Viewpoint

Altaïr on a view point at Jerusalem

View Points are any structure high enough for it to be possible to observe the surrounding terrain. They range from church towers and mansions' roof beams in the cities, to watchtowers and guardposts on the roads. They help reveal the map to the protagonist.

Assassin's Creed

File:Altair leap jerus.jpg

Altaïr performing a Leap of Faith from a viewpoint

In the first game, view points were found in all the cities (Damascus, Jerusalem and Acre) and in the Kingdom, excluding Masyaf. Each map contained 10 to 12 view points located on the highest buildings; such as a cross on top of a Catholic Cathedral, or the top of a lighthouse in the port-city of Acre, or a palace guard tower in the city of Damascus. Aside from by the height of those constructions, they could be located by watching the birds that nest there. Climbing atop one of the structures provided the means to activate (or Synchronize) the View Point, using the Head Button.

Those view points allowed Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad to observe the layout of the terrain around him and watch the movement of its people. After the first view point in a map was "activated," it revealed the location of the remaining points and missions within a certain radius.

Some viewpoints had archers defending the position, or guards set around and below it. They could either fire arrows or throw rocks to prevent a climber from reaching the top. When the player ascends to the synchronization point of the building, an eagle will be seen flying around the viewpoint, occasionally stopping to perch itself on the viewpoint. All the view points have carts or piles of hay on the ground at the very bottom, providing perfect and spectacular locations for the performance of an incredible-but-potentially-fatal Leap of Faith.

Achievement

On the Xbox 360 version you can get an achievement by synchronizing with all View Points.

Icon	Name	Description	Points	Secret?
	Fearless	Scale, and Synchronize atop, all view points.	25	No

Assassin's Creed II

Assassin's Creed II's view points function much the same and some are located on famous land marks of Italy. Ezio Auditore will not only be able to dive into carts and stacks of hay such as in the first game, but also into carts of flower petals, leaves and bodies of water. There are seventy-three View Points in the game (66 not including DLC's) and you get an achievement/trophy ("I like the view") by synchronizing with ten View Points. You can also get the achievement "High Dive" where you perform a Leap of Faith on top of Giotto's Campanile in Florence.

Venice Viewpoint

Note: The map will remain devoid of structures until the player has ascended a View Point in the area and synchronized with it.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

A View Point in Rome

View points function in the same way as in Assassin's Creed II, and there are 24 of them scattered around Rome, half of them being Borgia towers, and some of them are located on famous monuments, such as the Colosseum and Pantheon.

Trivia

• In the achievements for Assassin's Creed, the "Fearless" achievement refers to View Points as "Reach High Points". In other areas of the game they are also referred to as "Eagle Points".
• In Assassin's Creed, you may activate Eagle Vision once you have Synchronized the View Point. However in Assassin's Creed II and Brotherhood, attempting to hold "Y" or triangle will simply have Ezio "Interact" with the View Point, showing the camera spin cutscene. But it is possible to move off the View Point, activate Eagle Vision, and then move back onto the beam.
• The highest point that you can reach in Assassin's Creed is the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Acre.
• The highest point that you can reach in Assassin's Creed II is the Basilica Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence.
• The highest point in any Assassin's Creed game so far is the flagpole on top of the Castel Sant'Angelo, yet is not a View Point.