8 Historical Eras Assassin's Creed Could Still Visit

Despite boasting one of the most far-reaching empires of all-time, Spain has been largely ignored by Assassin’s Creed, the godawful Michael Fassbender film and a pair of spin-offs set during the Spanish Inquisition notwithstanding. Their conquering forays into Central and South America present two very intriguing possibilities, however.

Before the Spanish arrived and killed them, there were hundreds of different civilisations and cultures in the region. Three of the most notable are the Aztec (ended in 1521), Inca (1572) and Maya (1672), which collectively spanned much of the territory from Mexico to Peru. Each of these had their own unique history, though much of this outside of archaeological finds is unknown to historians today given that the conquistadors weren’t really into preserving records. Because of this, there is little material to go on.

Assassin’s Creed is good at filling in blanks and could easily weave a narrative around the cultures in the pre-Columbian centuries, letting players climb pyramids and explore lush rainforests whilst immersing themselves in the mythologies of Quetzalcoatl and Itzamna and everything in between.

A sticking point is that there is no evidence of pre-Columbian contact of these peoples, so how would the Assassins and Templars have begun operating amongst them? The arrival of the Spanish could therefore be used as a backdrop, with Cortes’ destruction of Montezuma’s Aztec Empire and Pizzaro’s forays into Peru usable to great effect.

Plus, who wouldn’t want to do a leap of faith off of Machu Picchu?