Awesome Music / Assassin's Creed

aka: Assassins Creed 2016

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Video Games

Assassin's Creed (2007)

• While the first game's soundtrack is not as memorable as, for example, the second, the theme of Jerusalem, appropriately named City of Jerusalem, is most definitely extremely beautiful. What makes it even better is the fact that composer Jesper Kyd combined Middle Eastern with Christian music themes to show how the city was still separated into Muslim and Jewish parts back then.
• "Access the Animus". Nine minutes of exactly why Assassin's Creed wins so very, very hard. A steady progression from quiet and deadly atmospheric ambience to stealthy evasion to outright incredible action music.
• "Red in the Face". It's almost worth getting detected just to listen to this while freerunning.
• "Spirit of Damascus" sounds like it could be just slightly out of place (it would be very fitting for an Ancient Egyptian city) but this track and the scene accompanying it the first time you hear it give a taste of what's to come in terms of Scenery Porn, not just in this game, but in the entire series following it.

Assassin's Creed II

• There's "Flight Over Venice" and Part 2, along with "Back in Venice".
• The most distinctive score is "Ezio's Family", which is played in opening sequence of the game. It may give you second thoughts after you discover the Auditore family's fate. It's so memorable it became the anthem of the whole franchise.
• Earth, especially as it plays when Ezio finds his father's iconic Assassin's robes and suits up for the first time.
• The beautifully frenetic Venice Rooftops plays during most race and courier sequences, both in the main story and in side missions. Later remixed for Ezio's crossover in Soul Calibur V. A remix of "Ezio's Family" runs through this piece. It is particularly poignant that said remix can be taken as a reference to Ezio's own thoughts as he free-runs, remembering back in the carefree days when he used to do this with his brother, before the latter as well as his father and younger brother were hanged by Templar conspirators.

• Sanctuary, a poignant and beautiful piece that plays through-out your time in Venice, that perfectly portrays the triumph and heartbreak Ezio must feel being an Assassin.
• Hell, let's just say EVERYTHING in Venice, including Dream of Venice. Combined with the Scenery Porn, it makes it probably the most enjoyable city in the entire game.
• The truly lovely "Peace at Forli" first plays when Ezio and Leonardo sail from Forli for Venice and then memorably plays during Ezio's "No More Holding Back" Speech in the Bonfire of Vanities DLC and then finally makes a stirring comeback in Assassin's Creed Embers playing during Ezio's final moments and the letter he left behind. It's Tear Jerker music at its finest.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

• "City Of Rome", while similar to "Flight Over Venice", has a haunting depth to it.
• The organ and choir music used as leitmotif for the Borgia is deliciously ominous. Not to mention the dramatic effect whenever Ezio destroys a Borgia tower.
• "Countdown" combines Terrible Ticking percussion and creepy Latin whispering to create an incredibly tense piece of stealth music.
• To beautifully accompany the massive and tragic Cliffhanger at the end, the end credits combine both "Ezio's Family" and "Venice Rooftops" into one, and they flow surprisingly well into each other.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

• The song from the E3 trailer is "Iron", by Woodkid. It is an amazing piece, both musically and lyrically (though they can be difficult to understand — see here) and sends chills down one's spine on repeated listenings, playing as it does over Ezio being an utter badass.
• "The Forum of the Ox", which plays while you're jumping across ruined ledges to chase a boat over deadly rapids. Truly an Assassin's Creed moment.
• Although only an advert, the music to the Assassin's Creed: Revelations trailer was just brilliant.
• "Laboured and Lost", which plays during the game's ending, showing the end of the First Civilisation. It's truly a powerful moment and the music just heightens that. Its awesomeness must be seen to be believed.
• "Welcome to Constantinople" is incredibly melodious and light, a sense of serenity, hope and new horizons all at once, which captures Ezio's feelings in Istanbul and his late age.
• "The Revelations theme" is worth a mention. Soft, sombre, and haunting for the main part; turned dramatic and powerful by the end!
• "Enough For One Life", which plays when Ezio "speaks" to Desmond through the Animus. A beautiful and haunting rendition of the game's main theme.

