Assassins Creed Revelations, aka "what I have been doing this Christmas".
December 27, 2011 at 8:26 am
I make this review with hopefully as little spoilers as possible, but if you intend to play this game without bias, you might want to skip this review. that said, here is my review of:
All year I volunteer to let myself be data mined by a group called Intomart-GFK (a marketing/poll buro), in exchange for gift vouchers that I then use to buy video games with (in fact, I purchased most of my Xbox 360 with it). This time I had enough vouchers to buy the third installment of Assassins Creed II, Revelations.
![[Image: 1304633741.jpeg]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=ic.tweakimg.net%2Fext%2Fi%2Fimagenormal%2F1304633741.jpeg)
Background:
This is the final installment of AC with Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who has come of age, and is now passing on the torch. In this game Ezio begins a quest to rediscover the lost history of the Order of the Assassins. Traveling to the aged fortress of Masyaf in order to learn more about his ancestors, he discovers the fortress overrun with Templars. This is the part that is also found in the E3 trailer for the game.
![[Image: 250px-Ezio-revelations-database.png]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=images3.wikia.nocookie.net%2F__cb20111206185604%2Fassassinscreed%2Fimages%2Fthumb%2F7%2F74%2FEzio-revelations-database.png%2F250px-Ezio-revelations-database.png)
From there, Ezio is moving on to Istanbul/Constantinople after the Ottomans have taken over the city. The order of the Assassins have already set up a solid base in this city, but it has gotten under threat of the Templars who want the city ruled once again under Byzantine leadership (The eastern Roman empire). It is then up to Ezio and his new recruits to save the day and the city, and find the secrets of the Order and bring closure to the storyline, including the love interest in this story so the legacy is passed on.
Meanwhile, the assassins in modern times, in particular Desmond Miles, are having their own problems. Lucy from the previous series has been stabbed to death by Desmond while under the influence of the secret artifact they were looking for in AC Brotherhood. Desmond then promptly went into some kind of coma and is being kept alive by the animus feeding his brain with input and with the aid of subject 16, Desmond is trying to find his own way back to consciousness and unravel the mystery and plot of the lost civilization that lived on Earth before humankind.
Gameplay:
It is pretty much straightforward the same type of gameplay we are now used to from AC Brotherhood, although the controls are tweaked a bit to have a better wider selection of your secondary weapon. I play on the Xbox 360 so I can't say if it is an improvement on the PC or not, but as it took me a while to get used to it at first, I imagine on other platforms that will not be much different. The control of the character and weapon selection and combat moves do not have a steep learning curve so even if you haven't played AC before, you can get the hang of it pretty easily.
What is more annoying though is the auto-aim. I sort of understand why it is in there, but on more than one occasion I found myself shooting a npc because the auto-aim decided it would make a better target than the big fully armored guard who was heading straight toward me with a heavy axe.
New is the addition of bombs to the arsenal of weapons. sticky bombs, bouncing bombs, poison, tripwire, lots and lots of variations. Basically bombs are divided in 3 categories. Lethal, tactical, and diversion. The first one is pretty self explanatory, for the second category one might think of smokescreens to blind the enemy while attacking from behind or a crowd for instance. The third category is to lure guards from their spot to sneak past them for instance, or get them in a position where it is easier to kill them.
![[Image: Assassins-creed-revelations-bombs-opt.jpg]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=www.yourgamenews.nl%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F10%2FAssassins-creed-revelations-bombs-opt.jpg)
The missions:
Most missions are a slight variation of the same themes. Chase an enemy without getting discovered, kill an enemy after doing X, train your new recruits, and so on.
If a recruit reaches a certain skill level (10), you can assign that assassin to one of the dens in the city, which in turn unlocks a more missions to be completed with the then to be promoted Assassin 2nd class. Once the Assassin reaches level 15 he or she will then become a master of the den which offers protection against Templar attacks of that den.
New is the addition of tower defense. You will lead a team of assassins to defend your headquarters or dens in the city against waves of byzantine Templar fighters, where every time you have a smaller amount of time to repair or improve your defenses.
![[Image: 1030wpn1320004310036.png]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=ps3life.nl%2Fdata%2Fupl%2F2011%2F1030wpn1320004310036.png)
As Desmond Miles you are solving more platform-type puzzles, based on the theme of collecting your memories and working your way through various mazes of the Animus in order to regain all your faculties. These puzzles and mazes are a lot harder than they look, but overall they lack the depth and beauty of the missions with Ezio. The controls also feel very quirky. You can skip these puzzles of you like, they are not a determining factor in the story line, and can always be played later if you want.
All in all, with the exception of some minor tweaks here and there there is little to no difference in the missions compared to ACII and AC brotherhood, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. It is the thing assassins are supposed to do in the AC series, so to make wild deviations from it for the sake of diversity would be at least problematic.
My conclusions:
I played the hell out of this game, and ploughed through the main story at a high rate. What struck me most about this game, specially in the beginning, that the story line is much more cluttered. There is also a lot of hectic stuff going on everywhere in order to get new players up to speed as soon as possible. I think they might have overdone this a little, and I feel the pace specially in the earlier missions could have been set a little slower. That said, for those who already have experince with AC and Brotherhood, it is familiar territory in terms of controls and gameplay.
