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Feature

The Places You'll Go In AC Revelations

by Joe Juba on May 23, 2011 at 08:00 AM

The Assassin’s Creed series is renown for its depiction of historical time periods and cities, and Revelations continues the trend with even more impressive locations for players to explore. Leaving Italy and Rome behind, Ezio will travel to a variety of places that let players view the Assassin’s Creed universe from a different perspective.

Masyaf

Like the original Assassin’s Creed, Revelations’ story begins with Masyaf. Ezio travels to the Assassin’s fortress in search of secret knowledge once held by Altair, but he finds the area overrun by Templars.

“He goes back to Masyaf in search of answers,” says creative director Alexandre Amancio. “He wants to find the library there to learn more about the Order. He follows the footsteps of Altair to Masyaf. What begins as a pilgrimage turns into a race against time.”

Ezio can’t complete his mission on his first visit, but he will return to Masyaf at the end of the game once he has collected every piece of the puzzle. Assuming Ezio succeeds in finding out what Altair knew, Masyaf is likely to be the place where we learn crucial information tying into larger Assassin’s Creed mysteries.

Constantinople

This ancient metropolis serves as the primary setting for most of Revelations’ action. Ezio may be the highest ranking Assassin in the world, but he is still an outsider in this vast and complex city. Relying on aid from other Assassins to learn the ropes, Ezio soon becomes familiar with the delicate political situations in the city that is essentially the cultural center of the sixteenth century.

“Constantinople is a massive city. It actually spans two continents – on one side is Europe, and other Asia,” explains Amancio. “This is the center of the known world at that time. The spice trading and all that related trade happened through Constantinople. It was one of the main reasons that Europeans tried to go around Africa – because Constantinople was this great hub controlled by the Ottomans. And, essentially, everything needed to go through that city.”

In Revelations, Constantinople is split into four distinct districts: Constantin. Beyazid, Imperial, and Galata. Each one sports a different visual style, from the poorer areas of Constantin to Galata’s bustling port. This ensures that even though players will be spending a lot of time in one city, each area has its own distinct vibe.

Cappadocia

In a departure from the cities one normally finds in Assassin’s Creed, Cappadocia isn’t just populated by regular civilians. This underground stronghold is a Templar city, but not just in the sense that it is under Templar control; it is populated by the sworn enemies of Ezio’s order.

“Part of it is above ground, but its true secret is underground,” Amancio says. “This is the first time something like this has been done in the franchise. We have this complete underground city.”

An underground, Templar-filled city may sound like something Ezio would be better off avoiding. However, the Templars are undoubtedly hiding key information at their seat of power, so Ezio will have to take the risk and explore Cappadocia’s caverns and twisting tunnels.

Rhodes

While Ezio won’t necessarily travel there, players will get to experience Rhodes as a new multiplayer location. In the sixteenth century, the island of Rhodes is under the control of the Knights Hospitallers, who have built palaces and castles, effectively transforming the island into a fortress. However, Rhodes has a long history of occupation by different cultures, and in the timeframe of Revelations, the Ottomans are attempting to claim it for themselves.

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