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Assassins Creed Revelations Review PS3

Story



The game takes place directly after Assassins Creed: Brotherhood, where Desmond fell into coma after being forced to kill Lucy in the Vault at Rome. While in the Animus, he met Subject 16, whos mind somehow survives in the Animus, and told him in order to wake up from the coma, Desmond needs to relieve both of his ancestors memories until there is nothing more important to be shown, both Ezios and Altairs memories.

As for Ezios storyline, he went to Masyaf to find clues about the Assassin order and other secrets. Little did he know that Masyaf is crawling with Templars, who fought Ezio, and caught him and was about to kill him. Ezio managed to escape, and he needs to find the keys to enter Atairs library, a secret room in Masyaf.

Heres the thing about the storyline. I love Ezios and Altairs storyline in the game, but the main storyline in the present day is very disappointing. Not much development about it, and once you finished the game, you will feel that the game ends too soon. You will be saying or asking things such as: "Wait, thats it?", "What the hell just happened?", "The ending sucks!", or etc. To avoid spoilers, some of the revelations in the game can be shocking, but not enough of it.

Characters interaction and development in the game is quite good, but only for the Ezios and Altairs era. In the present day, dont expect to talk to much people since Desmond is stuck in a coma. My favourite new characters in the game would be Yusuf, another Master Assassin, Prince Suleiman, prince of Istanbul, and Sofia, a rather charming young girl who would be love interest of Ezio after knowing each other for quite some time. I do feel sympathetic about Altair a lot more in this game compared to the first game, and I always endear Ezio since he is one of my favourite characters in games.

Gameplay



The gameplay is pretty much the same as the previous Assassins Creed games. You have access to your signature hidden blades to assassinate people in stealth or public, a sword, a short weapon, hidden gun, crossbow, etc. There are several new stuffs that Ezio can use in his adventures to fight his enemies. You also can still hide in the crowd to avoid pursuers, sit on a bench to hide, or etc. Same old hide and fight techniques.



Firstly, you have now access to hookblade, which will acts as both navigation tool and killing tool. The hookblade replaces and acts as your second hidden blade, and it allows you to show off several new moves in the game, such as hook and run, an evasive maneuver, or hook and throw, an offensive maneuver that allows you to kill an enemy, and etc. It also acts as climbing tool that allows you to climb buildings, walls much faster, and allows you use ziplines to travel quickly from one place to another.



Secondly, you can now choose and customise bombs to fight your enemies. There are three categories of bombs, one is for killing, one is for tactical, and one is for diversion. Creating bombs is a new to this series, since you can mix and match the ingredients used to make a different type pf bomb. For example, by mixing a Datura powder, any type of gunpowder, and any types of bomb casing will result a bomb that allows you to poison your enemies. You can even customise your bombs to be a tripwire bomb or even a timed bomb. Experiment each ingredients to create bombs that is effective for certain missions. For example, missions that require you to be stealth will often leads you to create more diversion bombs such as Cherry Bombs to distract enemies. Although it is not necessary to use bombs to complete missions, but they are essential in getting 100% Synchronisation for each Memory in the game. However, you are mandatory to use bombs in certain missions since you cant progress in the game without using it. Other than that, it is optional.



You now have access to Eagle Sense, an improved version of Eagle Vision from the previous games. This time, you can track enemies patrol routes while you use that ability, which allows you to set a trap or anticipate their coming and kill them one by one. Eagle Vision also allows you see through smokes, so use it when you are using Smoke Bombs to mask your killings in the game.

The combat in the game feels the same as the previous games combat, but I felt that the enemies are slightly more aggressive than the previous Assassins Creed games, which is a good thing. The killing streak also returns, which allows you to kill enemies instantly if you are not interrupted while doing it.



Den Defense is a minigame that allows you to protect your Dens from being taken by the Templars again. You need to place your Assassins in certain places to overcome several waves of Templars. After winning several Den Defenses, it will become much harder, and there will be more powerful Templar units that can devastate you, such as Stalkers, that will kill the Assassins on the rooftops. You can also shoot your hidden gun to kill any Templars left, kill Stalkers, and use it to concentrate the attack force on a specific target, like a cannon barricade. You can use your cannon to kill multiple enemies at the same time. This is a unique addition to the game, but it can be overpowering since the minigame will become much more harder, and the Templars will always retake the Den you control, forcing you to kill the Den Captain(s) again and again. It is highly recommended to quickly train your Assassins to Master Assassin level to avoid your Den being overtaken by the Templars.

In order to Renovate shops such as Bank, Blacksmith, or etc, you need to take over a Den from a particular district by killing the Den Captains. Also, by renovating shops, you can gain a certain amount of income per 20 minutes. The more shops you renovated, the more income you can get. This is important because money is not easy to get in the game, other than completing Memories for every Sequences. You can use the money to buy new weapons, armours, equipment, medicines, etc. Buying good armour is highly recommended to have a better chance in fighting tougher enemies like Janissaries in later Sequences.

