10 Things CUT From Assassin's Creed Games
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VOICE OVER: Aaron Brown
WRITTEN BY: Caitlin Johnson
Even though "Assassin's Creed" games are massive, some things are still left on the cutting room floor. For this list, we'll be looking at interesting features, locations, and other elements that were cut from Ubisoft's beloved action-adventure series. Our list includes Connor's Soliloquy from “Assassin's Creed III” (2012), “The Battle of Forlì” from “Assassin's Creed II” (2009), The Hookblade from “Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag” (2013), and more!
Welcome to MojoPlays! Today, we’re looking at 10 things cut from “Assassin’s Creed” games. Even in such massive games, some things are still left on the cutting room floor.
Though people love to hate on it, “Assassin’s Creed III” was a game with a lot of scope, especially during its development. Unfortunately, like many of its siblings, it was rushed out of the door to keep up with the annual release cycle, and a lot of stuff was cut for time. That includes Philadelphia, one of America’s major cities in the 18th century. So, why did New York and Boston survive, but Philly was relegated to being a single building Connor only visits briefly? According to Ubisoft, it was a boring setting, thanks to the uncomplicated grid layout it had at the time. They preferred cities that would offer more fun gameplay, despite Philly’s important place in American history and culture.
Ezio gets a lot of new gadgets during his time in Constantinople, but the hookblade is the one that mixes up the gameplay the most. It adds a new layer to the platforming because now you can leap further than ever before. Ultimately, the hookblade only really showed up in “Revelations”, but it was considered by Ubisoft for “Black Flag”. However, they opted to stay away from it because it was deemed too cliché for Kenway, a pirate, to go around with a big hook on his arm. They said they wanted to lose the association between pirate captains and hooks.
Pre-release footage of the in-game map showed a type of event called a “Juno Event” with its own map marker. There was massive speculation before the game came out about what this could be, considering the Isu had barely factored into the plots of the previous two games and “Origins” was a soft reboot. But then, when the game was released, those events were nowhere to be found. They were actually reworked as the “Trials of the Gods” side missions and kept in the game, except, where they were probably intended to be part of the base game, Ubisoft decided to cut them and make them DLC. Free DLC, sure, but it was still turned into a timed, live service event.
Speaking of DLC removed from the base game, however, “Assassin’s Creed II” fared far worse than “Origins” in that regard. Even though it was just the second game, it was still rushed out of the door before developers had time to finish everything they wanted to. In the base game we jump straight from Sequence 11 to Sequence 14, but TWO “Forlì” expansions were released, costing $9 in total, adding Sequences 12 and 13. Described in-game as the sequences being temporarily “corrupted”, it’s outrageous that Ubisoft charged players for major story content required to get the complete experience – but we can’t say we’re surprised.
Early footage shown to the press showed Connor claiming the scalps of his victims, a practice not only done by Native Americans during their wars with American settlers, but by many different cultures all over the world long ago. However, scalping was eventually removed from the game for a handful of reasons. It was deemed “too gruesome” by Ubisoft developers and didn’t fit with Connor’s character, but more than that, the game’s Native American advisors told them to get rid of it. Their primary liaison was Thomas Deer, and he explained that the Mohawk people – Connor’s tribe – weren’t one of the tribes who actually scalped, making its inclusion historically inaccurate. It’s probably for the best that this was removed.
At the end of “AC III”, you’ll be treated to a long and carefully written soliloquy from Connor about the events of the game. At least, you were supposed to be, but for whatever reason, this was cut ahead of release. But the audio for his speech was still recorded by his voice actor and was dug up by fans. Connor may be a divisive character, but this epilogue speech makes you understand him more than the rest of the game combined. He talks about his conflict with Haytham, his problems with the American Revolution not living up to what he hoped, and about how he’s going to continue fighting for the Assassins and for what’s right.
