Summary
An assassin’s home may be in the streets, blended in among the crowds, but when a job goes foul, or they simply need a place to meditate on the creed, restock, or rest, a secret hideout becomes one of the Brotherhood’s most essential assets. Typically, eachAssassin’s Creedgame allows the player toupgrade and develop their secret base, turning the neglected and run-down safehouse into a covert palace to store their equipment and hang out with their trophies.
This serves as a long-term side activity and storyline that gives players something to spend their money on besides pointier daggers or dye jobs for their hoods. An Assassin (or Hidden Ones) bureau provides effectively the same services and gameplay functions as a hideout, but unlike the series' hideouts, the player does not have a hand in their development and thus will not be counted.
Smokey, grand, and housed within a mixture of stone and grand architecture, the Galata hideout is exactly what someone might imagine when evoking an assassin hideout. The well-placed assassin headquarters, as seen inAssassin’s Creed: Revelations, is connected to several locations across Constantinople via a secret tunnel system and also houses some of the most important texts and relics relating to the history of assassins from around the world.
The library, perfumed with incense and furnished with fine-quality Ottoman items like rugs, pillows, and tapestries, all lit under a surprising amount of natural light, is the perfect place for Ezio to gaze backinto the past at his predecessors, thematically appropriate for a game about coming to terms with one’s own mortality and incoming winter years. There is less base-building gameplay than previously seen, as the Constantinople franchise was, for once, functioning before Ezio’s arrival.
The Victorian era, depicted inAssassin’s Creed Syndicate, was undergoing a steam-powered revolution, and that is exactly what the Frye base does in-game as well. Rather than being in one fixed location, the hideout train circlesthe vast London metropolisand acts as a mobile base to plan operations, refill ammunition or consumables, or pull a pint in the train’s very own pub. Like many British dwellings, the hideout is a little cramped due to all the rooms being squeezed between each carriage.
While the idea of rolling a means of transportation into a safehouse sounds like a winning idea, in practice, the hideout’s constant movement is more of a pain than it is useful. Getting onto the train without resorting to fast travel is tricky, and it is a wonder why Ubisoft didn’t program the train to slow down upon either of the Frye twins' approaches. Nevertheless, the cozy, compact, but a little snug makes the train a chuffing classic.
Perhaps because, unlike its predecessor,Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhoodhas the player spending their money to build up and garner influence across the entire map, which happens to be Rome, the thende defactocapital of Europe. It is not as well-hidden as other locations in the series, but it is well-placed. Its island puts it out of reach for most guards and is surrounded by services such as the blacksmith right next door.
Though not as grand as Ezio’s former home, the family villa, the layout is efficiently planned and laid out in step with Roman tradition, which should pleasefans of Roman or Italian history. Besides, property prices in the big city will always be much higher than in the countryside. Although the base is a bit sparse and flat, it is an efficient design, and who wouldn’t appreciate spending time in a structure with magnificent Romanesque vaulted ceilings? Most impressive of all is the ritual room, which is used to anoint new master assassins when they come into their own.
Assassin’s Creed 3may not be the series' fan favorite, but its story of colonial power, rebellion, and the rise of a new nation is cleverly told through two narratives. In the main story, as is tradition in Assassin’s Creed, Conner meets most of thesignificant figures of the time, from Benjamin Franklin to George Washington. The player gets to see how the yearning for simple freedom in the face of tyranny does not come from its leaders (who are, more often than not, just as interested in oppression as the kings of the old world) but grows in the hearts of the smallfolk.
This second story plays out through the base building mechanics of the Davenport Homestead. Rather than spending coins to make upgrades as before, Conner can complete quests to draw newcomers in. These people provide services and enhancement components to the homestead, and over time, a grassroots community arises full of familiar faces. The homestead also has a neat basement hideout with a hidden lever and sliding wall entrance with all the expected amenities and showcasing options.
InAssassin Creed 4: Black Flag, the estate on Great Inagua, an island in the Caribean Bahamas, formally owned by an unfortunate Templar, serves as Edward Kenway’s navel hideaway. The above area is a posh living space that can be decked out with the finest decor, thanks toa little pirating finesse. Just below is a cavern that seems to exist purely to store filthy great piles of loot with a back exit that leads to a shoreside cove.
Great Inagua is a great home away from home (Edward’s true home, of course, being the Jackdaw and the high sea). The island is expansive and a wonderful place to explore for those missing the sturdiness of land. Plus, the armor set behind bars beside Edward’s planning desk is a surefire motivator to keep plundering the high seas in search of those elusive Templar keys.
Grand, iconic, and the gold standard for the Assassin HQ: Villa Auditore inAssassin’s Creed 2is perfect within and without. Surrounding the magnificent estate is Monteriggioni, a small town in dire need of patronage and town planning. Embodying the spirit of the Renaissance, Ezio acts not as a ruler but as the town’s benevolent investor, an act that not only benefits the people but rewards him by unlocking new equipment upgrades and beautiful works of art for his home, Villa Auditore.
Once restored to its former glory, the villa is almost a work of art. Additionally, each upgrade rewards Ezio with the ability to reach new secrets. Best of all, the secret hidden behind the bookcase in the study, Sanctuary, serves as a museum ofthe assassins' greatest heroesand their artifacts. This hidden area is not only beautiful but offers some of the series' most tantalizing assassin lore. Villa Auditore gives Ezio a reason to return regularly and not just collect his paycheck. Visiting the hideout is a pleasure akin to exploring a work of art from the inside.
