being seen. Or, at least, that’s the idea behind theAssassin’s Creedseries. However, there are many moments from acrossAC’s long history where the player suddenly goes from feeling like the hunter to the hunted.
Besides systematic human-made horrors, history looms swollen with unknowns and unfathomables. Besidesthe whirlwind tour of iconic, long-dead celebrities, landscapes, and hinge points,Assassin’s Creedoccasionally plunges players into the darkest vaults of the past, where primal fears dwell and watch and chill even hardened killers to their bones.
Ancient Egypt is already a creepy enough place to begin with, but whenAssassin’s Creed: Originsforces players into a dark, candlelit crevice filled with the dead, it is almost too much. Thankfully, “Howls of the Dead,” the quest that takes Bayek into the Necroplis, isn’t too long.
The blood-curdling chanting, crying, and maniacal laughter from within comes from a grave-meddler who claims to be the reincarnation of Set, the god of chaos. Upon discovering his multilations, Bayek confronts and puts down the impostor, after which he and the player are free to leave.
Each revelation about Subject 16 (Clay Kaczmarek), from his ties to the brotherhood to the chilling final message left in his cell at Asbergo in messy red, is troubling, and his existence is never fully addressed untilAssassin’s Creed Revelations, when Desmond,sent into a digital purgatoryafter being touched by the Isu, meets him in the Animus' “Black Room.”
The Room, also known as Animus Island, resembles an unfinished landmass brimming with glitches and unfinished assets. This digital place was one of the earliest of the Animus constructs and was used for environmental simulation before being buried by later architecture. Before his death, Clay managed to insert his consciousness there, where he remained hidden until Desmond’s arrival.
Although the player is forced through this area during the story, the creepy nature of the Boston Underground will likely deter them from returning. Exploring the cobweb-filled tunnels with a shadow-casting lantern is required to unlock asecret fast travel optioninAssassin’s Creed 3, but for those with a hatred for tight spaces, rats, and dusty cobwebs, they are likely to prefer the long way.
Eagle Vision (which highlights directions on the floor at junctions) can make navigation a little easier, and although most people would prefer to run from them, rats typically run in the direction of an exit. However, with so many dead ends and inert clue tablets, the Boston Underground quickly becomes an exercise in claustrophobic conditioning.
There’s a case to be made to include the entirety ofAssassin’s Creed Syndicate’s mass-murderer DLC, “Jack the Ripper,” as a scary location. The player jumps from the titular Jack the Ripper to the Frye twins (or at least Evie) as they unravel the secret history behind this notorious killer.
When playing as London’s most notorious andderanged serial killer, players are given insights into the Ripper’s madness, with a demonic voice scratching instructions into his vision, compelling him to prowl, kill, and cover up his crimes. The tension peaks during the finale in Lambeth Asylum, where Evie must track him down in the basement of the madhouse when he has devised an elaborate trap.
Water levels in any game tend to induce a medium to large amount of anxiety for even the most seasoned of players, due to the potential for subnautic creature encounters and the vicarious terror of running out of air under a layer of porous rock or rotten wooden planks deep below the surface. The diving sections inAssassin’s Creed 4: Black Flagare no different.
While there might be treasure waiting in sunken wrecks for an enterprising pirate to come and take, the idea of dropping down to these places while sharks and deadly eels prowl could make any salty sea dog whimper like a pup.Black Flagis not primarilya game about swimming, so the classic underwater camera control problem, limited lung capacity, and Edward’s defenselessness while swimming make shipwreck dives, especially the Blue Hole dive, a watery nightmare.
The Lairs of the Romolous inAssassin’s Creed Brotherhoodare intended to be linear racetracks for Ezio to speed through for a prize at the end. The darkness, atmosphere, andtypically haunting music of theAssassin’s Creedseries are strong motivators for players to get the mission over and done with as fast as possible.
The second of these lairs, Catacombe Di Roma, begins with Ezio landing face-to-skull with a skeleton. The winding, confusing passageways, the spooky music, and, of course, the big drop near the end that requires the player to grab onto footholds at the last second (lest they fall to their deaths) make Catacombe di Roma one of the most white-knuckle inducing moments in the entire game, if not the series.
Dark, confusing, and filled with shadowy foes, the Cradle of the Underworld is enough to test any assassin. Perhaps the scariest thing about this atmospheric location in the “Fate of Atlantis” DLC forAssassin’s Creed Odysseyis the crying of unseen babies that are said to dwell in the Cradle.
Not only is navigation tricky with the Cradle’s verticality, but there are also underwater sections, as well as tight passages that need to be squeezed through. From being discovered by shadowy sentries to the creepiness of the unborn crying, it is the ultimate nightmarefor any assassin, ancient or modern.
