Sure, Unity may have been a mediocre game and the latest two entries in the franchise have shaken things up significantly. But Ubisoft’s choice of composers and sound direction for the games has remained one of the pillars holding together the franchise through a rough transformative period. From Jesper Kyd’s iconic pieces that have woven themselves into the series’ identity to Lorne Balfe’s intense songs that pull you into the action, the Assassins have always had the upper hand when it comes to inspiring tunes. To look back on one of the most influential franchises in the industry and how it has evolved throughout the years, I’ve decided to rank the top 15 songs in the whole game series. Considering everyone has their favorites, I’ll make sure to keep things varied and represent most main games in the franchise. Believe me: if it was up to me, this ranking would be 100% sea shanties.
15. Versailles for Sore Eyes – AC Unity
View on YouTube This slow and deceitfully calm song perfectly encompasses what Versailles represents both in the games and in real life. It’s a controlled space, an area separate from worldly struggles where everything transpires by design, like clockwork, or so it’ll have you believe. Beneath the clear cut boundaries and geometric gardens lie intense ambition and passion, waiting for a chance to spill all over the tapestry.
14. Myrrine – AC Odyssey
View on YouTube This song, named after the daughter of King Leonidas and mother of the misthios, is the best version of “Odyssey” which is the game’s main theme. The intense and heartfelt humming is what truly breathes life into the music, and turns it into a memorable song that shines a light on how much of a good idea it was to get Mike Georgiades involved in composing the score along with The Flight.
13. Venice Rooftops – AC II
View on YouTube Venice is among the most beautiful locations visited by the Assassin’s Creed franchise. This song, one of the most action-packed in the game, builds up tension slowly but constantly. Perfectly accompanying the adrenaline-filled suspense of running through rooftops, taking down guards, and vanishing into thin air.
12. Bayek of Siwa – AC Origins
View on YouTube While I think Origins didn’t necessarily have the best soundtrack in the franchise, it did have a couple of gems that shined through the muddy waters of an unremarkable score. One of them is this high-tension epic tune that accompanies Bayek of Siwa, founder of the Assassin’s Brotherhood. Its unique composition and choice of instruments does an amazing job at capturing the menacing nature of such a figure, as well as projecting a more “Egyptian” feel than most songs in the soundtrack.
11. The Hunter – AC Rogue
View on YouTube Rogue is one of the most unusual entries in the AC franchise. Following Shay’s life as an assassin-turned-templar was a great experience, despite the game sometimes feeling like a cash grab on the part of Ubisoft. Elitsa Alexandrova composed a score that broke with the series’ style so far. Which was perfect for a game that put you in control of a templar as a twist. The Hunter, which plays while giving chase to Hope Jensen, is the song that best encapsulates Shay’s struggle.
10. Fight Club – AC III
View on YouTube It’s hard to pick out the best songs from one of Assassin’s Creed’s greatest scores to date. Lorne Balfe did a marvelous job revitalizing the sound of the franchise and infusing it with a tribal, grassroots feeling that went well with the game’s early-American setting. I remember hearing this song in several fistfights throughout the game and it always reminded me of the stereotypical image of an Irish pub brawl. It gets the blood pumping and keeps a positive kind of tension going, which perfectly accompanied the notorious lack of chain-stabbing and other forms of wanton murder that comes with the use of blades.
9. Main Theme – AC IV: Black Flag
View on YouTube Among the best renditions of Ezio’s Family, what we know as the “Assassin’s Creed Theme”, lies this intense and bombastic arrangement that serves as Black Flag’s main theme. The choice of instruments transmits a very “piratey” feel reminiscent of the Pirates of the Caribbean, without leaving AC’s classic flair entirely behind. It’s a more commercial action-packed song that feels like it belongs in a blockbuster movie. And it highlights the fact that Black Flag is supposed to be an in-universe game developed by Abstergo Entertainment.
8. Trouble in Town – AC III
View on YouTube I’ll never forget frantically running after Charles Lee, both of us gravely wounded, just so I could kill him and take out all of the rage and frustration I had accumulated while trying to get 100% synchronization in that sequence. No damage from fire? We were running through a burning ship! This was the song playing throughout the scene. It’s an amazing composition that makes most players think of running, of continuing despite setbacks and keeping their eyes on the prize.
7. Waltzing on Rooftops and Cobblestones – AC Syndicate
View on YouTube Assassin’s Creed has always been about the complex dance of parkour and murder… of shadows and the blades that pierce them. Austin Wintory did an amazing job composing this lovely song that wonderfully transmits that feeling. With Sandy Cameron on the violin and Tina Guo on the cello, this accurately-titled song is the perfect background for the battles fought in the darkness to decide the fate of London.
6. Underground – AC Syndicate
View on YouTube Now this song, like the game it belongs to, is every bit about London as it is about the story’s characters as individuals. The Creed is almost secondary here, and perhaps that was a good thing. That being said, this song plays in a moment that’ll speak to any long-time fan of the franchise. Shaun and Rebecca are caught in a life or death situation. You don’t know whether they’ll make it, and losing them would be too much after saying good-bye to Desmond in AC III. This tune made the situation all the more cinematic and the emotion in the singer’s pleading voice brought to mind the thankless job of fighting for freedom as an assassin and the toll it takes on those that do.
5. Main Theme – AC III
View on YouTube The best main theme in the franchise has to be the one for Assassin’s Creed III. The occasional vocals, the intense high-tempo beat, and the choice of instruments just feels perfect for the time period. It hints towards the clash between wilderness, tradition, and new developments that the game throws us in the middle of. I’d say this song also elicits the most epic feeling of struggle and pursuit of ideals that Assassin’s Creed is all about.
4. Leave Her, Johnny – AC IV: Black Flag
View on YouTube Sea shanties are what saved the franchise and helped keep it engaging after Assassin’s Creed III. I mean, look at Unity. It had no shanties and was totally a mediocre game. OK all joking aside, sea shanties did play a major role in making the sailing and piracy aspects of Black Flag so enjoyable. And it’s been a core part of the Assassin’s Creed sailing experience ever since. This specific song is all about abandoning old things in search of new possibilities. All of the memories you’ve made can’t keep you from progressing, and so we say goodbye to friends, places, or just the world of the latest Assassin’s Creed we poured so many hours into completing.
3. Ezio’s Family – AC Origins
View on YouTube Sarah Schachner took Origin’s soundtrack down a more subtle, suggesting road than previous entries in the franchise. Because of this, the soundtrack works more as a whole experience rather than having specific songs that make or break it. That said, this reprise of the original Ezio’s Family theme is one of the best heard in the series so far.
2. Enough for One Life – AC Revelations
View on YouTube Revelations was all about wrapping up Ezio’s story. It was a long journey full of struggle and loss, but also adventure in equal measure. The character we first met as a naive Italian womanizer had become a wise old man right before our eyes. And none knew more than us just how much the man had earned his rest. This song encompasses this feeling remarkably by accompanying the final moments of our journey with Ezio perfectly. Now all I need is to listen to this song to travel through visions of Firenze, Rome, and Istanbul along the man that reformed the Brotherhood.
1. Ezio’s Family – AC II
View on YouTube The first spot on the list has to go to the song that became synonymous with the franchise after its appearance in Assassin’s Creed II. The haunting vocals and iconic melody will make any long-time fan feel something deep inside any time they listen. It’s a reminder of all of our adventures and the characters we’ve met so far. While Lorne Balfe and many others have given their spin on the Assassin’s Creed formula, it was Jesper Kyd that created it—and this song is the perfect example.
