Assassin’s Creed II – Ritorno a Venezia
Recently I had the opportunity to go to Venice on holiday. This is my second visit to that amazing city. If you remember, a few years ago I went to Venice, came back, and immediately started playing the Assassin’s Creed series. Well I was fully aware that the result of this trip would be yet another play through of the second Assassin’s Creed game and sure enough that’s exactly what happened. Actually, this is my third play of the game and you know what? It still holds up after all this time.
But I don’t just want to go over old ground and say how amazing the game is – I think I’ve made that point often enough. Instead I want to try something a bit different. This time around I managed to visit some of the places in the actual city that you can explore in the game – and I’m not just talking about the streets and squares, I mean some of the churches. For this article, I want to compare how the game interpretation holds up with the real life location. You may remember I did something similar a long time ago with various locations around Piazza San Marco – or St Mark’s Square – but I want to go a little more in depth this time.
First of all is the Basilica dei Frari – or, to give it its full name, the Basilica di Santa Maria Glorioso dei Frari. This is a church to the west of the Rialto bridge, which we came to after a long and winding route. Our destination was not the church itself, rather the pizza place just next to it. It’s a very impressive building from the outside, built in the Venetian Gothic style. It was built by the Franciscans and construction took 88 years – 1250 to 1338. A number of famous Venetians were buried there including several Doges.
Inside are a large number of paintings and monuments including very elaborately designed choir stalls and altars. In game this church is a Templar lair which you can explore to find treasure. It’s not as detailed as the real version – probably due to technology limitations and various other issues – but it has the look of being under construction or restoration. Nevertheless, the five giant alcoves at the front are recognisable, as are the choir stalls. In fact, when I went into the real one I had a bit of deja vu, as if I’d been there before, jumping around in a white robe!
The next place I want to look at is probably the most famous church in all of Venice – the Basilica San Marco in St Mark’s Square. We actually visited this as part of a guided tour, and the sheer scale of the building was breathtaking. We were told that the mosaics in the roof consisted of billions of tiny gold pieces, and that construction of the church itself took 30 years, and decorating took 300! We could see where different art styles had evolved in the mosaics – some of which started relatively simply and became more and more complex as they continued.
A long time ago, I asked if the rendering of the church in-game was at all accurate to the real place. Having been to both versions fairly close to each other I can say that it is. The version in-game is incredibly well-detailed. The mosaics in the roof, while not exactly identical to the real ones, are just as detailed. The mosaic on the floor in the centre of the church – which converts into the Assassin symbol to open the chamber underneath – was covered over by a carpet in the real church, if it actually exists (minus secret chamber of course!). The love and care that’s gone into this place is plain for all to see.
Opposite the Basilica, dominating the square, is the Campanile di San Marco, the current version of which was rebuilt in 1912 after the original collapsed in 1902. The views from the top – reached by a lift and an 8-euro entry fee – are amazing. From up there you can see the entire city and some of the mainland. In fact, the photo at the top of this article was taken from up there. The version of the campanile in the game is not as big – as you would probably expect – and the view is a lot more limited as Venice itself is a lot smaller. It does, however, give you the feeling that you are looking out over a great city.
Finally there’s one location I wish had been in the game but wasn’t. The small island of San Giorgio Maggiore, with its church, monastery and campanile, is well worth visiting. The view from the top is an amazing view of St Mark’s Square, and the church and island themselves are a nice break from the bustle of the main city. The current church that stands there was built between 1566 and 1610 by the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio. The original church was built in 790 but was destroyed by earthquake in 1223. It was subsequently rebuilt and then rebuilt once again to the building that stands there now. In game you can see the island off in the distance, along with the island of Giudecca, however they cannot be reached – and I’ve tried. It’s a shame as it would have provided a bit of extra depth to an already amazing game.