Assassin's Creed III

• "Trouble in Town", the angsty, turbulent music which plays during the Boston Tea Party, and when you are chasing Charles Lee. The mission is That One Level at Full Synchronization but if you time it right, its the ultimate chase music for the ultimate chase sequence. It also plays during the credits.
• "Modern Assassin" is the "Modern Day" version of "Trouble in Town"; this plays whenever Desmond is in a fight.
• There's also this unreleased track that plays when Connor travels through the forests and the frontier.
• The unreleased track called Homestead theme from III captures the solitude, peace and beauty of the settlement in the forest and also sounding like a mix of Native American and European themes, without being either, symbolizing the harmony which sadly never happened.
• Though its part is unfortunately short, the Fight Club theme is a fantastically fast-paced piece both catchy and fun.
• "Boston and New York Fight and Escape". The "Fight" part gets more and more intense as more enemies joins the melee, and you absolutely want to be chased by many enemies just to hear the "Escape" part.
• "Connor's Life" perfectly captures just how painful Connor's story is.
• The main theme, which comes in three different flavors.
• "Eye of the Storm", perhaps the most tense of the handful of naval battle tracks. This was the first game in the series to use sailing and ship battle mechanics and it only got better from here on out, but subsequent games' soundtracks for naval battles don't quite match up to this one—you might be tempted to put this on when you're sinking ships as Edward, Shay, Aya, or the Eagle Bearer!

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag gives us delightfully Pirates of the Caribbean-esque triumphant boarding themes among many others.

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• Black Flag is filled with numerous actual sea-shanties that you can collect on land, including favorites like "Drunken Sailor" and "Spanish Ladies", but also obscurities like "Randy Dandy Shanty". These shanties can be played by Jack, one of your crew, like the 18th Century version of GTA Radio and when sailing in rough weather, truly makes the game a magical experience, making you bond with your crew and the surroundings and feel the excitement of being part of the Wooden Ships and Iron Men generation. Especially "Fish in the Sea" when played in a rough gale or in a storm:
  Windy weather, boys, stormy weather, boys,
  When the wind blows, we're all together, boys;
  Blow ye winds westerly, blow ye winds, blow,
  Jolly sou'wester, boys, steady she goes.
• The tavern songs that are played by a live crew with violins and old guitars are lovely. "The Trooper and the Maid" and "Blow the Candles Out" are both bawdy songs. Then there's "The Parting Glass", a traditional Scots-Irish folk song played at the end which sums up Edward's entire journey and the game.
  • The most fitting tavern song for the game, for its theme and setting is "Here's a Health to the Company".
    "Here's a health to the company, and one for my lass,
    Let us drink and be merry, all out of one glass,
    Let us drink and be merry, all grief to refrain,
    For we may or might never, all meet here again."
  • For those who have an interest in historical popular music (and fans of Sharpe), "Over the Hills and Far Away" is a real standout:
    Our 'prentice Tom may now refuse
    To wipe his scoundrel master's shoes
    for now he's free to sing and play
    over the hills and far away

    Over the hills and o'er the main,
    Through Flanders, Portugal, and Spain,
    Queen Anne commands and we'll obey
    Over the hills and far away
• The pause menu theme is a hypnotic loop that is both peaceful and somber, fitting for the aftermath of Desmond Miles' Heroic Sacrifice.

Assassin's Creed: Rogue

• Forest Swords' original work, Hood was created for the announcement trailer, and sounds very foreboding.
• Streets, a motif that appears throughout the soundtrack to signify the wide-open winter-world that Shay explores, would not sound out of place in a game like Skyrim.
• From the trailer and Legendary Ship battles comes David and Goliath. A fittingly epic piece to depict the overwhelming power and menace of a ship like the Storm Fortress finally being overcome by the Morrigan.

Assassin's Creed Unity

• Lorde's cover of Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) set to the trailer, anachronistic as all get out, but awesome.
• After using Woodkid's "Iron" for the trailer of Assassin's Creed: Revelations, they use another track, "The Golden Age" for the CGI trailer introducing Arno and Elise.
• And from the co-op trailer, we have Pistols at Dawn.
• This was chosen for the Launch Trailer.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate

• The Toydrum remix of "In the Heat of the Moment," by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.

• Underground, the song that plays during the final modern day sequence as well as over the credits. The lyrics are particularly haunting, especially if you think of the various Assassins we've known throughout the years and in particular, Desmond.

  Those who fought for something better,
  Those who taught by how they lived,
  Loved ones taken long before their work was done...

• This game also brings back Ezio's Family from Assassin's Creed II, which has now become the iconic theme of the entire franchise, in the form of Family.
• "Jokes Jokes Jokes" is a manic, fast-paced tavern song that perfectly matches the mad theatricality of Maxwell Roth and ridicules him at the same time.

