Social stealth

A major theme in this game is social stealth. Other games have worked with the idea of stealth play while out in the open, notably the disguises in the Hitman series, but few if any have included the crowd dynamics found in Assassin's Creed.

The social stealth system keeps track of how much attention is being paid to you and your actions. Citizens and guards will react to the way you treat and interact with them. While walking around the city and kingdom, you can either force people out of the way and to the ground or you can gently push past them. The first will attract a lot of attention in your direction but get you through the crowd more quickly, and the person you knocked to the ground may get up and push you back risking exposure if close to a assassination target. Gently pushing past or moving past people will attract no attention but will take more time. Socially unacceptable actions will also increase the attention that people pay you. If you quickly climb the front of a building then you will attract a lot of attention, as will jumping from a rooftop and landing in a crowd. Slowly climbing a ladder or dropping quietly into the street will attract much less attention when moving about.

Avoiding attention is key to a Hashashin's survival during an assassination, also a City Alert escape, remaining anonymous is top priority at all times and it is required within the Assassins Order, since your investigation missions and City Official Assassinations require you to be anonymous for success. Remaining anonymous will also refill your synchronization bar. If you attract too much attention, the omnipresent guards will recognize you as an assassin and try to kill you, ruining your anonymity. The guards are implacable and to a large degree always scanning the crowd for your presence another reason to remain one with the crowd, if easily dispatched, foes who will follow you over rooftops and chase you through streets, often while gathering reinforcements. A very important (slow paced) but guranteed way to assure anonymity is to Blend. Dressed as a religous scholar Altairs' mannarisms mimic theirs, an example folding the hands ensures very slow yet extremely safe passage. This advanced socially acceptable technique is utilized by the most serious of Hashashin. Remaining anonymous is of the upmost importance because number one it is strongly tied in with the second tenet of the "The Creed" and it assists you in not being exposed as an Assassin while tracking. Understand the crowd and know extensively how use that element to your advantage during your endeavors. Let the crowd mask your approach during assassinations and reveal yourself only when absolutely certain it's safe to do so ensuring your survival is key. Danger lurks everywhere at all times.

With the social stealth system you won't find any shadows to hide in if you are being chased by guards. Instead you have to escape their sight and then blend in with the surrounding crowd, like joining a group of scholars or ducking into a rooftop garden, you may also find a hay cart for assistance. The scholars have the added benefit of being a mobile source of social camouflage. Other places to hide after losing the guards are bales of hay, and even benches (while sitting between two people). The public is your greatest ally when used properly