TITLE : Beyond Assassin's Creed 2: 5 locations to explore in the game and in real life

Along with only a handful of other members of the gaming media, last week I got the unique opportunity to visit and explore many of the primary locations found in Ubisoft's upcoming Assassin's Creed 2, which is set in the Italian cities of Florence and Venice.

The purpose for this extravagant trip was to witness the towering cathedrals, bridges, and gothic structures that the team has meticulously recreated for the game. They have gone to great lengths to capture the look and feel of these Italian locations, just as they were during Italy's Renaissance period, which is the historical focus of the game.

Ponte Vecchio

Jetlagged and over-caffeinated on Italian espresso, we entered the city of Florence (called "Firenze" in Italian) that's considered to be the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance. We made our way through the city's many narrow alleyways, past numerous gelato shops, and through throngs of people to reach Ponte Vecchio, which is a bridge you run across at the very beginning of Assassin's Creed 2.

Our tour guide, respected historian Marcello Simonetta, explained the origins of the bridge. Ponte Vecchio, which literally means "Old Bridge" in Italian, is located in an area of the city surrounded by gift shops. During the Renaissance period, this "wasn't a place dominated by the sale of imitation gold jewelry of course, but where numerous butcher shops were located."

Simonetta explained that the butchers "dumped so much blood and rotten meat" off the Ponte Vecchio, the Arno River below it eventually became a cesspool of vileness. In fact, it got to the point where it was so overwhelming the Medici family, who ruled Florence during the time of Ezio, had to step in and evict the butchers.

How you'll experience it in Assassin's Creed 2:

The bridge appears at the very start of the Assassin's Creed 2, and at this point Ezio has yet to don his white assassin's robe. At this early stage in the game, he's just a young and inexperienced nobleman not yet trained as killer. .Instead, the Ponte Vecchio serves as a backdrop for Ezio's first real battle where he learns how to break bones with his bare hands. Both Ezio and his brother engage in a massive street brawl against a rival Italian family. After the battle he can pick the pockets of his beaten and bloodied enemies, and use the loot to purchase new weapons and items.

The Duomo

It doesn't really matter where you are in the city. As long as you're in Florence, you can see the Duomo. It's a monstrously huge cathedral crowned with a reddish dome comprised of over four million bricks. The thing is so enormous that it's difficult to squeeze it all into one camera shot.

There's a lot to take in with the Duomo, from its detailed exterior that looks like it was carved out of bone, to its ceiling painting of The Last Judgment, which shows sinners being sodomized with fire and eaten alive.

It's easy to see why it took almost 150 years to construct. We actually climbed more than a hundred steps to the top of the dome, which, in retrospect, was probably a bad idea because of my crippling fear of heights.

Our guide Marcello shed some light on the Duomo's dark past. He told us that "it was here that Giuliano de' Medici ,the co-rule of Florence was viciously slain." On Easter Sunday he was "stabbed nineteen times" with a sword and finally "finished off with a lethal blow to the head."

How you'll experience it in Assassin's Creed 2:

Just like it is in real life, the Duomo is an impressive architectural feat in Assassin's Creed 2. In the game, Ezio can climb to the top of it, which qualifies as one of AC2's grueling new "climbing puzzles." It's not just another building to climb though. Giotto's Campanile, a rectangular bell tower beside the Duomo, is also featured in the game and it is one of the locations that Ezio can make one of the franchise's iconic swan dives from.