6. The Return to Masyaf
Is this Ezio's most badass moment? Undoubtedly. The E3 trailer for Revelations was stunning. It provided the motivation for gamers to re-live Ezio one more time, and gave insight into what we should expect from the game. The darkness that is usually missing from the Creed games is heavily present in the trailer, and the fact that the most beloved character in the series nearly gets hung proves this point. When we talk about the extended part (not the one with the cool song), we talk of the Italian's narration. It is obvious that we rejoin him after living many years of his life as mentor, which is entirely different from what we know as Brotherhood (taking place a matter of seconds after AC II). It may not be an obvious point to make, but this time difference shows the other differences between Revelations and the rest of the Ezio trilogy. The setting is changed. The plot line has changed. The characters have changed. Nearly everything has. It is sometimes underestimated how much of a big step Ubisoft made when creating Revelations. When Ezio arrives at Masyaf in search of answers (just as we are after Brotherhood) he meets what he fears most - Templars. To make a long story short, he kills a lot of bad guys then nearly gets hung. I know this description doesn't do justice to what occurs in the sequence, but it's important to explain the significance of what happened - but not literally. Without the chaos that Ezio seems to always be in, we would not have clarity on what the Assassin's struggle is about. No matter how close Ezio is to death, he will always leave fighting. This symbolises why the war has never ended - a final blow has never been landed. It also symbolises the importance of Revelations, the whole game. In this clip, Ezio fights (and murders) a whole lot more people than what we've seen before - doing so with much more of a purpose. He knows that what lies in Masyaf is a lot more crucial than his quest for revenge, or his overthrowal of Borgia rule. He understands that what he finds will change the war, and the world, forever. For the extended clip used in the game, click
here. For the E3 trailer with music from Woodkid, click
here.