8 Fantastic Fourth Wall Breaks That Blew Gamers Minds

8. Assassin€™s Creed 2 €“ Minerva€™s Reveal

Minerva Assassin€™s Creed 2 was an awesome game and pretty much a perfect sequel. It took the faults of the original game €“ and they were legion €“ and remedied them, creating just a better product all round, really. The combat was good (even if it was entirely based off reversals), the exploration was good, the setting was marvelous and the plot was pretty damn decent too, with Ezio€™s tale providing us with enough intrigue and impetus to continue throwing ourselves off Italian rooftops. But then came the ending, and one of the more impressive mind-blowers conjured up in a videogame. I guess they had to do something spectacular to remedy the final boss fight €“ which was effectively you beating up a fat man in a World Heritage Site €“ but hot damn, they really pushed the boat out here. Throughout Assassin€™s Creed, you€™re always aware that you are in a virtual world €“ in fact, it makes for a pretty novel way of structuring the overtly gamey parts of the narrative €“ but for the most part, Ezio€™s trials and tribulations were played straight. However, this was all thrown out the window come Minerva€™s appearance €“ she just comes up and starts talking point-blank to the camera, addressing future-Desmond and by extension the player. She even tells Ezio he€™s not important because he€™s being controlled, landing him with an existential crisis while blowing your socks off. I know some people didn€™t like this ending, but I honestly thought it was extremely well done, with the fourth-wall breaking providing an excellent rug-pull.
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Durham University graduate and qualified sports journalist. Very good at sitting down and watching things. Can multi-task this with playing computer games. Football Manager addict who has taken Shrewsbury Town to the summit of the Premier League. You can follow me at @Ed_OwenUK, if you like ramblings about Newcastle United and A Place in the Sun. If you don't, I don't know what I can do for you.