Assassin's Creed : Revelations

By Tristan Tancredi

Ubisoft has transported gamers back to the Renaissance to don the trademark hoody of everyones favourite Assassin.

In a series with noticeable flaws and gameplay mishaps there was always one aspect which held the game in high regard: The Story.

Revelations follows its predecessors with an exceptional (sometimes confusing) storyline. Arching back over the first three games, Revelations involves all three protaginasts, Ezio Auditore, Altair and Desmond Miles.

Combining all three characters, Revelations pretty much ties up all the loose ends from the previous games.

To add a bit of sense to the storyline, here is a quick rundown on the plot for all three characters.

Desmond Miles: 

Desmond starts out where Brotherhood left off. His mind is fragmented and he is trapped in "The Black Room" inside the Animus. 

Desmond must separate his own self from those of his ancestors. To do so he must play out the final stages of his ancestors, Ezio and Altairs, lives.

Memory missions are available on 'Animus Island'. Spatial problems and puzzles are the key to discovering more about Desmond's past. These missions offer a nice change of pace to the regular gameplay on offer.

Ezio Auditore: 

With the help of Yusuf Tazim (leader of the local Assassin Order) and Sofia Sartour (Italian book collector and love interest), Ezio Auditore must track down clues (memory discs) left behind by Altair throughout the town of Constantinople in the year 1511 AD.

Along the journey Ezio must appease the conflict between Prince Ahmet and his brother Selim, who are quarreling over who will inherit the Sultanate.

Ezio is the prime focus in Revelations as gamers parachute from viewpoints, assassinate from zip lines and, as is traditional in the Assassin's Creed Franchise, traverse the rooftops of a massive open world environment.

Altair: 

Upon each collection of a memory disc, gamers are transported to the memories of Altair. Playing through these memories, gamers uncover the secrets of the Apple of Eden (amongst other things).

All three storylines meet brilliantly in one truly remarkable scene at the conclusion of the game.

The cut scenes look amazing throughout this visually stunning game with minor glitches and jagged graphics encountered rarely. Running through the courtyards and market stalls of Constantinople is a real treat for the eyes.

Combat is enhanced with bombs, a hook blade and varying counter manouvres. The usual combat problems reared their ugly head at times. The main culprit of course being the controls not doing what you want them to do. This normally leads to a controller going through the closest wall.

Two of the biggest additions to Revelations are 1- Bombs and 2 -Den Defence. An eclectic selection of bombs are available throughout the town of Constantinople. Bombs can be used to divert guards from their posts or to destroy larger groups of enemies.

Collect the ingredients needed to make your own bomb or, if lazy, purchase them from a number of 'Black Market Traders' spread throughout the town, the addition of bombs adds a fresh combat alternative.

Den Defence places gamers as the 'General' of the battle zone. Instead of getting Ezio's hands dirty, gamers must orchestrate tactical defences to withstand the enemies advances using riflemen, arrow men and Assassin's.

Although an interesting addition that gives something new to the franchise, we weren't fans of it. If we wanted a tactical war game, we would buy a tactical war game. 

New gaming options are available in Revelations including Bookstore and Romani missions yet the main storyline missions become repetitive. If you aren't tracking an enemy, you are assassinating them from a rooftop.

With no horseback riding in this game, the developers at UbiSoft chose to include more horse and cart scenarios. These missions however lack the suspense and challenge that the creators were hoping for.

Ubisoft has announced that downloadable content will be available in December, 2011. starting with The Ancestors Character Pack. Features four new multiplayer characters: the swashbuckling Privateer, the devious siren Corsair, the battle-tested Brigand and the bloodthirsty Gladiator. Each character is personalised with unique taunts, weapons and stylised assassination moves.

With a heavy focus on narrative, the multiplayer aspect wouldn't be a top priority for the people at Ubisoft. Despite this, there is a lot of fun to be had online. Ranging from Capture the flag, Deathmatch and story orientated quests, gamers can rank up and develop their online profile.

A word of advice, this game is a tad confusing. Even after playing all of the previous games, there was still a bit of "What the hell?" or "Huh?". Good luck trying to comprehend what's going on if this is your first AC game.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations is nontheless a great addition to the franchise, just don't expect all to be revealed just yet.

Game: Assassin's Creed : Revelations
System: Playstation 3, XBox 360, PC
Developer/Co-Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft

Rating: 80%

(Ratings Key/Explanation)