After finishing AC: Brotherhood, I was beyond excited to dig in to the follow-up, and conclusion to the famed Ezio Collection. I very much enjoyed Revelations, and it handles the ending of Ezio's story with the due respect to such a beloved protagonist. It also brings back Altair from the very first AC Game, and gives me a more favorable retrospect on the firsy game. However, Revelations is not flawless, and I found it loses some of the charm of AC2 and Brotherhood.
STORY: Within the Animus, the story begins to weave together Ezio and Altair's stories right from the jump. Ezio spends the story entirely away from his home and family in Italy, who only receive mentions in the story when he writes to his sister, Claudia. He is racing the Templars to track down the 5 keys to the fabled Library of Masyaf, and after a quick opening at Masyaf itself, the search leads Ezio to Constantinople. Here, he meets Sofia, a fellow Italian, and befriends the city's rebel leader Yusuf, and the crown prince Suleiman. They are a fine and reasonably charming cast of characters, but don't quite hold up to previous companions such as Mario Auditore, Leonardo da Vinci, and Caterina Sforza. Most of the story seems to hinge on Ezio's involvement in events in Constantinople, though, and the Masyaf keys feel as though they very much fall by the wayside of the story.
Altair's story is told mostly through flashbacks as Ezio finds each key, with every one allowing him to experience a significant moment in Altair's life after the story of AC1. They are minor glimpses, but allow the character to be revisited with a little more refinement than was possible in 2006 - and a region-accurate voiceover for Altair. For me, these flashbacks were highlights of the story - which says good things about the flashbacks (especially considering my overall opinion on the first game itself), but less-than-great things about the pacing and immersion of the main story.
Outside the Animus, we have the story of Desmond, which really feels as though it is being put on hold for this game. He spends the entire game in some kind of coma, stuck in the Animus with a ghost of his Abstergo predecessor, known chiefly as Subject 16. No major beats really happen for Desmond in this game, and I could probably count my number of visits to Animus Island on one hand.
GRAPHICS: In terms of size and scale, Revelations is a wonderful achievement. The huge towering buildings of Constantinople stand tall and imposing, and really mark just how far the series has come in just one console generation. However, in terms of the color scheme and other certain aspects of the production, this game is unfortunately lacking. The entire city of Constantinople somehow feels flat - not nearly as vibrant as it should be, and that takes a toll on the overall player immersion. In addition, I was not a fan of the all-dark overhaul of the menu and user interface - much as it serves the overall aesthetic message of the Animus and simulation beginning to fall apart. Through and through, the game sadly lacks the visual flair of Ezio's other outings - except, surprisingly, in Masyaf, which looks significantly better than most other environments, and better than the previous iteration in AC1.
GAMEPLAY: The foundation of gameplay laid by AC2 and Brotherhood continues to be built upon here, with the freerunning system now feeling smoother than ever. The combat system has also seen a leap forward, now featuring brutally satisfying animations, and a chain-kill feature which feels great to master. The hook-blade is a great addition to the gameplay, and the bomb-crafting system was also pretty well-executed - but I only found myself using the latter sparingly.
The 100% synch goals also make a return, making for some long sessions retrying the same mission over and over, trying to complete it without taking any damage. Ezio also rises to the top of the Ottoman chapter of the Brotherhood, once again recruiting assassins and sending them on international missions to battle Templar influence, which was one of my favorite additions in Brotherhood.
Perhaps the most unwelcome change was the addition of tower-defense style gameplay in certain regions of Constantinople when Assassin dens came under Templar attack. I appreciate the fluidity of regional power changing hands over time, but these segments did not work for me. But thankfully, they are very infrequent.
OVERALL: AC Revelations is definitely a tonal shift from the previous games, and this carries throughout the game - with Ezio becoming more weathered and jaded than we have seen him before, with the setting shift away from Italy, and also in the overall visual design of both the game and the menus. The story overall delivers a fitting conclusion and another exceptional performance of Ezio, but is definitely bogged down by some pacing issues here and there. Overall, it may not be as strong as the rest of the Ezio collection, but is definitely still worth a play.
STORY: Within the Animus, the story begins to weave together Ezio and Altair's stories right from the jump. Ezio spends the story entirely away from his home and family in Italy, who only receive mentions in the story when he writes to his sister, Claudia. He is racing the Templars to track down the 5 keys to the fabled Library of Masyaf, and after a quick opening at Masyaf itself, the search leads Ezio to Constantinople. Here, he meets Sofia, a fellow Italian, and befriends the city's rebel leader Yusuf, and the crown prince Suleiman. They are a fine and reasonably charming cast of characters, but don't quite hold up to previous companions such as Mario Auditore, Leonardo da Vinci, and Caterina Sforza. Most of the story seems to hinge on Ezio's involvement in events in Constantinople, though, and the Masyaf keys feel as though they very much fall by the wayside of the story.
Altair's story is told mostly through flashbacks as Ezio finds each key, with every one allowing him to experience a significant moment in Altair's life after the story of AC1. They are minor glimpses, but allow the character to be revisited with a little more refinement than was possible in 2006 - and a region-accurate voiceover for Altair. For me, these flashbacks were highlights of the story - which says good things about the flashbacks (especially considering my overall opinion on the first game itself), but less-than-great things about the pacing and immersion of the main story.
Outside the Animus, we have the story of Desmond, which really feels as though it is being put on hold for this game. He spends the entire game in some kind of coma, stuck in the Animus with a ghost of his Abstergo predecessor, known chiefly as Subject 16. No major beats really happen for Desmond in this game, and I could probably count my number of visits to Animus Island on one hand.
GRAPHICS: In terms of size and scale, Revelations is a wonderful achievement. The huge towering buildings of Constantinople stand tall and imposing, and really mark just how far the series has come in just one console generation. However, in terms of the color scheme and other certain aspects of the production, this game is unfortunately lacking. The entire city of Constantinople somehow feels flat - not nearly as vibrant as it should be, and that takes a toll on the overall player immersion. In addition, I was not a fan of the all-dark overhaul of the menu and user interface - much as it serves the overall aesthetic message of the Animus and simulation beginning to fall apart. Through and through, the game sadly lacks the visual flair of Ezio's other outings - except, surprisingly, in Masyaf, which looks significantly better than most other environments, and better than the previous iteration in AC1.
GAMEPLAY: The foundation of gameplay laid by AC2 and Brotherhood continues to be built upon here, with the freerunning system now feeling smoother than ever. The combat system has also seen a leap forward, now featuring brutally satisfying animations, and a chain-kill feature which feels great to master. The hook-blade is a great addition to the gameplay, and the bomb-crafting system was also pretty well-executed - but I only found myself using the latter sparingly.
The 100% synch goals also make a return, making for some long sessions retrying the same mission over and over, trying to complete it without taking any damage. Ezio also rises to the top of the Ottoman chapter of the Brotherhood, once again recruiting assassins and sending them on international missions to battle Templar influence, which was one of my favorite additions in Brotherhood.
Perhaps the most unwelcome change was the addition of tower-defense style gameplay in certain regions of Constantinople when Assassin dens came under Templar attack. I appreciate the fluidity of regional power changing hands over time, but these segments did not work for me. But thankfully, they are very infrequent.
OVERALL: AC Revelations is definitely a tonal shift from the previous games, and this carries throughout the game - with Ezio becoming more weathered and jaded than we have seen him before, with the setting shift away from Italy, and also in the overall visual design of both the game and the menus. The story overall delivers a fitting conclusion and another exceptional performance of Ezio, but is definitely bogged down by some pacing issues here and there. Overall, it may not be as strong as the rest of the Ezio collection, but is definitely still worth a play.