Please be noted that having your Notoriety level at the maximum will cause Templars to attack one of the Dens. Bribe Heralds or kill a certain Templar target to lower your Notoriety.


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As in Assassins Creed: Brotherhood, you can recruit Assassins by helping innocent civilians from danger or complete their challenges. You can recruit up to more than 10 Assassins, and you can recruit more as you takeover more dens. You can call them to help you to kill unsuspected enemies on the roof, or help you in a fight between you and multiple enemies. You can only train up to 7 Master Assassins. Each Assassin have their own levels, and will gain Experience needed to rank up a new level by fighting an enemy in a battle, kill an enemy stealthily, or by sending them on missions in Mediterranean Defense. Sending them to Mediterranean Defense missions is the fastest way to gain quick levels. The success of a mission will depends on the Assassins level. The higher the level, the better the success rate.

Sending multiple Assassins to a high level missions is a great way for them get experience, but be noted that they will share experience equally. For example, if the mission is worth 1500 experience points, sending an Assassin alone to the mission will net him/her full experience points, whereas sending three Assassins to the mission will net them 500 experience points each. Missions will be completed via the required time shown in each mission details. Low level missions will take less than 10 minutes (real time) to complete, whereas high level missions will take more than 15 minutes to complete.

Once they have reached certain level, they will initiate a certain side mission which requires you to kill a target. However, these side missions have two parts, which will be initiated when they reach level 10 or 11, and another in level 14. Another requirement for them to become Master Assassin is to place them as the Den Captain for any Den. Once they become Master Assassin, that particular Den will not be attacked or taken over by Templars. Take note that having Master Assassins are quite formidable in fighting large group of enemies when called.


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At certain points in the game, you need to control Altair to complete certain Memories in the game. Unlike Ezio, he has access to a rather limited equipment. However, he has the maximum health from the start, so it is understandable. He now has access to Kill Streaks as well, unlike in the first game, as well as can use his Hidden Blade as a fighting weapon.​
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In this game, you can play some first person view platforming missions using Desmond. However, it can be rather boring since it did not offer much playing value except getting from point A to point B. However, when you reach certain points in the stage, you can hear Desmonds narration about his past life. His narration on his past life is rather interesting, but does not offer any new information about himself or others. In order to play all of his FPV (first person view) missions, you need to collect a certain amount of Animus Data Fragment in the game to unlock a new FPV mission.

The gameplay is more or less refined with unnecessary new features such as Den Defense and Desmonds first person view platforming missions. The core gameplay mechanics is good as always, with some new aggressive enemies unlike previous Assassins Creed games. Unfortunately, it did not offer much new gameplay mechanics, except the addition of the useful Hookblade, bombs customisation as well as Den Defense and Desmonds FPV missions. The latter two can be rather boring to play and indulge, but the hookblade is a great new tool as well as the freedom of customising your bombs is rather great. However, players who played previous Assassins Creed games should not expect that this game is anymore different or better than the previous games.

Graphics



The graphics leap from Assassins Creed II and Assassins Creed: Brotherhood is almost unnoticeable, but the graphics leap between Assassins Creed: Brotherhood and Assassins Creed; Revelations is rather big. This game features more improved graphics such as better details on the face, clothing, etc. As you can see, Ezio looks great in this game, and his age is showing by having wrinkles on his face and some white hairs. Other characters also look great. The only thing I dont understand is why does Desmond looks old compared to his appearances in previous Assassins Creed game. Either way, the graphics in this game rather superb.

Sound



One thing I like about Assassins Creed games is the great voice acting. The voice acting in the game is rather awesome, thanks to Roger Craig Smiths role as Ezio, as well as many other voice actors. It is sad to see that Altairs and Subject 16s voice actor are replaced, but their replacement voice actors did a great job as well in the game. Altairs new voice actor give the character much better characterisation and emotion compared with his previous voice actor in the first game.

The musical score is awesome, with a lot of great electronic and orchestral tracks in the game itself. The main theme of the game is simply awesome, full of emotion and epic. Great ambient tracks played while roaming the districts of Istanbul, exhilarating action played in action scenes, and emotional, heart-wrenching tracks played in emotional scenes.

Replay Value


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As in previous Assassins Creed games, the replay value is high. You can collect all Animus Data Fragments in the game, find the secret Armour of Ishak Pasha, or get 100% Synchronisation for every Memory in each Sequence. There is a lot of things to do in the singleplayer mode itself, and the multiplayer is not an exception as well.

As in Assassins Creed: Brotherhood, this game also features a unique multiplayer mode, except an improved version compared to the previous games multiplayer mode. As in the previous game, you will control one of many Templars Persona in the game to fight other players online.


