Assassin's Creed is Ubisoft's biggest franchise and explores dozens of mainline and spinoff games deserving of a quick playthrough before the next Assassin's Creed game releases. Spinoff games in any franchise are often considered less popular than mainline entries for obvious reasons, as the budget and effort put into the final project pale in comparison to core entries. These spinoffs are often shorter than other games but still deliver thrilling adventures and stories throughout the Assassin's Creed universe.

Assassin's Creed focuses on the Templars and the Assassin Brotherhood, spanning from the Crusades to the modern day. While some mainline games have received sizable DLCs and expansions to the base games, Assassin's Creed games tend to switch protagonists regularly and restart storylines. Additionally, mainline series games have mostly stuck to popular eras and territories (Ancient Egypt, the Viking, and Norse cultures, Ancient Rome, etc.) without branching into less represented time periods or cultures. Thankfully, these trends may change with the upcoming Assassin's Creed Infinity game currently in development at Ubisoft.

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News for the upcoming Assassin's Creed Infinity game leaked last year, leading the community to create theories and speculate about Assassin's Creed Infinity's final product. Ubisoft confirmed the project would span several periods and become an official live-service title. However, the game is still several years away, and players shouldn't expect to receive the project for at least another year. Thankfully, there are many spinoff Assassin's Creed games to enjoy until the next mainline entry is released. Unlike the core series, spinoff games can explore new time periods and characters alongside new mechanics, genres, and art styles. Before Assassin's Creed Infinity releases, fans should try the following spinoff titles for enjoyable, important storylines often neglected in the core plot and series.

Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation Is Probably The Best AC Spinoff

Aveline in Assassin's Creed Liberation

Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation is Ubisoft's first spinoff game that desperately needs more attention. The base game for Assassin's Creed 3 featured Ratonhnhaké:ton's (Connor Kenway's) adventures throughout the American Revolution. He battled well-known historical figures in Assassin's Creed 3 and successfully deconstructed several Templar grabs for power. While fans received the game with mixed reactions, Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation explored new frontiers and introduced the series' first female protagonist. This spinoff game is likely the most well-done and the closest mirror to the mainline series' style, featuring a proper modern-day storyline and third-person stealth gameplay.

Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation takes place in 18th century Louisiana, with players controlling Aveline de Grandpre, a sister of the Assassin Brotherhood. The main story takes place during the French and Indian War and when the Spaniards had occupied New Orleans. Aveline de Grandpre uses her father's trade connections, deadly skills, and pure heart to free slaves throughout the city. Several time-skips throughout Liberation's story allow players to experience important events like the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. While Assassin's Creed 3's setting explored some nature of slavery and exploitation of the Native Americans, Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation brings these heartbreaking historical records, societal prejudices, and mixed-race individuals into the forefront of its gameplay and plot. Aveline de Grandpre's story is an inspiring battle against impossible odds but still manages to inject hope for the future into its narrative. Interested fans can purchase Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation on PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and Nintendo Switch systems.

Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China Is The Series' First Platformer Spinoff

Shao Jun in Assassin's Creed Chronicles

Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China is the first game in the Assassin's Creed Chronicles game series that moved away from the third-person stealth parkour gameplay in Assassin's Creed mainline games. It adapted unique, Eastern-inspired art styles and transformed the Assassin-Templar conflict into a platformer game. Ultra-realistic graphics and cutscenes became a thing of the past, with Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China adopting a more storybook theme that encouraged players to keep their eyes on their goals rather than become distracted with side missions. While this limited each Chronicles game gameplay-wise, each entry became far more accessible than the hundreds of hours required to complete the growing Assassin's Creed franchise.

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Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China takes place in 16th century Imperial China during the Ming Dynasty. Players control Shao Jun, who first appeared in the Assassin's Creed: Embers short film. After training with Assassin's Creed's famous protagonist, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, Shao Jun decides to eliminate a Templar organization known as the Eight Tigers. Each member manipulates the Chinese Emperor and is responsible for the Chinese Assassin Brotherhood's extermination somehow. During the journey, Jun discovers that the Templars possess a Precursor box and intend to reclaim power over China by allowing the Mongols to attack. Players can experience a pulse-pounding race against time through the Great Wall and finally put an end to the Eight Tigers, avenging the Chinese Assassin Brotherhood and taking the first step towards the country's freedom.

Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia Is A Spinoff That Breaks From The Brotherhood

Nikolai Orelov in Assassin's Creed Chronicles

The third installment in the Assassin's Creed Chronicles continues the series' trend of platformer gameplay and artistic cutscenes. However, Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia is also the franchise's second story where an Assassin betrays their Brotherhood. Players control Nikolai Orelov, who appeared in the Assassin's Creed comic books (The Chain and The Fall). Though he considers retiring, the Brotherhood requests that he take another mission to retrieve a Precursor box. After discovering the Tsar's family has the artifact, Nikolai struggles to reach the family before their deaths. Though he is too late, he encounters Anastasia, who escaped execution with the Precursor box and connected with Shao Jun's memories within. The pair flee across Russia, pursued by the Templar-ridden Red Army. Unfortunately, the Assassin Brotherhood also seeks to kill Anastasia for the power hidden within her form, forcing Nikolai Orelov to defect from the Assassins to save Anastasia. Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia's thrilling story explores another ending to Anastasia's mysterious story while emphasizing the Assassin Brotherhood's flaws.

While the Assassin's Creed spinoff games are rather different from mainline entries to the series, they provide a glimpse into some of the many untold stories throughout the Templar-Assassin war. Ubisoft's decision to change settings with each main installment presents players with a fresh face and adventure to conquer but leaves hundreds of years of unaccounted adventures and heroes. Spin-off games like Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation and the Assassin's Creed Chronicles series provide players answers to many questions. For example, the Precursor box appears within Assassin's Creed Rogue and Assassin's Creed Unity, but its significance and legacy are only expanded in Chronicles. Hopefully, Assassin's Creed Infinity can spark the creation of more spinoff games or DLC stories that explore forgotten chapters in Assassin and Templar history.

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