Initially, it was planned that you’d be able to sail around in a canoe, through the many rivers of colonial America. Stills were released of this mechanic, but it was conspicuously absent from the finished product. People wondered for years why this was the case, but in 2019, the game’s creative director explained. Alex Hutchinson said that the canoe was simply “boring” to use when compared to the free-running traversal the game prioritized, so it was cut. But there was still plenty of sailing in “Assassin’s Creed III” since it was the first game to feature naval combat, and “Liberation” would later allow Aveline to sail a canoe through the bayou.
In 2020, an in-depth report by games journalist Jason Schreier revealed that Ubisoft and female lead characters don’t get along. This came during a string of allegations against Ubisoft, and former developers said they were given orders from on high to reduce the roles of female characters, claiming the games wouldn’t sell. This resulted in Aya’s role being made far smaller in “AC Origins”, forcing them to cut out plenty of planned content about the character. We’re still not sure exactly what an Aya-focused game would have looked like, but she was a very compelling character when she did appear, and at least SOME of her gameplay segments survived.
Much like the infamous canoe, early cinematic trailers for the very first game in the franchise showed Altaïr using a crossbow to dispatch his enemies, but it was removed. Ubisoft’s reasoning for this is that it wouldn’t be historically accurate, though it’s far more complicated. The history buffs among you will know that the first crossbows were invented roughly 1500 years BEFORE the first game took place, but Ubisoft still cut it out. This has been speculated to be because the period-accurate crossbow Altaïr should have been using would have taken forever to reload. Ubisoft had a choice between a slow and boring historically accurate crossbow, or a fast and fun but inaccurate one. They decided to get rid of it entirely and give Altaïr throwing knives.
He was the glue that once held the franchise together, with players still lamenting how interesting, modern-day storylines disappeared after his death in “AC III”. But it wasn’t always supposed to end this way. Nolan North explained in an interview that the original pitch for the series was a contained, six-game run, in which Desmond would slowly gain more and more abilities via the bleeding effect. He’d then be the “ultimate assassin” and, at some point, him leaving Earth in a spaceship was considered. This was all scrapped, however. Desmond died at the end of the fifth game after averting the solar flare apocalypse, and the bleeding effect turns out to be nowhere near that important in the end.
Philadelphia
“Assassin’s Creed III” (2012)Though people love to hate on it, “Assassin’s Creed III” was a game with a lot of scope, especially during its development. Unfortunately, like many of its siblings, it was rushed out of the door to keep up with the annual release cycle, and a lot of stuff was cut for time. That includes Philadelphia, one of America’s major cities in the 18th century. So, why did New York and Boston survive, but Philly was relegated to being a single building Connor only visits briefly? According to Ubisoft, it was a boring setting, thanks to the uncomplicated grid layout it had at the time. They preferred cities that would offer more fun gameplay, despite Philly’s important place in American history and culture.
The Hookblade
“Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag” (2013)Ezio gets a lot of new gadgets during his time in Constantinople, but the hookblade is the one that mixes up the gameplay the most. It adds a new layer to the platforming because now you can leap further than ever before. Ultimately, the hookblade only really showed up in “Revelations”, but it was considered by Ubisoft for “Black Flag”. However, they opted to stay away from it because it was deemed too cliché for Kenway, a pirate, to go around with a big hook on his arm. They said they wanted to lose the association between pirate captains and hooks.
Juno Events
“Assassin’s Creed Origins” (2017)Pre-release footage of the in-game map showed a type of event called a “Juno Event” with its own map marker. There was massive speculation before the game came out about what this could be, considering the Isu had barely factored into the plots of the previous two games and “Origins” was a soft reboot. But then, when the game was released, those events were nowhere to be found. They were actually reworked as the “Trials of the Gods” side missions and kept in the game, except, where they were probably intended to be part of the base game, Ubisoft decided to cut them and make them DLC. Free DLC, sure, but it was still turned into a timed, live service event.
