Written by: Ian

 

 

 

So, a 3rd Assassin’s Creed game in as many years. Can Ubisoft keep up the pace of improvement and refinement, or is this where the series begins to stagnate? After AC2 brought in a gameplay overhaul, and Brotherhood introduced multiplayer, what does "Assassin's Creed Revelations" have to offer, and does it tie up the story of Ezio satisfactorily?

 

 

The answer to the above question is no. You only get hints at the location of next year’s title, but with big hints that we have not seen the last of Ezio, whether it will be in a spin-off or flashbacks though, you can only wonder.

 

As ever, there are as many questions as answers, and the story itself is far less interesting, due to Desmond’s state after the end of Brotherhood. You can play sections as him, but they have to be unlocked via segments you collect in Constantinople, so you won’t likely play as Desmond much, which is a real disappointment. As a result, the game also feels much shorter, with only 9 DNA sections, and little in the way of interludes between them.

 

 

There is plenty to do, but more of it feels like the kind of option junk that cluttered the very first game, as opposed to the content that made the second game so brilliant. Even so, there is still at least 10 hours of single player content to bash through, which is fine, of course, just a little light when compared directly to the predecessors. The adverts also make much of the fact that this game links the stories of Altair and Ezio, but when you play, it all seems rather cobbled together, and the Altair sections are rather short, and quite disappointing in reality.

 

 

AC:R brings in two notable gameplay additions this year. First is the addition of a hook to Ezio’s bracers, allowing for a system to catch yourself whilst falling, and quicker climbing, along with zipwires. Essentially, this just means that traversal is quicker and more efficient than before, which is no bad thing, in my opinion. The second is another new type of gameplay, with a tower defence mini game. This is both quite tricky, and not very well implemented, with rather clunky controls.

 

There is also bomb crafting from various tables, and the return of the assassin levelling game, which has been expanded so you can now control whole swathes of Europe. I know Ezio is old, but it seriously felt like nearly half the game made no requirements on his skills, as you are either playing as Altair, or training others, or playing more tower defence. I think they could have dealt with the situation in a much cleaner way, especially as when you are actually in control of Ezio, he is as nimble and powerful as ever.

 

Combat has also seen ‘improvements’ that just make it rather more difficult in my opinion, and I often just turned and ran, or called in help until the enemies were dead. The very best part of the game- the free running, is somewhat relegated to a sideshow, which is a real shame.

 

 

Constantinople, having been there, is an interesting city, but it’s also one that has changed quite a bit over the last 500 years, and so it feels really rather different to actually being there, unlike Florence and Venice, which bear an uncanny resemblance to the game still, or even Rome. I’m also getting a little fed up of the one city approach of the last two games- the variation found in the first two games was really appreciated, and especially with the lack of any real Desmond content, I felt rather constrained and hemmed in by the end of the game.