Assassin's Creed Video Game Series
Assassin's Creed is a historical science fiction third person action-adventure game series that as of 2011 consists of four main games and a number of supporting materials. The games have appeared on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Vita, Mac OS X, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, iOS, HP webOS, Android, Nokia Symbian and Windows Phone 7 platforms. The main games in the franchise were developed by Ubisoft Montreal, with the handheld titles developed by Gameloft and Gryptonite Studios, with additional development by Ubisoft Montreal. All games in the franchise are published by Ubisoft.
All of the Assassin's Creed games take place in 2012, featuring the protagonist Desmond Miles, a barkeeper who is unknowingly a descendent of a line of Assassins. He is initially kidnapped by the megacorporation Abstergo Industries, the modern-day face of the Knights Templar, and forced to use the "Animus", a device that allows him to experience his ancestral memories. Abstergo is seeking to discover the location of several artifacts, or "Pieces of Eden", that hold great power, to control mankind and alter its fate. Desmond is later rescued by a small team of modern-day Assassins, and taken to a secure location where he can secure the artifacts before Abstergo. Within the Animus, Desmond experiences the memories of Altair ibn-La'Ahad, an Assassin during the Crusades, and Ezio Auditore da Firenze, an Assassin in Italy during the late 15th and early 16th Centuries, both of whom came into contact with one of the Pieces of Eden, "The Apple". While following the storyline with Ezio, other Pieces of Eden become known, such as "The Staff". Throughout these events, Desmond learns of allusions to the prophetic end of the world in 2012 from a former Animus subject, as well as from a holographic figure calling herself Minerva that speaks directly to Desmond through Ezio's experience. Minerva warns Desmond that only he can stop these events and prevent another catastrophe.