The new settings are a very welcome change over Rome. This city of Istanbul is rendered beautifully, and climbing and finding your way through it is a joy. Climbing up high minarets overlooking the Bosporus, it really captures the look and feel of an ancient city overflowing with history.
All in all I like the game, but I do find the story lacking, specially in the beginning. As usual I'll be playing the storyline a few times more anyway, so my opinion may alter later, but as a first impression it seems to me that the writers of this edition of AC did not bring their best game forward. I prefer Brotherhood over Revelations, and AC II over Brotherhood, if only by a small margin. I'd give Revelations a 7 out of 10.
Assassins Creed: Revelations.
All year I volunteer to let myself be data mined by a group called Intomart-GFK (a marketing/poll buro), in exchange for gift vouchers that I then use to buy video games with (in fact, I purchased most of my Xbox 360 with it). This time I had enough vouchers to buy the third installment of Assassins Creed II, Revelations.
Background:
This is the final installment of AC with Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who has come of age, and is now passing on the torch. In this game Ezio begins a quest to rediscover the lost history of the Order of the Assassins. Traveling to the aged fortress of Masyaf in order to learn more about his ancestors, he discovers the fortress overrun with Templars. This is the part that is also found in the E3 trailer for the game.
Meanwhile, the assassins in modern times, in particular Desmond Miles, are having their own problems. Lucy from the previous series has been stabbed to death by Desmond while under the influence of the secret artifact they were looking for in AC Brotherhood. Desmond then promptly went into some kind of coma and is being kept alive by the animus feeding his brain with input and with the aid of subject 16, Desmond is trying to find his own way back to consciousness and unravel the mystery and plot of the lost civilization that lived on Earth before humankind.
Gameplay:
It is pretty much straightforward the same type of gameplay we are now used to from AC Brotherhood, although the controls are tweaked a bit to have a better wider selection of your secondary weapon. I play on the Xbox 360 so I can't say if it is an improvement on the PC or not, but as it took me a while to get used to it at first, I imagine on other platforms that will not be much different. The control of the character and weapon selection and combat moves do not have a steep learning curve so even if you haven't played AC before, you can get the hang of it pretty easily.
What is more annoying though is the auto-aim. I sort of understand why it is in there, but on more than one occasion I found myself shooting a npc because the auto-aim decided it would make a better target than the big fully armored guard who was heading straight toward me with a heavy axe.
New is the addition of bombs to the arsenal of weapons. sticky bombs, bouncing bombs, poison, tripwire, lots and lots of variations. Basically bombs are divided in 3 categories. Lethal, tactical, and diversion. The first one is pretty self explanatory, for the second category one might think of smokescreens to blind the enemy while attacking from behind or a crowd for instance. The third category is to lure guards from their spot to sneak past them for instance, or get them in a position where it is easier to kill them.
The missions:
Most missions are a slight variation of the same themes. Chase an enemy without getting discovered, kill an enemy after doing X, train your new recruits, and so on.
If a recruit reaches a certain skill level (10), you can assign that assassin to one of the dens in the city, which in turn unlocks a more missions to be completed with the then to be promoted Assassin 2nd class. Once the Assassin reaches level 15 he or she will then become a master of the den which offers protection against Templar attacks of that den.
New is the addition of tower defense. You will lead a team of assassins to defend your headquarters or dens in the city against waves of byzantine Templar fighters, where every time you have a smaller amount of time to repair or improve your defenses.
As Desmond Miles you are solving more platform-type puzzles, based on the theme of collecting your memories and working your way through various mazes of the Animus in order to regain all your faculties. These puzzles and mazes are a lot harder than they look, but overall they lack the depth and beauty of the missions with Ezio. The controls also feel very quirky. You can skip these puzzles of you like, they are not a determining factor in the story line, and can always be played later if you want.
All in all, with the exception of some minor tweaks here and there there is little to no difference in the missions compared to ACII and AC brotherhood, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. It is the thing assassins are supposed to do in the AC series, so to make wild deviations from it for the sake of diversity would be at least problematic.
My conclusions:
I played the hell out of this game, and ploughed through the main story at a high rate. What struck me most about this game, specially in the beginning, that the story line is much more cluttered. There is also a lot of hectic stuff going on everywhere in order to get new players up to speed as soon as possible. I think they might have overdone this a little, and I feel the pace specially in the earlier missions could have been set a little slower. That said, for those who already have experince with AC and Brotherhood, it is familiar territory in terms of controls and gameplay.
The new settings are a very welcome change over Rome. This city of Istanbul is rendered beautifully, and climbing and finding your way through it is a joy. Climbing up high minarets overlooking the Bosporus, it really captures the look and feel of an ancient city overflowing with history.
All in all I like the game, but I do find the story lacking, specially in the beginning. As usual I'll be playing the storyline a few times more anyway, so my opinion may alter later, but as a first impression it seems to me that the writers of this edition of AC did not bring their best game forward. I prefer Brotherhood over Revelations, and AC II over Brotherhood, if only by a small margin. I'd give Revelations a 7 out of 10.
Best regards,
Leo van Miert
Horsepower is how hard you hit the wall --Torque is how far you take the wall with you
Leo van Miert
Horsepower is how hard you hit the wall --Torque is how far you take the wall with you
