During fights or when running from hostile guards, the Assassin is in Wanted status, in which all guards attack the Assassin on sight. If the Assassin manages to break hostile guards' lines of sight or is doing suspicious acts, the Assassin enters Alerted status, in which normal guards watch the Assassin closely, but do not do anything. The Assassin starts off at the Anonymous status, in which normal guards ignore him. However, some skills cannot be used in combat, and exiting fights has a cooldown. During combat, players can attack, block attacks, use skills, or exit the fight. Assassinations are performed by tapping the Action button when a nearby guard has the Hidden Blade icon over his head. The Assassin can also blend into various people/structures by either pressing the Action button or running into blendable structures/objects, although the Assassin must be in Alerted status or below to blend. The player's Assassin can perform parkour by running towards climbable walls, hills, or objects, and will automatically perform parkour upon contact. Gameplay is similar to the original Assassin's Creed.

The game takes place during the Italian Renaissance and features locations such as the Colosseum in Rome, Firenze, and Monteriggioni, with a Forlì chapter released separately as a DLC on 18th May, 2016.

Assassin's creed identity gameplay