10 Real-Life Locations In Assassin's Creed Games

10 Real-Life Locations in Assassin’s Creed Games

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Welcome to MojoPlays! Today, we’re looking at 10 real-life locations in “Assassin’s Creed” games; it’s like taking a walk through history.

“Assassin’s Creed III” (2012)

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Since the founding of America, New York has dominated as the country’s largest city and a major cultural, economic, and political hub. So, of course, it was going to be one of the main settings in “Assassin’s Creed III’s” explorations of revolutionary America. Though this is Manhattan before it was dominated by skyscrapers, it’s still a genuine and important piece of modern history, and is extremely faithful to what the tip of Manhattan Island looked like in the late 18th century – you can even compare it side-by-side with contemporary maps. But for any New Yorkers who want something a little more familiar, one of “AC III’s” present-day missions sees Desmond scaling a megastructure surrounded by high-rises.

“Assassin’s Creed” (2007)

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It’s one of the first game’s three major cities that Altaïr can explore, with the other two being Damascus – which remains the capital of modern Syria – and Acre. Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world and also one of the holiest sites for all three Abrahamic religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. That’s what makes it such a significant part of the game and world history. Some of the landmarks Altaïr can scale include the Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Both of these are still standing in Jerusalem today and are certainly more stunning in real life, but the game does do the significance of Jerusalem justice.

“Assassin’s Creed Rogue” (2014)

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Up until “Valhalla”, “Rogue” was our only real example of what the Arctic Circle would look like in “Assassin’s Creed”. Shay Cormac visits the Arctic in search of an Isu temple, and platforms through an icy landscape that was brand-new to the series – almost. One game earlier, Connor also explored parts of the Northwest Passage, encountering ships encased in ice just like Shay. In real life, the most famous wrecks like this were HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, which were trapped in sea ice during a voyage through the Northwest Passage in the 1840s. Connor visits the passage in the 1770s hunting for Captain Kidd’s lost treasure; while rumors exist that Kidd’s former quartermaster Hendrick van der Heul did find the passage, there’s no real evidence.

“Assassin’s Creed Unity” (2014)

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One of the most beautiful cities anywhere in the world, Paris and many of its major landmarks were wonderfully recreated in “Assassin’s Creed Unity”. The game begins in the nearby village of Versailles, home to the famous palace, and quickly arrives in Paris itself – giving you a whistle-stop tour of the Bastille and then Notre Dame Cathedral. Other places Arno can see include the Place de la Concorde, where Louis XVI was executed; the Hôtel de Ville where the revolutionary government convened; and the city’s famous, grisly catacombs. The only drawback is that Paris’s most famous monument, the Eiffel Tower, didn’t exist in the 1790s when the game primarily takes place – so of course, they found a way to add a sojourn to World War II where Arno scales it.

“Assassin’s Creed Odyssey” (2018)

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Six of the seven wonders of the ancient world no longer exist, which is why “Assassin’s Creed” has taken every opportunity to recreate them in its games set in antiquity. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia is a vast, famous statue in Elis, built by Phidias. It was constructed at some point during the fifth century BC; interestingly, however, there’s no clear historical record for how the statue was lost or even in which century – but it was certainly gone by the fifth, meaning it stood for around 900 years. When it appears in “Odyssey”, it’s during the Peloponnesian War and Phidias himself is still alive, so it’s only just been constructed.

“Assassin’s Creed: Revelations” (2011)

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Ezio left Renaissance Italy behind for Constantinople, traveling to the city only a few decades after it had fallen to the Ottoman Empire. Ezio needs to scour every inch of this legendary city to find the keys to access Altaïr’s library. Some of the sights he sees include the Great Chain, one of the city’s major defenses which he also destroys; Maiden’s Tower, which still stands in Istanbul to this day; and, of course, the Hagia Sophia. This grand church was originally a Christian structure but the city’s capture by the Ottomans meant it became a mosque. Today, it’s Turkey’s most famous landmark by a mile and one of the world’s most beautiful buildings.

“Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag” (2013)

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Still the capital and largest city in the Bahamas, Nassau was founded by the British but had devolved into a pirate haven for many of Europe’s dissatisfied privateers in just a few decades. There were many more pirates in Nassau than regular people in the eighteenth century, so many that it grew to be the pirate capital of the Americas. It’s also where notorious, fictional pirate Edward Kenway makes his base of operations in “Black Flag”, along with other famous faces like Blackbeard, Anne Bonny, Mary Read, and James Kidd. Nassau is beautiful and dangerous in “Black Flag”, though many of its monuments, like the Old Fort of Nassau, are now in ruins.

The large villa that the Auditore family calls home after being forced to flee Florence at the beginning of “AC II” didn’t actually exist, but the town it’s situated in certainly does. Monteriggioni is a small, walled town in Tuscany, that wasn’t of much interest to tourists until it was chosen to be a major Assassin stronghold in 2009. Investing in the town’s businesses was a core mechanic of “AC II”, and in “Brotherhood” it’s still a vital part of the Brotherhood’s operations despite the move to a larger hideout underneath the Tiber in Rome. Because of the game, Monteriggioni has seen a booming tourism industry develop, with “AC” fans coming from far and wide to see where Ezio’s Uncle Mario lived.

“Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” (2020)

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It’s one of the UK’s oldest monuments and something most “Valhalla” players will be itching to lay their eyes upon – though, unfortunately, it’s in one of the game’s highest-level regions in the Kingdom of Wessex. Still, when you finally arrive, it will blow you away with the sheer size of the huge stones. In real life, Stonehenge is located in Wiltshire and can be visited year-round, and there’s an exhibition dedicated to explaining the monument’s Neolithic origins. Many things about Stonehenge are still mysterious, including precisely why it was constructed, and “Valhalla’s” version of Britain would have been sorely lacking without it.

“Assassin’s Creed Origins” (2017)

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Of all the wonders of the ancient world, the only one still standing today is the Great Pyramid of Giza in the heart of the Giza Pyramid Complex. The pyramids were already around 2500 years old by the time Bayek explored them in “Origins”, but rendered in-game, their white, limestone coating and golden tips are still intact, making them perhaps more beautiful than their real-life counterparts. Not only do you get to climb the pyramids, but you can also explore the ancient tombs within – and of course, the Great Sphinx is nearby as well, though it won’t challenge you with a riddle. And if one ancient wonder isn’t enough for you, if you head to Alexandria, you’ll be able to see another masterfully restored: the Lighthouse of Alexandria.