Assassin's Creed: Revelations Easter Egg Hunt

It is fair to say that the release of Assassin's Creed: Revelations on November 15th, 2011 was a celebrated event -- though the celebration was somewhat bittersweet due to the fact that Revelations is the final game in the series to feature the popular character of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who we encounter in Revelations as an old man nearing the end of his life.

A nobleman of Italian origins who we first met as a young man and cock-of-the-walk in Italy in the sequel title, Assassin's Creed II (2009), through Ezio we learned more about the noble history of the Brotherhood of Assassins, and new information about his ancestor, Altaïr ibn-La'Ahad, the protagonist from the game that established the series, Assassin's Creed (2007).

We met and interacted with the historical figure of Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, who in addition to factoring heavily as the inventor of many of the tools of the Assassin's trade, was a personal friend and even a mentor of sorts to Ezio.

Throughout the course of Revelations the three primary protagonists from the previous games are featured: Ezio, Altair, and Desmond Miles -- Desmond being the modern-day descendant and the man whose eyes we are really reliving all of the memories through.

In the weeks leading up to the release of Revelations a great deal of information was released as part of the PR campaign, including the official announcement that Revelations was to be the last game that would feature Ezio -- and the final game to be set in the Renaissance era. In addition to that news, word was quietly passed that Revelations would also set a record for the number of Easter Eggs in an Assassin's Creed game... And that got our attention!

The really amusing thing about this is -- and I am sure that the game really does have a massive number of Easter Eggs from the obvious to the obscure -- but the really amusing aspect is that due to its very well-established place in the firmament of iconic video game series, the Assassin's Creed games have themselves become a subject for a fitting Easter Egg homage or three in other video games! Off of the top of my head and without even trying I can name a number of Easter Eggs from other games that reference the AC Series, including:

-- Dead Island --

In the survival-horror post-apocalyptic thriller there is a weapon called "Assassin's Greed" -- which is classified in the game as a legendary weapon -- that consists of a sharp knife that is obtained from one of the special metal chests in the city of Moresby, or if you are really lucky, can be looted from a fallen zombie.

-- Dragon Age II --

The character of Varric has a special crossbow that he has named Bianca, like Bartolomeo d'Alviano's sword. If that was not obvious enough, there is also a very discrete homage paid to the AC Series in the form of the Hightown brothel named "Blooming Rose," which is a direct translation of the Roman courtesan headquarters, the Rosa in Fiore!

-- Grand Theft Auto IV --

After the player completes a challenging set of assassination missions for the mysterious figure known as "The Fixer," they unlock an Achievement called "Assassin's Greed" which is clearly a direct play on the Assassin's Creed name, the requirement for which is the completion of nine assassination missions, each of which closely parallels the nine assassinations from the first Assassin's Creed game!

-- Little Big Planet --

As part of the promotional campaign for Assassin's Creed II Ubisoft released a version of Ezio's Assassin Costume as DLC for the PS3 exclusive game LittleBigPlanet, and on November 15th (the day that Revelations was released) a new costume was released for Sackboy depicting him in the starting robes that Ezio wears! Now I ask you, how cool is that?!

-- Saints Row: The Third --

In addition to being cool in its own right, SRtT includes a rather obscure Achievement called "Everything is Permitted" that is unlocked for eliminating all of the assassination targets.

There are other games that have AC Easter Eggs in them, to be sure, but as we are only listing the ones we have actually played and seem, well, there you have it.