Assassin's Creed: Revelations could have been better.
Revelations, simply put, is a good game that could have been better and it cannot go unnoticed that the formula is beginning to hit its creative walls. Revelations struggles with finding the right balance in storytelling and gameplay and it is apparent in the additions to the game that attempt to bring something new but the forced execution of elements only shows the formula needs a fresh perspective.
It all begins with the story, which starts directly where Brotherhood left off. The primary focus is Ezio and his journey to find the truth about the Assassin Order and more about past Master Assassin, Altair. Ezio travels to former Assassin stronghold Masayaf only to find it overrun by Byzantine Templars who are trying to uncover a hidden library. Ezio finds out five keys are needed to unlock the enigmatic chamber and this is what brings him to Constantinople. Unlike the previous games, even the quickly released Brotherhood, Revelations fails to keep interest in the story without feeling as if I have to force my way to the next mission hoping that more engaging action or more relevant missions will come my way. I say relevant because you spend most of your time solving the problems of Constantinople instead of your own mission. Because of this, the story lacks proper pacing. Revelations can be compared to a bomb that has a long fuse and when it finally explodes, the game is over. There has to be credit given, however. There is a whole lot of story to set up before the revelations and when you do decide to wade to the end of the game, there are some juicy revelations that do make it all worthwhile.
Ezio isn't the only playable Assassin either. You are able to play as Altair--the venerable, Master Assassin of the early Assassin Order. These are playable through flashback-like missions during Ezio's main quest and reveal satisfying tidbits about Altair and how he became the prominent Assassin, not only in terms of combat, but in knowledge. But this is where Revelations makes mistakes in terms of storytelling and gameplay. There are not many of these sections and they are strangely linear. While it's understandable that Altair's story must be told as it is, given that AC II and Brotherhood allow a little freedom in the manner Ezio may execute a mission, it's unfortunate that all of Altair's missions are so linear. And while the information Altair's story gets increasingly captivating, the gameplay gets shorter and more linear. Consistency is also an issue as Altair is not the stoic Assassin as we all remember in the first game. His voice has changed considerably which is also a bit distracting.
Desmond's story is even worse. While the game is not meant to delve deeply into Desmond's story, what is provided only raises more questions and gives little answers to those questions that already exist. Revelations allows you to play through sections called "Desmond's Journey" in which you are placed in a fragmented sector of his mind and are tasked to solve puzzles while Desmond has inner-monologue with himself. What Desmond says is interesting and gives good information about who he is but it gets diluted due to the puzzles. First of all, the puzzles are solved in first-person where your only action is the ability to jump and form blocks in front of you in the form of a straight line or a ramp. As you move further into Desmond's journey, the puzzles get harder. This would not be a problem if Desmond talked the entire time you were solving puzzles but instead, he only talks when you've reached a certain part of the puzzle. So when I had to work on a piece of the puzzle, I'd forget what Desmond was previously talking about forcing me to try to solve the puzzles quickly so I didn't forget what he said. It was only frustrating and while the information is worth it if you're into the story, it was not worth frustrating myself to finish the puzzles. It's better to find this information from another source and solve the puzzles as a separate entity.
Revelations' struggles do not stop with the story unfortunately but continue with strange gameplay additions from Brotherhood that are nice on paper but do not offer anything meaty to the actual game. Den Defense comes to mind. Den Defense is an expanded idea of the Borgia Towers concept from Brotherhood. Instead of being able to capture a tower and that part of the city is owned by the Assassin's, the Templars have the ability to attempt to attack your den. They will not attack in traditional combat manner but instead, you are put in a RTS-style type of gameplay where you are the commander, placing your assassin's strategically atop roofs and the goal is to thwart incoming Templars on the streets. You have access to different Assassin ranks such as crossbow assassin's or rifleman assassin's and you can place barricades to hold off the Templars who bring stronger weapons as you defeat each wave. Where this concept falls short is that it is much easier to let the Templars capture the den and kill the captain again. It undercuts the point of den defense but it only takes away from the traditional free-roaming joy of the AC formula. Another addition is the hookblade--a retractable blade that has a hook on the and a point on the end of the hook. It sounds like a great a weapon to use as it helps you with escapes and zipline over rooftops you may be on the ground more often given the way the ziplines are designed. If you choose to use the hookblade for more than this, it's fun for a brief moment but it does not add much enjoyment, if any.
But even Constantinople, as beautiful as it is, is not an interesting city to navigate. From Assassin's Creed to Brotherhood, the cities have all had diverse landscapes. There would be the city and then there would be the countryside, for example. Some sections of the city would be large and massive while others would be small and narrow. Constantinople lacks that flare. All that exists is the city. Only a body of water separates the different sections of Constantinople and the different sections feel similar. Most of the streets are narrow. The landmarks do not pop amidst the buildings. There are no countrysides or variation in city size. In Brotherhood, I never took a used an Underground Tunnel because the landscape was so much fun to traverse but all I did was use them in Revelations. Constantinople is just too claustrophobic and it only makes traversing the rooftops and navigating the city boring.
Despite what Revelations lacks, there are some good additions. Bombs. Ezio is able to use bombs that make the game so much easier but do not break the game. You are able to use them in the form of Lethal, Tactical or Diversion depending on how you choose to craft them. The crafting process is simple: find three ingredients starting with the shell, adding explosive powder and then the effect of the bomb and voila, you have your bomb. It's the simplicity of crafting these bombs that makes them so much fun to use. Seeing how guards react to the sound of a cherry bomb going off in the distance or watching guards walk over a trip mine is a guilty pleasure.
While the campaign portion of Revelations suffers a bit, multiplayer returns and returns with adding meaningful content. Most of the traditional playlists from Brotherhood return with a few new playlist options to choose from that add a tinge of variety and more team-oriented gameplay. New game types like Capture the Flag and VIP are a nice change of pace along with the variety of new maps. There are new ways to score points and new ways to combine your perks and abilities. Some of the perks and abilities have changed to suit Revelations, like the addition of bombs, but it doesn't hurt what was already started by Brotherhood.
While this review gives off a bad taste towards Revelations, it is to be said that Revelations is still a good game. The traditional formula of the past games is still there and that is what makes the game still very enjoyable. But when the first three games seem to improve upon each other and then next one takes a step backwards, it is hard to congratulate a game for being good when it could have been better. Poor storytelling pacing, questionable gameplay additions and uninteresting landscapes--that's what makes Assassin's Creed: Revelations what it is--a game that is good but could have been better.
