Brief Continuity in Assassin's Creed

One of the best things that can be brought to a game or film series are the various aspects that connect them all. While the idea of a continuing story counts to a certain level, it goes (and should go) much deeper than that. When I think of Star Wars or Indiana Jones, John Williams comes up. He created the incredible continuity of both of the franchises, and he continues to work on them.

This continuity helps immerse us, draw us closer, and allows the audience create a special bond with the film or game. The consistency of the writing the script is just as important as themes. When some writers may get replaced, someone else takes one a new role, etc. there is risk of falling away from the original project and stray from the path intended and paved from the beginning. 

While my experience with the Assassin's Creed series of video games is lacking, I have noticed that there has been some amount of continuity. Ubisoft created a whole world that attempts to tell a story that took place from the beginning of time and progressing through history until present day. While interesting, it is a bit far fetched. 

One of Ubisoft's most recent installments to the franchise is a trilogy that is deeply integrated into the story. The first begins in China, resumes in India, and ends in Russia. They are so well connected, yet take place several years apart from each other. 

There are subtleties found in the games. The original Assassin's Creed theme written by Jesper Kyd appears in Assassin's Creed Chronicles China, but it is possible to miss. It is heard during one level, but instead of an instrument playing it, you hear on of the guards whistling the tune while you sneak past him. This same theme is re-composed as the theme for Assassin's Creed Rogue. It is fairly simple, but is very catchy and memorable. 

Listening to the most recent soundtrack release to the series, Assassin's Creed: The Best of Jesper Kyd, I noticed the theme appearing frequently. Having never really heard the scores for the first few installments I was unaware of this theme. The first time I heard it was during the score for Rogue, then in Chronicles China by means of whistling as mentioned above. 

Since Jesper Kyd scored the first bunch of games in the series, he had plenty of time to solidify this theme in the series enough to make it significant. It makes sense for Ubisoft to have this theme mentioned in the Chronicles Trilogy since they take place around the same time as the first few games where it first appeared. 

There have been several composers that have broken up this continuity, writing their own unique themes and sounds into it. For this reason The togetherness of the games fades away the closer they are to present day. 

The Assassin's Creed series has been a product of excellent music, and with all that said, I must say that it features some of the best game music I have heard. What is your favorite Assassin's Creed soundtrack?