Video Game Vintage Title: Assassin's Creed: Revelations

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

Assassin's Creed: Revelations is a 2011 action-adventure stealth video game developed and published by Ubisoft. It was released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in November 2011, and for Microsoft Windows in December 2011. It is the fourth major installment in the Assassin's Creed series, a direct sequel to 2010's Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and the final game in the 'Ezio trilogy'.

The story is set in a fictional history of real world events set in three time periods, and features three returning protagonists; Alta�r ibn-La'Ahad in 13th century Masyaf, Ezio Auditore da Firenze in 16th century Constantinople, and series protagonist Desmond Miles in 21st century America. The main story follows the Assassin Ezio's journey to unlock the secret of Alta�r's vault in Masyaf using disc-like artifacts containing Alta�r's memories. Intersecting with these historical events are the modern day activities of Desmond, who relives Ezio's memories to find a way to fight against the Assassins' enemies, the Templars, and to prevent the 2012 apocalypse.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations is set in an open world and presented from the third-person perspective with a primary focus on using Ezio's, Desmond's, and Alta�r's combat and stealth abilities to eliminate targets and explore the environment. One of the protagonists (Ezio) is free to explore the Assassin Base in the city of Constantinopole and the city itself to complete side missions away from the primary storyline.

The game was followed by Assassin's Creed III in October 2012, a direct sequel that continued the story of Desmond Miles and introduced a new 18th century playable character.

PLOT
Following the ending of Brotherhood, present-day protagonist Desmond Miles has fallen into a coma due to the combined stress of being forced into killing Lucy Stillman, being controlled by 'Juno' the hologram attached to the 'Apple of Eden' or a piece of Eden with hints of prolonged exposure in the Animus. While Shaun Hastings stays behind in Rome to attend Lucy's funeral, Rebecca Crane takes Desmond to New York and meets with his father, William Miles. In an effort to save Desmond's mind, the duo places him back in the Animus, though this time, in the machine's safe mode, known as the "Black Room."

Upon awakening on Animus Island, the original Animus testing program located within the Black Room, Desmond meets the consciousness of Subject Sixteen, who occupied Abstergo's Animus before him. Sixteen explains that Desmond's mind is broken, and the only way for him to repair it is by reliving his ancestors' memories until there is nothing left for them to show Desmond, at which point the Animus can separate Desmond from Ezio and Alta�r, and awaken Desmond from his coma.

Desmond enters the Animus Island's memory portal, which places him back in the perspective of Ezio Auditore. Four years after ending the life of Cesare Borgia, Ezio has traveled to the former Assassin's fortress in Masyaf to discover secrets Alta�r had previously discovered, and find the true purpose of the Assassins. Upon arriving, he finds Masyaf taken by the Templars, who mark him for death. Ezio escapes to the bowels of the castle, where he discovers the entrance to Alta�r's library. He learns that five disc-like "keys" are required to unlock the door; that the Templars have one underneath the Ottoman Sultan's palace; and the rest lie hidden in Constantinople, part of the Ottoman Empire. He travels there and is greeted by Yusuf Tazim, leader of the Turkish Assassin Order, and befriends a young student named Suleiman. Ezio learns that the keys were hidden in the city by Niccol� Polo. While searching for the old Polo trading post, Ezio encounters and befriends Sofia Sartor, a young Italian traveler and book collector, and eventually falls in love with her. Ezio discovers the locations of the remaining keys with Sofia's help, all the while keeping his intentions, growing feelings and position a secret from her.

Meanwhile, Constantinople is in chaos due to conflicts between Prince Ahmet and his brother Selim, who are quarreling over who will inherit the Sultanate. Caught in the middle of the conflict, Suleiman reveals to Ezio that he is an Ottoman prince (Selim's son), and that he suspects the Templars are behind the feud. Ezio uncovers evidence that Manuel Palaiologos, with Templar support, is attempting to raise an army to overthrow the Ottomans and reestablish the Byzantine Empire. Ezio kills Manuel and recovers the final key, only to discover that Ahmet is the true mastermind of the Templar plot to open Alta�r's library.

During these events, Ezio uses the keys in his possession to witness Alta�r's life after the events depicted in the first game. After killing Al-Mualim, Alta�r took possession of the Apple of Eden and assumed leadership of the Assassins. One of the Assassins, Abbas, did not support Alta�r due to past events, and for killing Al Mualim. When Alta�r and his wife Maria left Masyaf for 10 years to repel the Mongol invasion, Abbas staged a coup d'etat, seizing control of the Assassins and executing Alta�r's youngest son Sef. Alta�r sought revenge; but as Maria tried to stop him, another Assassin stabbed Maria in the back. Alta�r was forced to flee with his elder son, Darim, and went into self-imposed exile for 20 years. Alta�r finally returned to Masyaf, killed Abbas, then took his rightful place as the Assassins' leader. In the process, Alta�r told the dying Abbas the truth of the latter's father's death. Years later, an aged Alta�r encodes his memories on the five keys Ezio would find, entrusting them to Niccol�.

In Constantinople, Ezio discovers that Ahmet has killed Yusuf and kidnapped Sofia, demanding the keys in exchange for her life. Ezio agrees, but immediately gives chase upon ensuring Sofia's safety. He recovers the keys, but before he can deal with Ahmet, Selim arrives with his armies and executes Ahmet himself, after saying that their father "made his choice." Due to his son Suleiman's endorsement, Selim has Ezio leave Constantinople, warning him never to return again. After completing this memory, the Animus begins to delete excess data�including Animus Island. Sixteen sacrifices himself to prevent Desmond from being deleted by the Animus.

Ezio and Sofia return to Masyaf, where Ezio uses the keys to unlock Alta�r's library. He finds it empty except for Alta�r's skeleton and a sixth key. He discovers that the library was not meant to hold books�rather, it was a vault meant to house Alta�r's Apple of Eden. Through the key, Ezio learns that Alta�r had sealed himself inside to preserve its secret from the Templars. Ezio leaves this Apple in the library, saying "I have seen enough for one life." He then begins talking directly to Desmond, not knowing exactly who (or where) he is, but knowing that he is watching. While talking he discards his weapons. He tells Desmond that he realises that he is a "conduit for a message". He expresses hope that Desmond will be able to find answers to the questions he and Alta�r had worked so hard to uncover.

Suddenly, Desmond is approached by Jupiter, a member of the First Civilization. He explains that the First Civilization had built numerous vaults to study methods to save the planet from destruction. All of the data collected was transmitted to a central vault, where the data was tested. None of the methods were effective, however, and they failed to stop the solar flare from destroying their civilization. Jupiter shows Desmond the location of the central vault, which from the map is located somewhere in New York, and tells him that he must save the planet from an impending second solar flare.

Upon hearing Jupiter's words, Desmond awakens from his coma and finds Rebecca and William standing with him, along with Shaun, who has returned from Rome. Desmond states that he knows what they must now do; meanwhile, the central vault activates underground.