“The Battle of Forlì”
“Assassin’s Creed II” (2009)Speaking of DLC removed from the base game, however, “Assassin’s Creed II” fared far worse than “Origins” in that regard. Even though it was just the second game, it was still rushed out of the door before developers had time to finish everything they wanted to. In the base game we jump straight from Sequence 11 to Sequence 14, but TWO “Forlì” expansions were released, costing $9 in total, adding Sequences 12 and 13. Described in-game as the sequences being temporarily “corrupted”, it’s outrageous that Ubisoft charged players for major story content required to get the complete experience – but we can’t say we’re surprised.
Scalping
“Assassin’s Creed III” (2012)Early footage shown to the press showed Connor claiming the scalps of his victims, a practice not only done by Native Americans during their wars with American settlers, but by many different cultures all over the world long ago. However, scalping was eventually removed from the game for a handful of reasons. It was deemed “too gruesome” by Ubisoft developers and didn’t fit with Connor’s character, but more than that, the game’s Native American advisors told them to get rid of it. Their primary liaison was Thomas Deer, and he explained that the Mohawk people – Connor’s tribe – weren’t one of the tribes who actually scalped, making its inclusion historically inaccurate. It’s probably for the best that this was removed.
Connor’s Soliloquy
“Assassin’s Creed III” (2012)At the end of “AC III”, you’ll be treated to a long and carefully written soliloquy from Connor about the events of the game. At least, you were supposed to be, but for whatever reason, this was cut ahead of release. But the audio for his speech was still recorded by his voice actor and was dug up by fans. Connor may be a divisive character, but this epilogue speech makes you understand him more than the rest of the game combined. He talks about his conflict with Haytham, his problems with the American Revolution not living up to what he hoped, and about how he’s going to continue fighting for the Assassins and for what’s right.
Canoes
“Assassin’s Creed III” (2012)Initially, it was planned that you’d be able to sail around in a canoe, through the many rivers of colonial America. Stills were released of this mechanic, but it was conspicuously absent from the finished product. People wondered for years why this was the case, but in 2019, the game’s creative director explained. Alex Hutchinson said that the canoe was simply “boring” to use when compared to the free-running traversal the game prioritized, so it was cut. But there was still plenty of sailing in “Assassin’s Creed III” since it was the first game to feature naval combat, and “Liberation” would later allow Aveline to sail a canoe through the bayou.
Aya
“Assassin’s Creed Origins” (2017)In 2020, an in-depth report by games journalist Jason Schreier revealed that Ubisoft and female lead characters don’t get along. This came during a string of allegations against Ubisoft, and former developers said they were given orders from on high to reduce the roles of female characters, claiming the games wouldn’t sell. This resulted in Aya’s role being made far smaller in “AC Origins”, forcing them to cut out plenty of planned content about the character. We’re still not sure exactly what an Aya-focused game would have looked like, but she was a very compelling character when she did appear, and at least SOME of her gameplay segments survived.
Crossbow
“Assassin’s Creed” (2007)Much like the infamous canoe, early cinematic trailers for the very first game in the franchise showed Altaïr using a crossbow to dispatch his enemies, but it was removed. Ubisoft’s reasoning for this is that it wouldn’t be historically accurate, though it’s far more complicated. The history buffs among you will know that the first crossbows were invented roughly 1500 years BEFORE the first game took place, but Ubisoft still cut it out. This has been speculated to be because the period-accurate crossbow Altaïr should have been using would have taken forever to reload. Ubisoft had a choice between a slow and boring historically accurate crossbow, or a fast and fun but inaccurate one. They decided to get rid of it entirely and give Altaïr throwing knives.
Desmond’s Story
VariousHe was the glue that once held the franchise together, with players still lamenting how interesting, modern-day storylines disappeared after his death in “AC III”. But it wasn’t always supposed to end this way. Nolan North explained in an interview that the original pitch for the series was a contained, six-game run, in which Desmond would slowly gain more and more abilities via the bleeding effect. He’d then be the “ultimate assassin” and, at some point, him leaving Earth in a spaceship was considered. This was all scrapped, however. Desmond died at the end of the fifth game after averting the solar flare apocalypse, and the bleeding effect turns out to be nowhere near that important in the end.
