10 Time Periods We'd Like To See Explored More In Video Games

The revelation that Assassin's Creed 3 will be set during the American Revolution has made waves in the world of gaming, and with good reason: it's about time we gamers got to explore some more real world-based settings that aren't World War II or the near future.

A few people saw it coming, helped along by various leaks. But it wasn't that far of a stretch, was it? We don't recall any games before Assassin's Creed that were set during the Crusades or in 16th century Italy, after all.

And as much as we love to mock Call of Duty's annual, cookie-cutter releases, Black Ops' Cold War narrative was one of the most compelling in the series to date. It all begs the question: what other eras would we like to see explored more in games? Read on!

Note: All research for this article was done on Wikipedia. Journalism!

Now that we're covering the American Revolution, the next logical place to take games is clearly the Civil War. Real time strategy titles like Sid Meier's Atietam and Gettysburg have gone there, but it would be great to get a perspective on events that's not isometric.

The Civil War is one of the most dramatic and important periods in American History, and a game in which you take control of a Confederate or Union soldier on the front lines (literally; everyone stood in lines taking turns shooting at one another) could bring that to life better than any text book or documentary. On the other hand, we'd be just as happy with Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter: The Video Game.

By the time everyone's favorite assassin, Ezio, gets to Rome, the place has already mostly gone to shit. Climbing around the ruined Colosseum in AC: Brotherhood is certainly better than being led around by tour guides in real life, but we'd rather experience Rome at its height—and during its fall.

The exact time of and reasons behind the fall of Rome are still debated by historians and video game reviewers, but most agree that the German Chieftain Odoacer's deposing of Emperor Romulus Augustus in 476 AD was the final nail in Rome's coffin. Of course, that single event was preceded by centuries of political intrigue and barbarian invasions.

The era is perfect for some action/adventure gameplay. We can't even decide whether we'd rather play as a Roman or a barbarian; we've heard you make more money as a Roman, but you have more fun as a barbarian.

We've seen Les Miserables (the movie and the stage show). Isn't it time to play the video game? The French people's fight for Enlightenment—equality, inalienable rights, not getting beheaded for splashing mud on the king's poodle—at the end of the 18th century would certainly resonate in today's political climate.

America seems on the brink of class warfare as it is, and exploring the French Revolution on a dramatic, human level—say, in a video game—might get gamers that much interested in a real-life political revolution. At least maybe it would inspire us to get off our asses and vote.

Plus it would be fun to play as a the small-in-stature but big-in-presence Napoleon Bonaparte, equipping platform clogs and using skill points to buy taller horses so the troops will actually take us seriously.

The House of Romanov ruled Russia for over 300 years, but it was at their decline that things really got interesting. They were like the Kardashians, but with even more vodka.

The events surrounding the family's execution at the end of their imperial rule served as the inspiration for the '90s animated feature Anastasia, and plenty of characters involved were like real life video game heroes and villains—Rasputin gave us nightmares when we were kids, and we'd love to fire a cannonball through his virtual face in a February Revolution-themed game set in 1917 Russia.

The English may be a sedate people with bland food and silly accents these days, but they weren't always like that. Back in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Brits were too busy conquering the fucking world to care about what kind of tea they were going to have with their scones.

By the early 1900s, their massive empire encompassed a fifth of the world's population. We'd love to play as a gentlemanly but tough British conqueror steamrolling over foreign cultures simply for the sake of expansion.

On the other hand, assuming the role of an Indian or Chinese native fighting against the oppressive British rule would be educational as well. And by educational, we of course mean violent and exciting. We are still talking about games, after all.

Mesopotamia's golden age—or, more accurately, its bronze age—placed it at the center of culture and civilization between about 2900 and 1100 BC. That's a pretty large span of time, but it's one that certainly deserves to be explored.

Plenty of epic Biblical shit went down, like the infamous construction and smiting of the Tower of Babel, not to mention the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and other historical wonders that probably actually happened. Throw in some supernatural elements—we dare you to figure out how they grew all those plants in the middle of the desert without magic—and you've got yourself a video game.

20th century American history has been popping up everywhere lately, in film, television and games—Mad Men is insanely good, L.A. Noire was in many ways a triumph, Black Ops covered the Cold War, etc. HBO's Boardwalk Empire has proved that the prohibition era in the 1920s was surprisingly exciting, considering no one was supposed to be drinking for well over a decade.

It was the golden age of gangsters, and even a historically accurate game could feature plenty of shootouts, smuggling runs, kidnappings, political intrigue, and all the other makings of a compelling game.

Plus, everyone loves to run around games like Bioshock, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mass Effect downing booze as the screen gets blurry for ten seconds to simulate the effects of being wasted; why not make a whole game about it?

We considered going with the more general period of westward expansion in North America, but we realized The Oregon Trail has that covered, and then some. And Red Dead did the whole cowboy thing, although granted Mr. Marston was a little old-fashioned for a gentleman in 1910.

But the mid-19th century was an exciting and dangerous time for lunatics looking to seek their fortunes and likely ruin their lives by heading to Cal-ee-forn-aye-ay the second some sap discovered gold at Sutter's Mill.

Few of them came back with much more than they started with, but playing as a lawless forty-niner staking claims and doing anything he can to survive the wild west would be a fantastic premise for a game.

Until the Spaniards rolled in and crapped all over everything the Mayans had every created, the South America natives were an incredibly advanced people. Their advanced art and culture were second in popularity only to their super-fun human sacrifice, they had a written language way before it was cool on that continent, and they even predicted the end of the world.

There's plenty of room for intriguing stories to take place during the height of this incredible civilization, right up to its conquest by the Spanish during the 16th century. Although you could also argue that Zuma encompasses everything you need to know about this culture.

Speaking of Spanish conquests, the age great of explorers is the perfect untapped setting for a game. Pioneers like Sir Frances Drake (ancestor of our favorite modern day treasure hunter, Nathan Drake), Hernan Cortes and Christopher Columbus pushed violently Westward, all in the name of progress, mowing over entire civilizations with wanton disregard for any culture but their own.

It was all epically tragic, and witnessing the "discovery" of America, the downfall of the Aztec Empire and the corruption of spice trade monopolies in a high-production game would be beyond cool.

Naughty Dog could easily go mega-retro with the Uncharted series, providing some context for all the cryptic maps and dusty journals Nate Drake is always sticking his nose in. Throw in some old school nautical gameplay and we're sold.

If you've got a better idea than the ones we've mentioned (and we're sure you do), go ahead and let us know in the comments or on Twitter!