Following events at the end of Brotherhood, Desmond's mind has imploded, trapping him deep inside the Animus with subject 16 for company. His only way out in to delve deeper into the memories of Ezio, in particular his later years where he travels to Constantinople, himself tracing the footsteps of someone who has gone before him, Altair, in order to find the powerful artefact hidden within Masyaf, the ancient assassin temple.
When Brotherhood came out the other year, I thought it was a bit rushed and that it wasn't necessary – or at least I felt that way till I played it and enjoyed it a great deal while also progressing the overall story. As a result I was a little less cynical with Revelations, although I did still wait a few months till it was selling for less than £20. I'm sort of glad I did because, although enjoyable for what it is, this game very much feels like it was done for the sake of it rather than providing anything new to the player. In terms of gameplay everything is as it was and, although the new cities provide some cosmetic differences, it really is the same as what you have done before although I liked the addition of the bombs. "More of the same" isn't really a bad thing because I do very much enjoy the games so having more missions to do in the same sort of game is fine by me. Revelations keeps the assassin training and city missions aspect, which I quite liked, but the addition of the semi-strategy "Den Defence" game is poor – it was painful to do and the best thing to say about it is that at least the game only forces you to play it once! The other addition of Desmond's puzzles is actually really good – I found it challenging while also at the same time I liked finding out a bit more about his character from inside his head. There are a couple of missions as an old Altair where you have to walk at a snail's pace – these were annoying to play, but they are the minority.
The story is probably the main weakness here. I like the idea of tying up the stories of Ezio and Altair like this, but at the same time it doesn't really take the overall story – and this is the story that I keep coming to these games for. The bigger picture feels like it is in a holding pattern and what little narrative progress there is doesn't really justify an entire game to make it. I still liked the story within the game, but it did feel like they were just filling time and getting the most out of the characters in terms of sales before they have to move on (as they will, to the American civil war in the next game). The graphics are good – of course not as good as the opening cinematic, but they look good and the console never struggle with them. The multiplayer is polished, with some nice new game modes – I've only played it a few times but it is fun and, unlike Brotherhood, I seem to be able to actually get into games instead of waiting for 20 minutes as was the norm between games last time. It is tough but it has a unique feel to it and is a nice contrast to the "constant action, constant rushing" games that normally make up online play.
Overall Revelations is a solid game that continues the high quality of Brotherhood. However, it is hard to shake the feeling of the game being unnecessary and, as much as I enjoyed it, the story doesn't really move forward as much as it could have done. That said, I look forward to AC3, but Revelations has made me feel like I am sort of hoping that the next game is the one to bring it all to a close.
