Assassin's Creed maps ranked by aesthetics and utility – not size

One exciting thing about Assassin's Creed Mirage is its return to compact maps. Exploring the sprawl of Ancient Greece and its outlying islands is a massive undertaking, and while I love perching on a viewpoint to stare out across the dunes in AC Origins, some of the best Assassin's Creed games prove there's joy to be had in smaller packages.

Set in 9th century Baghdad, we now know that Mirage's map size sits between Revelations and Unity. Ubisoft is scaling back the open world exploration of the RPG trilogy considerably, honing in on the dense urban bustle of earlier titles instead. Tighter spaces will provide opportunities to feel like a real assassin again, but does a small and stealthy map immediately make it better? Here's how 10 Assassin's Creed maps measure up in terms of beauty and practicality, along with their overall sizes to see how Ubisoft has made the most (or least) of its spaces over the years. Remember, this is not a ranking of the games in general. Don't execute the messenger.

10. Assassin's Creed Valhalla

Map size: 142km² (including sea)

It sports one of the biggest maps of all AC games to date, but Assassin's Creed Valhalla is simply not the prettiest. The Viking adventure sees us traveling across Nordic territories and ye olde England by ship or on foot, laying waste to our enemies as Eivor. Despite its frankly baffling size, however, Valhalla loses points when it comes to the utility of its space. Staggering historical accuracy means that you can travel for miles and get seemingly nowhere, the landscape is dreary and barren at times, and even for someone who enjoys a good open world runaround, there's only so much snow I can trudge through. We love you, Valhalla, but getting around is just too much of a time-waster when I have nothing much to look at.

9. Assassin's Creed 3

Map size: ~2.34km²

Set in colonial America, Assassin's Creed 3 sees locked and loaded Connor traversing three main map areas – four, if you include Davenport Homestead – to avenge the brutal murder of his family. The remastered version still holds up well today in terms of visuals, and being able to fast travel to cities instead of viewpoints lets you explore them easily. Parkouring around comparatively smaller structures in urban areas feels fluid and fast, but there's still plenty of wilderness to explore besides that if you're looking for a break. It's a great example of balancing environments so the maps never feel stale, even if, like me, the historical context doesn't strike you as particularly iconic from an aesthetic perspective.

8. Assassin's Creed 2

Map size: 0.67km²

It's a fan-favorite that cemented the series' legacy, and Assassin's Creed 2 is still a visual delight despite being 14 years old. Ubisoft had come into its own in the second mainline installment, opening up its maps and adding new features to help us navigate them. The total playable area is more than triple the size of Damascus in AC1, but this time Venice and Florence feel alive, flourishing, and suitably glamorous. Ezio can enlist courtesans or use crowd-blending to reach his targets in anonymity despite the population density, while larger structures offer good hiding places to pounce on unsuspecting targets from the shadows. The remastered version allows us to appreciate the architectural details of the map in all their Renaissance splendor, but we never feel lost in an urban wilderness.

7. Assassin's Creed Revelations

Map size: 0.94km²

Ezio's last hurrah takes us to the historic setting of Constantinople in Assassin's Creed Revelations. It's our current frame of reference when looking ahead to what upcoming Assassin's Creed game Mirage's map might feel like, and that's not a bad thing at all. Featuring a smaller map to go roof-hopping across, the hustle and bustle of the city does well to trim the fat of later titles by not incorporating anything resembling a grassy countryside to go frolicking in. This keeps us tightly-focused on the story itself, and boy is it a good one. Sure, it's not as visually striking as the grand Roman setting of its predecessor, but Assassin's Creed Revelations is a beautiful, snug playground that effortlessly lends itself to the series' staple stealth machinations.

6. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

Map size: 1.41km²

Italy might be Ezio's usual haunt, but Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is in every way an aesthetic improvement when comparing maps. Even though it's one of the shorter mainline Assassin's Creed games, the atmosphere and graphics overhaul alone makes Rome shine far brighter than Venice or Florence. This is especially impressive considering the game launched just nine months after Assassin's Creed 2, more than doubling its playable map area and feeling far grander for it. Traversing the classic city is an utter joy, sunlight casting dramatic shadows against populated streets for moments of appreciative awe as you search for your target. It might not have the sprawling territory of the RPG entries, but Brotherhood is proof that little space can go a long way if you have decent map design in your corner – and a fast travel point nearby.

