Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

Time to turn the history books upside down once again, everyone, with the latest release to the “Assassin’s Creed” franchise: “Assassin’s Creed: Revelations”.  Players take on the role of Desmond Miles and his ancestor, Ezio Auditore, as they continue to unravel the secrets that they need save the world from destruction at the hands of the Templers. In order to do so Desmond must use a machine known as the Animus to re-live the experiences of Ezio. This time around Ezio and Desmond now plan to return to their roots and unravel the mysteries of the very first assassins through a past ancestor they share, Altair, who players may or may not recognize from the original “Assassin’s Creed” game.  His secrets must now be revealed in “Assassin’s Creed: Revelations”. The game continues the rich tradition of “Assassin’s Creed” games as you are placed in an open world full of treasures and a beautifully designed world of the time period you are in with amazing accuracy, allowing you to fully experience the famous places you set out to explore. As an assassin, Ezio is always well prepared and comes fully-equipped with an arsenal of weapons such as a sword, dagger, throwing knives, and the ever popular hidden blade along with other weapons and tools found throughout the game, Ezio can also buy new weapons from shops in districts all over the cities he currently resides in as well as new armor and fabric designs. Some shops, however, may be boarded up and closed down due to the corruptness of the Templars but these shops can be restored at your expense and earn you money and restore the city to its former glory. While Ezio was always able to freely travel across rooftops and climb buildings as a skilled assassin, a new attribute to the game is the application of the “hookblade” which can be used in travel across zip lines, as well as being used in combat. Also added to “Assassin’s Creed: Revelations” is the ability to seize districts of the city from the Templars, which Ezio must capture and defend using a "tower defense" mini game, where you control a group of assassins from rooftops against several waves of Templar soldiers and siege equipment helping free the city from the clutches of the Templars themselves. With all this “Assassin’s Creed: Revelations” still has more to offer through multiplayer where players can join others and play games such as capture the flag which is self-explanatory or you can enjoy a simple “deathmatch” where you track down a target and assassinate them which earns you points, the more stealthy the assassination the more points you get. With a historically accurate world, highly enjoyable gameplay and story “Assassin’s Creed: Revelations” is easily a much welcomed addition to the franchise thus far.


All and all “Assassin’s Creed: Revelations” despite being similar to its predecessors brings a definite new set of upgrades that keep “Assassin's Creed” competitive with its past versions with a great core gameplay that fans know and love. While constantly having to defend the areas you saved from the Templars in the den defense mini game, it can quickly be overlooked by everything else the game has to offer.

Good:
-Historically accurate world
-Fantastic story that brings back memories of the first game
-Highly enjoyable online experience

Bad:
-Den defense mini game is lame and gets annoying
-Fans of the game may want a new assassin; we’ve seen enough of Ezio

(Game Reviewed on Xbox 360)

Scully Rating: 9 out of 10