Assassin's Creed is a 2007 historical fiction action-adventure open world stealth video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the first major installment in the Assassin's Creed series. The game was first released on the Xbox 360 and later released to the Playstation 3 in November 2007, and was later made available on Microsoft Windows in April 2008. The game primarily takes place during the Third Crusade in the Holy Land in 1191, with the plot revolving around the Secret Order of Assassins, based upon the Hashshashin sect. The player is in reality playing as a modern-day man named Desmond Miles, who, through the use of a machine named the "Animus", is allowed the viewing and controlling of the protagonist's genetic memories of his ancestors, in this case, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, a member of the Assassins.
Through this plot device, details emerge of a struggle between two factions, the Knights Templar and the Assassins, over an artifact known as a "Piece of Eden", an ancient artifact used to control minds. The game received generally positive reviews, and won several awards at E3 in 2006. The game spawned a sequel, Assassin's Creed II, which was released in November 2009. Since the release and success of Assassin's Creed II, subsequent releases have been yearly with various other Assassins and time periods.
