Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

Reviewed Platform: PS3

Other Platforms: Xbox 360, PC

WARNING: SPOILERS

I loved Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. It was my favourite game in the series so far, and I theorised that it would probably be the best combination of gameplay, gameplay elements and story that we’d find within the Assassin’s Creed series. If you want to see why just check out my review of it.

When Revelations was coming out I was sceptical. I had kind of had enough of Ezio. He’s cool and everything, but his story was over in Brotherhood. So, I went into Revelations not really sure what to expect story wise, nor was I sure what they would change to make this one stand out.

The answer came to me quickly. They changed very little that mattered. The UI had a complete overhaul and they added bombs. Neither of these things did it for me, the change in UI seeming pointless and the inclusion of bombs just irritating. I went through the entire game without using bombs as they seemed pointless and too much worthless effort as I wanted to get up close and personal or use my crossbow to take dudes out, which I couldn’t as the crossbow is super expensive. On top of this we have a hook-blade, which just seems to defy common sense and biology (I swear using it would cause your wrist to snap off in an instant). 

Oh, and the less said about the stupid Tower Defence mini-game the better.

Everything that was introduced to Brotherhood didn’t seem to have much of a place in this game. In fact, a lot of things were dropped. For one, horses are no longer in the game. Nor is an interesting city layout, which now just seems sloppily put together (we’re in Constantinople now). Building up a brotherhood just seems purely peripheral now and seems nigh on useless.

Viewpoints are no longer as spectacular as they once were

So yeah, the gameplay was kind of lame. But a lot of the little niggles I had were always there (such as parkour not always working properly). Why was I suddenly noticing these things? I loved the gameplay in all previous games, even the first game. What went wrong? Well, I theorise the problem is that the others had a cohesive and interesting story to hold it all together. You lose this and it all falls apart. And this was my biggest issue with Revelations.

Revelations no longer seemed to tell Ezio’s story. This time it was about the struggles of Constantinople. There’s a Templar presence, of course, but they just seem to want to bring the Byzantines back, rather than do anything seemingly useful. There’s a massive focus on this story that seems to have nothing to do with Ezio. He’ll get involved, but for the most part I can’t see why.

What should have been the focus of the game was the side plot. All these B-side missions that come about involving Ezio gaining his humanity back at such an old age. He gets to know this other Italian, Sofia, and through their bonding he realises that he is getting too old to be an Assassin. He needs to pass on the torch. This coincides with the story of Altaïr, another part of the game that had little focus on it.

Quite clearly some futuristic DVD

See, Altaïr has left these DVDs around and they tell his story bit by bit. But they really don’t, as the story skips around so much we can’t reconnect with him. The story tells of how he has been exiled and how he deals with it, I think. He gets married, has children and attempts to bring down a colossal douchebag who has taken over the Assassins. This would be a good story in its own right, but it falls short so many times.

Here are some problems. Firstly, how did that guy get to take over the Assassin’s? He’s clearly incapable of doing so and an absolute tyrant. Secondly, Altaïr’s son dies and Altaïr goes to ask the tyrant why he ordered his execution. I couldn’t care as I didn’t know he had children as this was suddenly forced upon us. Thirdly, who is this woman? I can only assume it is the woman who pretended to be Robert de Sable in the first game. She was shown to be romantically involved with Altaïr in another game, but this was only shown and not developed. Fourthly, when she dies I can’t care as this is the only time she is in the game. Fifthly, Altaïr can easily kill the guy, but doesn’t.

They completely ruin Altaïr’s story, and I know this is all very picky, but Altaïr is an important character who needed more time focussed upon him for development. Just showing snapshots of his life is pointless as we can’t really connect with him, nor can we cohesively follow his story.

If they were to remake this game then this is what I’d do: have two plots, one with Ezio and Sofia, the other with Altaïr and his life. Focus on both equally. Then you can connect with the characters and feel for them as they go through tough times and attempt to overcome them.

I feel that Ubisoft lost their way with this game, just trying to squeeze out yet another game before Assassin’s Creed III. This could have been handled very well, especially if the story actually revealed a lot, but for a game called Revelations there aren’t many revelations. The game just feels rushed, and that’s a shame as it did have potential to be great. The ending was very good, but the game itself wasn’t worth it (apart from the Sofia parts of the game).

For Assassin’s Creed fans this is, of course, an important game to play as it does continue the story, but I can’t help but feel it was completely unnecessary. Non-fans would probably have fun with the game, but for me, who cares a lot about the story and characters, this just didn’t do it.