Assassin's Creed: Revelations

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Publisher: Ubisoft

Platforms: PS3, PC, Xbox 360

By Harry

The new Assassin’s Creed game does not just continue the story of Desmond, Ezio, and Altair; it completes the lives of Ezio and Altair and gives new direction to Desmond as he prepares for the grand finish to the Assassin’s Creed trilogy. First, although Ezio is now a middle-aged man, he has retained his incredible athletic abilities and has risen in influence, becoming the mentor to the entire Assassin Order. Altair is now 60 (and later even older) and an incredibly powerful mentor to the Assassins, through not just physical powers but mental acumen and charisma. There have been very few expansions that have ever had such a sense of purpose within a series, and Revelations is an excellent addition to the Creed universe.

Old Ezio

It seems like every Ubisoft employee under the sun must have had to work on this project to have gotten it looking so good, and so soon after Brotherhood. The newest member of the series is not as good plot-wise as 2, but it outdistances Brotherhood by a significant margin. The plot twists and dialogue feel much more realistic in this entry, and the motives behind Ezio, Altair, and Desmond's actions can be related to. In Brotherhood, I felt like Ezio was striving for a goal he only wanted half-heartedly, while in this entry his quest for knowledge and completion of his journey seemed very understandable, driving the game.

Just hanging around...

The gameplay coming out of Revelations is exceptional. It often felt that every new idea that Brotherhood had begun to bring into the series was fully developed in Revelations. Revelations is overall a solid entrance in the series offering dozens of hours of entertainment in single and multiplayer. The combat system has been improved even more from Brotherhood, assassination much smoother, and there are some enemies that actually pose a danger to the player. For the last few entries in the series enemies have seemed to be growing weaker and weaker, but now with the inclusions of Janissaries the combat has been rebalanced. These enemies are still very beatable, but in groups they are a threat to even experienced players. The movement system in the campaign had been made even more exact, and has been sped up significantly with the inclusion of zip lines. I did not even notice that the ability to ride horses had been removed until a few days after finishing the game, showing that it has really had no effect on the gameplay. 

Altair returns.

The campaign has a decent number of missions, with the main story split between finding secret assassin keys and fighting the Templars for control of Constantinople and the Ottoman Empire. This split works well, as it always kept me interested, and gave me something to do. The economy has been increased in size, and the idea of the Templar-controlled zones from Brotherhood has been expanded significantly. This time however you will be forced to fight for any area that you take unless you train a master assassin to hold the base for you. This kept the action of the game going, even after the credits rolled, but the tower-defense mini game which I was thrust into every time I had to defend a base was difficult to get into, and the bosses at the end of the battles were often impossible to overcome. This section of the game was particularly weak, and it stood out as being the major flaw in an otherwise excellent game.

Istanbul was Constantinople. Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople. 

The city of Constantinople is a city without equal, and one of the best cities ever designed in the series. The cities and terrain of an Assassin’s Creed game become important characters, defining the feel of a location, and ultimately affect how much fun one has with the game. I felt Constantinople was a perfect location, packed with urban areas that allowed Ezio’s climbing abilities to shine through. The underground city of Cappadocia was excellently presented, as I felt the area almost alien when walking its streets. There are many powerful moments in the game including an escape from Constantinople by ship that has the player setting fire to most of the great harbor of Constantinople.

FIRE!

One of the most interesting things attempted by Revelations are the memories within memories. Through Desmond, the player experiences the memories of Ezio as he explores the memories of Altair. Wrapping up the life of Altair was an enjoyable experience, as the old man has some strength left in him, even to the end. I found these sections interesting and varied, and enjoyed how they broke up the main experience. Revelations is accurately named, as there are a huge number of reveals about the struggle going on in the fictional future, and the dangerous event that wiped out the first civilization, and may yet wipe out humanity. The player also learns much more about Desmond this time around, going into an optional first-person platforming section of side quests in which the player puts Desmond’s shattered consciousness back together, and learns more about his past. The platforming is at times annoying, with poor controls and difficult levels, but I still found it entertaining for what it revealed about Desmond's life.

I felt that this game was one of the more accessible releases from the series, as enemies were not as difficult to defeat as in the original, and the story would be engrossing even if someone had not played an early entry. This time the story went beyond just a quest for revenge; Revelations is about journeys for knowledge, coming from within characters, and from their interactions with the world. I think most people would deeply enjoy it even if they are not already invested in the series.

Ezio gets a new look. 

By the end of Revelations the player will feel very ready for Assassin’s Creed 3, which should be released before any more expansions. This game was a highly enjoyable experience that is far more than just filler before 3, and I would recommend it to not only Assassin’s Creed devotees but also new players who want to play an excellently built game. I could not play the multiplayer, as I do not have online capabilities unfortunately, but I did not feel as though I was missing out on anything.

Grade: A