Assassin's Creed: Revelations Review

Assassin’s Creed Revelations is the last part of Ezio Auditore and Altair’s era as they follow the order of the Assassins eliminating corrupt leaders around the world. Ubisoft has created a complex storyline which would make us think that it would be an elegant last chapter for these two Assassins.

Story

The story starts off with Ezio in Masyaf during the year 1511; this place is the headquarters of assassins in Altair’s era. Within the walls of the fortress is the location of Altair’s library which contains something that would end the war between the Assassins and Templars. But to open the library Ezio must acquire 5 Masyaf keys. To make things worse, as he arrives in Masyaf he finds out that the fortress has already been taken over by the Templars along with one of the keys. He then travels to the city of Constantinople to look for the 4 remaining keys before it falls into the Templars hands. But to find these keys Ezio must find books that Niccolo Polo hid in Constantinople which contains clues to where the keys are located.

What a view indeed!

The main thing that you will notice while playing through the story is that it doesn’t maintain the standards that Assassin’s Creed 2 and Brotherhood had set. It lacks depth, sure it has remarkable cinematics but the story really focuses on collecting the keys. Though NPC’s this time round are interesting, like Yusuf and Sophia even your recruited assassins.

Gameplay

There wasn’t much of a change when it comes to gameplay. Button layout wasn’t changed but with the new features it has been altered a bit, animation wise. The Hookblade which is introduced to Ezio by an assassin named Yusuf; allows Ezio to scale large structures faster. Instead of using his hands to grab onto ledges after jumping across a big gap, he uses the Hookblade to avoid falling to the ground. Also with the use of this new addition, Ezio can use ziplines scattered across the city which speeds up city navigation and eases escapes. You can also vault over enemies, who are blocking your escape route, when this is done you can keep running away from pursuers.

Surprise attack! Oh wait he's looking this way...

Recruitng assassins have also been improved by adding interesting objectives for the first 10 assassins you recruit. When an assassin reaches the “Assassin” rank, you are able to assign him or her to an assassin den as the leader of the den. They will then be accessible for missions which are training them to be master assassins. Once they reach the master assassin rank, they will protect the den they are assigned to from Templar attacks. Being introduced in Brotherhood, this addition has definitely taken a permanent spot in the Assassin’s Creed’s whole gameplay.

Assassin dens are taken from Templars by eliminating their influence in a particular area. It’s a turf war which triggers one of the most awful addition in the game. Templars will attack the assassin den in a tower defence style gameplay. You place assassins on roof tops while Templar soldiers rush their way towards the den and be killed by assassins. It’s fun at first but then you realise that this contradicts the quietness of Assassin and Templar war. Therefore, I hope this addition will not make it further into the series. I understand the idea of adding mini games but I think they chose the wrong type of gameplay. Another mini game they added can be found in the Animus Island. What’s interesting with this mini game is the story; it revolves around Desmond’s early life. Sure the story sounds good but again the gameplay ruins it. It’s a first person puzzle platformer style game; you create your own platforms to step on in order to get further into the level. The idea sounds good and quite unique but when you start playing it you’d think otherwise.

Where do you think you're running off to?

However to make things a bit better, Bomb Crafting is introduced in the game. You are given ingredients to make different types of bombs. This allows you to make Lethal, Diversion and Tactical Bombs. You pick what type of fuse shell, gunpowder and what effect you want your bomb to have. After combing ingredients you can use them whenever you want to make things easier for you.

Online Gameplay

Assassin’s Creed’s multiplayer mode in Revelations also makes a comeback with more characters and locations for all assassin wannabes to competitively hunt each other online. Players can customize their characters’ appearance by changing their clothing style and colour. Weapons can also be changed by the player as well as taunt and stun moves. But options to change something such as weapons, needs the player to reach a certain rank for it to unlock and available for purchase with the use of Abstergo Credits which comes as a reward by finishing online matches. As for the online gameplay, the core mechanics is kept the same since it was introduced in AC Brotherhood. You are given a target, find your target and go in for the kill. The only downside in this game mode is that other game types are rather unpopular which causes long waits in the lobby for people to join in.

New game modes are also added into the playlist for everyone to try; Deathmatch and Artifact Assault. Players will notice that in Deathmatch the radar which roughly gives your targets location is gone. Artifact Assault is a variation to the well known Capture-the-Flag game mode in most multiplayer shooter games. This game mode triggers a lot of chases as the flag holder will have to sprint back their base while being pursued by the opposing team to secure a point.

Graphics

Graphics has been maintained the same for Revelations, but the scale of the map itself is what is impressive. Detailed textures in every corner of Constantinople, old Ezio and his armors, and diverse life-like NPCs are all making this game an ease to look at and appreciate your surroundings. Constantinople is definitely the biggest out of all the cities in the Assassin’s Creed series. It filled with real life landmarks and there’s always something new to see in whenever you turn a corner. A game world this big will have you keep playing for hours navigating you way around roof tops and alley ways.

The amazing skyline of Constantinople (Click image for better view!)

Final Verdict

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations has noticeable flaws but if you see past those flaws you’ll realise that it is still a game that’s hard to ignore. The story is quite disappointing but it does fill in gaps between Ezio and Altair and cinematics that will keep you wanting to know what happens next. Gameplay is kept the same but the tower defence mini game is just terrible. Multiplayer is fun with a variety of game modes which you can play to heart’s content. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations is an amazing game and is just a step above Brotherhood; it definitely deserves to be with your other Assassin’s Creed games.

Story = 7/10

Gameplay = 8/10

Graphics = 9/10

We Know Gamers Final Score = 8.5/10

Had a chance to play the game? Tell us what you thought of it in the comments section below!!