Assassin's Creed Origins

• "The Main Theme" which incorporates tunes from other songs in the soundtrack and combines them into one song.
• "Apep's Vengeance" serves as the background music for stealth in certain enemy camps, and transitions into a louder and faster version of itself if you get caught.
• "The Battle of Krokodilopolis" plays in the background of random fights, but will always play when doing the arena or getting in combat near the aforementioned city.
• The game's version of "Ezio's Family" which combines the feeling of the original song and the overall sound and theme of this game's soundtrack into one, and it sounds amazing.

• "Moonlight on the Nile", which plays generally at night when wandering Egypt, is a great piece for evoking the mysticism and grandeur of Ancient Egypt.

Assassin's Creed: Odyssey

• "Legend of the Eagle Bearer", the main theme of Odyssey, instantly lets you know that you are in for a true Greek epic with the incredible vocals and strings that encapsulate the massive scope of the game you're about to play.
• "Assassin's Creed" is Odyssey's take on "Ezio's Family", and it's easily the most epic sounding version of the franchise's theme song. Of particular note are the excellent lead vocals and the intense percussion.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla

• The haunting trance of "Hrafnsmál" ("The Words of the Raven") by Einar Selvik. The lyrics are based on skáld poetry, and Vikings fans will feel at home.
• "Leaving Valhalla". The main theme has been slowed down and made almost tragic. In its use in-game, it takes on a more empowering tone as the music to Eivor's defeat of Odin.
• "Ragnarok - Twilight of the Gods" plays only after Eivor meets the Grand Maegister of the Order of Ancients, at the very, very end of the game. You've got the game's main theme, and on top of that, you've got Einar Selvik giving it his all as he sings some verses of the Völuspá. This is as much of an ending showstopper as this game has, and it sells it.
• Because no Assassin's Creed game would be complete without it, we have Ezio's Family - Ascending to Valhalla. Primal, pounding, majestic, haunting, beautiful. It's the perfect mix of the more gentle melody of Ezio's Family mixed with the far more brutal and dark themes of Valhalla.

Assassin's Creed: Mirage

• "Into the Light", from the cinematic trailer, is three and a half minutes of pure, unfiltered Middle Eastern instrumentation. Harsh, yet beautiful strings and percussion that build and build in intensity before finally reaching their climax and transitioning into a gorgeous rendition of "Ezio's Family" for the finale.
• "How Villains Are Made", from the story trailer. Madalen Duke's otherworldly voice sings about a person with conflicting loyalty that ends up succumbing to villainy as a result while haunting strings and pianos play to drive home the tragedy.
• "Mirage", the game's main theme. The main melody is exceptional, as are the Arabic vocals that kick in midway through. Best of all, however, is the drop that kicks in roughly two minutes into the track, when the percussion gets intense before mellowing back out to end the song with one more play of the main melody.
• "The Shadows We Walk", which plays during the intro, is a slow, somber song that has some digital sounds throughout, bringing to mind the Animus, while a lone man sings in Arabic, "This is not fair of you. You have been gone a long time. If they ask me about you, what would I say?"
• "Daughter of No One" plays during Basim's training at Alamut. In addition to the growing instrumentation, Tunisian singer Emel Mathlouthi sings Arabic lyrics, adding something special to the song.
• "Tales of Baghdad", one of many songs that can play while you explore the city of Baghdad. This song in particular makes excellent use of echoes and reverb to sound almost ethereal.
• "Incense Trails", a slow, gorgeous, and haunting piece with gentle woodwind and strings playing over a droning synth. It's a bittersweet song, sounding both beautiful and mournful.
• "Pools of Blood", one of the combat themes. Not only is it high-intensity throughout, with pounding percussion that never lets up, but it also makes great use of synthetic, dubstep-like sound.
• "Ezio's Family - Mirage Version" is, easily, the darkest version of "Ezio's Family" in the series so far, with a minor key, somber instrumentation, and a lone man singing in Arabic, "Where is my home? Who am I?" It's haunting, and it's absolutely beautiful.

Others

Assassin's Creed ( 2016 Film)

• The whole soundtrack by Jed Kurzel (brother of director Justin Kurzel), from dark and ambient melodies to adrenaline-filled themes that boast Hispanic and Moorish undertones for the Animus action sequences.
• "This Is My World" by Esterly ft. Austin Jenckes, featured in the second trailer. Not only is it badass by itself but it connects to the film in ways from foreshadowing the prison break, to describing the Bleeding Effect, to setting the tone for the experience of Animus regressions.

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