This is now the third year in succession that we've seen a new Assassin's Creed game. Much to everyone's surprise last years entry, Brotherhood was a fantastic game and was a personal highlight. I enjoyed every minute of it's well written narrative, gorgeously designed world and of course Ezio himself. Revelations tries to build on Brotherhood and the foundations set before it in Assassin's Creed II.
Revelations sees the end of the Ezio Auditore trilogy while also closing the chapter of the first assassin, Altair Ib'In lhad. Ezio is getting on a bit for his age and for his final mission he has travelled to Constantinople in order to recover five keys left by Altair. The keys unlock a historic area in Masayf - the setting for the first game in the series.
At certain points during the game you will travel back to the time of Altair. You don't play as Altair often but his parts are key to the story in expanding the overall narrative. Altair's missions though do feel a little tacked on and even (dare I say it) a bit of a rush job. One mission in particular saw me following an ally trying to avoid combat, but while following, my ally would randomly go too far ahead of me and I would de-sync. It sounds like I just wasn't following closely enough but it really wasn't. I just got the impression it was a bit broken and I know I'm not the only one this has happened too. Another one of Altair's missions doesn't work well but any details from that would be a big spoiler so I"ll refrain. If you can overlook this small problem then Altair's role is a nice change of pace all be it a far too frequent one.
Despite Altair's short sections, 95% of the game is taken up by Italian protagonist and AC mainstay Ezio Auditore Da Firenze, to give him his full title. Like AC2 and ACB he steals the show. Despite being a lot older, Ezio is still the charming charismatic showmen we all know and love but this time he comes with an added touch of humility. The development of his romantic interest, Sofia, is handled well throughout and for those wanting more, Ubisoft have put out an animated short called Assassin's Creed: Embers which I highly recommend watching.
Along the way Ezio learns a few new tricks most notably the Hookblade. While climbing in AC games has always been a breeze this new gameplay mechanic allows the player to climb walls quicker, add new combo moves and more interestingly zipline across the city. While the ziplining idea looks good on paper, it wasn't really used enough and just finding a zipline itself while hopping across the city was a rare occurrence. It certainly was a welcome addition to climbing, but the 'clank' sound it makes as you go up a wall takes a little bit out of the moment of being an assassin. But luckily enemies don't seem to hear you 'clanking' near them, as long as your out of sight.
But what of Ezio's newly found home? Constantinople. While the switch from Italy to Turkey should have seen some changes in the landscape you'd be hard pushed to really find any. With just a casual glance at both Rome (in ACB) and Constantinople the only difference seems to be an orange hew which glazes over the Turkish capital. I would've liked to of seen a different approach in the environment but the development team have still managed to capture the same sort of NPC community that made me want to be apart of Rome and now Constantinople. The only other loss in the environment are ACB's horses who proudly strode around Roma. Being replaced by sparse ziplines and boats that connect the two parts of Constantinople.
But my biggest problem with ACR wasn't the age of Ezio or indeed the predictable nature of the game itself as it follows a similar path to the previous two titles. Revelations didn't have a character anywhere near the likes of the Borgias in Brotherhood and that was a real shame. I didn't feel like there was an urge for me to continue the story for the first two thirds of the game. The last third ramps it up a bit but not to the highs of Brotherhood or even AC2.
Unfortunately, Revelations fails to live up to the high standard set by Brotherhood and the AC engine, like Ezio, is starting to show its age. It was hard coming from Uncharted to play ACR, the difference in animation and graphics are like night and day. But while an overhaul is needed, ACR does what Assassin's Creed games do best and drag you into its world. A world that ultimately you end up falling in love with. We know Assassin's Creed 3 and a conclusion to this intricate story are forthcoming, I just hope we have an up to date game to really do the finale justice.
8.5
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