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This time, you can customise each Personas appearance, stun moves, or taunts if you have enough credits by completing online matches. You can now also customise your own title, and avatar in online multiplayer mode to differentiate yourself from others.​
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All online matches mode have the common and basic objective: Kill a target. Wanted mode is one of the popular and simple online match, where you will be hunting someone while being targeted by another online players. My most favourite match type in the online multiplayer would be Manhunt, which allows me to concentrate on hiding on the first or second round with my teammates, and then concentrate on killing a target with my teammates on the first or second round.​
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There are several new type of matches introduced in this game, such as Steal The Artifact, Deathmatch, Simple Deathmatch, Escort, and Artifact Assault. This provides flexibility and variety to players who wish to experience new type of online matches in Assassins Creed multiplayer.​
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You can customise your Abilities set by using a variety of Abilities, Perks, etc to kill your target or to escape from your pursuer. For example, the ability Smoke Bomb allows you to stop your pursuers for short period of time and escape. There are various types of abilities in the game, so try to experiment each to choose which one is the best for you. Abilities such as Disguise, Morph, and Smoke Bomb are useful defensive techniques whereas Templar Vision, Poison and Firecrackers are good offensive techniques.​
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Another new addition in the game is the new Score bonus called Honourable Death. By pressing the Stun button at your pursuer who is killing you, you can reduce his/her score dramatically. However, confronting your pursuers directly is not a wise move unless he/she is not aware that you are the target. Also, you can freely stun civilians if you are being pursued by another Templar. It is a good way to change your current target to a new one if you think that target is very tough to spot or kill, but be aware that by stunning a civilian, your pursuer will know that is his/her target.​
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Your kill score will be determined by various factors, such as killing while hiding in a crowd, the targets awareness of your presence (Silent, Incognito, etc), or performing a kill streak. The Detection Meter returns to allow you to find your correct target in a midst of many similar looking civilians. The nearer you are to the target, the Detection Meter will become full circle. If your target is on sight, the Detection Meter will glow brightly. Use this when you are not sure if your target is nearby or using a Disguise or Morph to hide himself/herself. In this case, Templar Vision or Firecrackers are perfect to find the hidden target among the similar looking civilians around. For certain types of matches like Deathmatch, Detection Meter will not be available for you to track your target, which is much harder than playing Wanted matches. To win those types of matches, you need to rely on your sight and check whether your Targets portrait glow or now. If it is glowing, then it means your target is nearby, and vice versa.​
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Unlike in the previous game, the multiplayer mode has a storyline where you will be one of recruits who will train himself to become a Templar Agent. For every few levels, there will be a video that will show your progression in the Animus. Surprisingly, one of the characters in the Assassins Creed comics make two appearances in the online multiplayer videos. It is a great twist, and the storyline is a good incentive for you to keep playing the online multiplayer mode. By ranking up levels, you can have access to Abstergo Files which provides some background information about Abstergo itself, which is linked to Templars. Most of the files provide nothing new information about the series itself, but some of it can be mind twisting, depending on your expectancy of the series itself.​
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I love the online multiplayer, because it has various improvements that makes it much better than the previous games multiplayer mode. Also, when you try to create a custom match, you can check whether which type of mission objectives have high or low activity. If the particular mission objective have a high activity, you can join it easily, and vice versa. Play the online multiplayer mode when you see there is High Activity in the team-based objective or solo-based objective.​
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As a result, the replay value is high, thanks to the improved and addicting multiplayer mode. It is a shame that Ubisoft does not take the time to improve the singleplayer mode, though...​
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Conclusion​
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I have no idea why Ubisoft did not develop the present storyline more further. Fortunately, Ezios and Altairs stories are concluded with satisfying endings. Perhaps the weak development in the storyline of Desmonds time what held the game from being great as well as its repetitive gameplay mechanices from its previous games as well as some unnecessary new minigames. The only two areas that I see that have improvements are the graphics and the multiplayer mode. Other areas such as gameplay more or less the same as the previous Assassins Creed games. Perhaps if they remove the Den Defense and Desmonds FPV missions, make improvements to the singleplayer game such as including hard and challenging bosses in the game, and develop the present storyline much further, then this game will be awesome. Unfortunately, this did not happen. It is a great action-adventure game, but for Assassins Creed fans standards, this game can be major disappointment to most of them, and can be a masterpiece to others. As for me, I am more or less neutral towards the game itself.​
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Score​
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Story - 7/10​
Gameplay - 7/10​
Graphics - 10/10​
Sound - 10/10​
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Final Score: 34/40 or 8.5/10.0.​
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Pros and Cons​
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Pros​
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- Ezios and Altairs storyline are awesome.​
- Great and memorable characters such as Yusuf and Sofia.​
- Altairs ending can move your heart in a very sympathetic way.​
- Superb voice acting by all voice actors. The new voice actors for Altair and Subject 16 did a great job.​
- Improved graphics compared with Assassins Creed: Brotherhood. Beautiful environments such as greatly detailed characters and buildings.​
- Non-repetitive mission objectives.​
- Extremely high replay value.​
- Improved online multiplayer mode with new types of online matches and more customisation options.​
- Bombs customisation is fun.​
- Great soundtrack.​
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Cons​
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- Very, very disappointing storyline for Desmonds storyline.​
- Minor glitches and bugs.​
- Den Defense and Desmonds FPV missions are unnecessary additions.​
- Reused gameplay mechanics from the previous Assassins Creed games.​
- Disappointing ending.​