5. Assassin's Creed Unity

Map size: 2.40km²

The only reason Assassin's Creed Unity doesn't rank higher for me in terms of beauty is that I keep getting stuck on silly pieces of scenery. Collision gripes aside, I can't deny that Arno's adventures in Paris are a visual delight. Causing mayhem in the city of love is a smooth and effortless joy, even with the French Revolution exploding all around you, thanks to new and improved freerunning mechanics that make traversing dense streets a lot easier. The map is also far smaller than the vastness of Black Flag, though that makes sense with its city setting. Paired with stunning period architecture and environmental textures, it's a shame that an unfortunate mangle of game-breaking bugs made many Creed fans dismiss it on principle. A few are still scurrying around in there today, but the only thing I found truly alarming during my most recent playthrough is the bizarre English-accented French being spoken by some of those "Parisian" NPCs. 

4. Assassin's Creed Origins

Map size: 80km²

Ubisoft took the series in a whole new direction with Assassin's Creed Origins, and from an aesthetic perspective, I absolutely loved it. Creed shines when it gets to show us historical places in their prime, and as Bayek explores the sandy metropolis of Ancient Egypt we see not one but two unique Wonders of the World. The Lighthouse of Alexandria was destroyed over a thousand years ago, so getting to experience it through such a beautifully immersive game is a treat to be taken in greedily. My only issue with Origins is that getting around Egypt can be a mission in itself, with jarring movements and labored parkour mechanics aplenty – do I even need to mention the weird way Bayek climbs stairs? The good news is that being the first of the RPG Creed trilogy, it makes sense that Bayek struggles a little with the climbing bit. It's certainly more realistic than the way Evie and Jacob can just leap across entire streets, but I'll get to my favorite twins next.

3. Assassin's Creed Syndicate

Map size: 3.70km²

I might be biased by my own fascination with Victorian England, but Assassin's Creed Syndicate has one of the most beautifully fun and accurate open world maps of the whole series. Not only does Syndicate encapsulate the duality of Victorian London as both gritty and grand, we get to experience it through the eyes of the enigmatic Frye twins. Playing as two distinct characters presents us with separate but overlapping storylines, Evie and Jacob interacting with the world in very different ways despite occupying the same spaces. Whether you're performing a leap of faith off Big Ben, looting Blighter cargo on the River Thames, or taking the Prime Minister's wife on a jaunt through an infamously dangerous slum, Syndicate's London is brimming with a gloomy charm that looks as good as it feels to play.

2. Assassin's Creed Black Flag

Map size: 235km² (including sea)

It's a monster of a map, and for good reason: Assassin's Creed Black Flag sees us captain the Seven Seas. The sheer size and scale of the thing offers seemingly boundless territories to explore, both on foot or by fleet, so it's a mercy Ubisoft used it to introduce fast travel between viewpoints to make exploring more manageable. The swashbuckling pirate adventure is considered by many to be some of Ubisoft's finest work. It encourages structured yet inquisitive exploration of its huge expanses, avoiding the pitfalls that would soon be suffered by sea-faring Valhalla a decade later. There's always something to do in Black Flag, and sometimes I forget that it doesn't count as an RPG entry. 

1. Assassin's Creed Odyssey

Map size: 256km² (including sea)

Assassin's Creed Odyssey feels like the perfect middle ground between what Black Flag and Valhalla offer at their best. The baffling open world map of Ancient Greece comprises smaller districts, towns, and islands to explore, with plenty of side quests, bounty hunts, and branching narrative elements to offset the brawn of your adventures. Odyssey strikes a deft environmental balance to give us untamed wilderness, detailed urban bustle, and ship-based combat that feels neither clunky nor unnecessary in the broad, brilliant scope of things. It's truly a work of art to behold, solidifying its place not only as a gorgeous game to look at but an even better one to live in.

Check out some other upcoming Ubisoft games for more on what the publisher has in store.