It's true that there are some "immortal" series out there already, most of them belonging to Nintendo which has managed to take the same seven or eight IPs and tweak gameplay to make each new installment fresh and anticipated. But outside of that? It's harder to replicate that kind of success.
Yes, there are other popular series like Halo, Call of Duty, Gears of War and so on that have a ton of titles to their names. What they do not have, however, is the ability to change the core setting of their games all that much. Halo and Gears will always be about space marines. CoD might jump through the various wars of the 20th century, but they've already run out of those and have been forced to speculate about future conflicts.
But not so with Assassin's Creed. It's quickly becoming clear just what a brilliant plot device the "Animus" is when it comes to content creation for a series.
For the uninitiated, the Animus is a machine that allows the user to relive past memories of their ancestors like they were experiencing the moments for themselves. While for many of us this might be living the exciting life of a peasant in 13th century Wales, for AC's central character, Desmond, it means that he can relive the lives of his ancestors who belonged to an ancient order of Assassins, attempting to save the world from the destructive power of the Templars.
So far, the games have spanned from the 12th century in the Holy Land to Italy in the 15th. The most recent release is set in 18th century Revolutionary America, and now Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag will take place a few decades before that and focus on pirates of the high seas.
The Animus simply allows for unlimited game concepts, well, as unlimited as the history of mankind, I suppose. Every year, fans speculate on where the series is going next, and because of the concept, it could truly be any place and any time. Doctor Who would be proud.
This unlimited potential could theoretically allow the series to continue on forever without feeling stale. Just off the top of my head, there are tons of possible eras new games could take place during. Feudal Japan with samurais and ninjas, medieval castles in England from the Braveheart era. Ancient Rome, ancient Egypt, the Civil, Vietnam and World Wars for America. It's never ending, particularly when you can envision the game could be free of Desmond at some point, and move on to someone else with a different set of ancestors.
Having unlimited content potential comes with its own fair share of challenges however. It's hard to create these extensive new worlds, and the AC games feature some of the most vast, detailed maps out there, making for very expensive games. Similarly, it's tough to keep content fresh when core gameplay remains relatively the same. Even different locales might not offset things if the gameplay starts to feel stale. That happened in the two AC2 quasi-sequels, Brotherhood and Revelation, and you could feel it a bit in AC3 as well. Carefully planned stealth missions often felt scrapped in favor of open combat, which really isn't what the series should be about.
Now, with a new pirate game, fans are jazzed about the potential, and they should be. The concept is a great one, and the foundation has already been laid in AC3 for events like ship-to-ship battles, an integral part of the pirate experience. Many have been clamoring for a great pirate game for a while now, and Assassin's Creed seems like a perfect universe where one could be set.
The idea now is that AC4 may be the last Assassin's Creed title for this console generation (excluding its release on the Wii U, but that's another debate). It's been announced for all existing systems and PC, but no PS4. The thought is that though the game is a new numbered installment rather than a spin-off, it can use many of the same assets as AC3, including the ship battles I've just mentioned. That will buy time for Ubisoft to craft the new engine they'll need for future AC games on the PS4 and Xbox whatever. Those may make it to the Wii U as well.
The series may have unlimited conceptual potential, but they'll have to keep finding ways to make the games feel fresh other than a change of hero and scenery. The jump from AC1 to AC2 was probably the most improvement I've ever seen in a sequel. It hasn't made similar leaps forward since, but it doesn't feel like the series is regressing either.
How long will this ride last? I'm not sure, but Assassin's Creed has the potential to outlive us all if handled correctly.
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