Collector's Editions

Assassin’s Creed Revelations Animus Edition

Assassin’s Creed Revelations released in 2011 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. I think it’s safe to say there aren’t a lot of games with more different versions than this one: the game has no less than eight special editions (though one of them came out a few months later), depending on what store sold them, platform they released on or region in the world. The edition in this article is the Animus Edition, one of the more extensive versions, for Xbox 360.

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The parallelogram shaped box is covered with lenticular lenses, and is supposed to represent the ‘Black Room’ of the Animus. You know, the empty screen you can walk around in during the loading times.

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On the top is a lid.

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This is what you see once you take it off.

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The game also comes with a soundtrack containing the ‘best of Assassin’s Creed’.

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The most impressive item that comes with this edition is a large, hardcover book called the Assassin’s Creed Encyclopedia. It’s filled with not only a lot of artwork, but also loads of texts explaining everything about the universe and the characters of the Assassin’s Creed series. Assassin's-Creed-Revelations-Animus-Edition-Artbook

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Then there is a DVD with Assassin’s Creed Embers, a short animated movie.

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Lastly, there is the usual redeem codes that unlock some extras in the game.

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What is a bit strange is that according to the picture on the back of the box, the soundtrack cd comes in a separate sleeve, but in reality it’s in the same case as the game itself. My guess is that they changed their original idea, or maybe in the US version of the Animus Edition it’s packaged like this and they didn’t change the picture. Still, feels a bit cheap.

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All in all, at 100 euros (I paid 90 due to a special offer) this was a pretty expensive Collector’s Edition and it doesn’t come with many extras. But the encyclopedia that comes with it is the most impressive book I have ever seen bundled with a collector’s edition. This book alone probably explains much of the price, since artbooks like this can cost about 60 euros when you buy them separately. A really nice extra for the fans.

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