Assassins Creed and Timeless Architecture

Climbing a tower in Assassins Creed 1. Image from Ubisoft.com

Leaping from a tower in Assassins Creed 1. Image from Ubisoft.com

I couldn't talk about architecture in video games without mentioning the Assassins Creed series. The first of the series came out in 2007 and offered an interesting plot by having the protagonist play a simulation of the life of his ancestor through the 12th century Holy Land events. Although there was nothing new in the interactivity of the open world in Assassins Creed, as these types of worlds already existed in Tomb Raider, Grand Theft Auto and other RPG and first person action adventure games; however the technological advancement of graphic cards in personal computers and consoles allowed an incredibly detailed world to be presented in past time for players. Who wouldn't want to play a character in a city during the crusades or in Milan, Rome or Venice during the Renaissance or in Paris during the French Revolution, or in London during Industrial Revolution. Sure there was a plot to it but as an architectural student I enjoyed traveling to different locations through different times and studying cities and landmarks of cities at best times of recreation and revolution. All while interacting with the architecture, climbing the buildings, going inside them, discovering hidden rooms and tombs underneath the landmarks, solving puzzles, or even just reading about the different districts or works of arts, crafts and architecture all within the game database. Basically for me it was like travelling into those cities and seeing the landmarks without ever leaving my room.

Scenes from Assassins Creed 2 in Venice in 16th century. Image from Push-start-play

Here is a wiki on the entire series of Assassins creed.