‘Assassin’s Creed: Revelations’ arrives to shelve the saga started by Altair and Ezio, also trying to mature Desmond’s character by offering some details about his past and revealing some of the keys to his future. It was a game highly anticipated by fans of the saga, but after four installments it gives the impression that history and mechanics have already offered everything that Ubisoft could give of itself.
However, the French company will continue with what could be considered its star franchise in recent years, opting for the undesirable way of launching a new installment every 12 months. I am not the only one who thought that this strategy would end up taking its toll, but what I could not imagine is that ‘Assassin’s Creed: Revelations’ would already denote that exhaustion.
‘Assassin’s Creed: Revelations’, a saga that can aspire to much more
The second installment was able to correct the errors of the beginning of the saga and with the third we could see how the exploration of a single city, added to some new mechanics and the inclusion of a multiplayer mode, could hold the type. That did not serve as an excuse for many to see in ‘Assassin’s Creed: The Brotherhood’ a mere expansion of the game, coining what today has ended up being called ” DLC of 60 euros “.
The intention with ‘Assassin’s Creed: Revelations’ seemed to be different, or at least that was seen with the first videos and information published. However, I must admit that although I greatly enjoyed the previous title, here I did have that feeling of playing a map and campaign pack from a DLC .
And it is a shame because the closure should be in a big way , a merit that in any case does not lose by focusing on the bases that gave that qualifier to ‘Assassin’s Creed II’, but nevertheless it surprises falling into the errors that served the critics to stone the beginnings of the franchise. On the one hand, there is the repetition , which is palpable every time we have to do a mission and laziness comes to us wishing that part of the adventure ends as soon as possible. On the other is that constant feeling of having something at hand that could have given much more of itself.
I still think that including a multiplayer mode in a game that does not need it to survive is a serious mistake. Although there are other titles that see in the campaign mode a mere tutorial for the online experience, here the formula cannot and should not be applied, so all the time spent in these types of modes ends up being useless if the main campaign does not leaves the good taste in your mouth that it should.
Before getting into the subject, it is essential that you know something, I have had a great time with ‘Assassin’s Creed: Revelations’ , I am a big fan of the saga and its possibilities, and taking up Ezio’s story is always appreciated. That does not mean that he has gone through several stages in which he wanted the game to come to an end, avoiding lengthening an agony that not even the final section manages to save.
You will enjoy the experience if you have already done the same with the previous ones, but from there to say that for that very reason you will like the game there is a fine and dangerous line that you must decide if it is worth crossing.
Errors that prevent success
It hurts the development of the game to have a single city , and that does not have the charm or diversity that the fact of being so limited deserves. We drain the bundle with ‘The Brotherhood’ because Rome and its monuments have a special charm, but it is not something that we can transfer to Istanbul . Not even the Basilica of Santa Sofia saves the city from burning.
It is more difficult than ever to orient yourself , mainly because all the mapping looks like a continuous tangle of buildings placed with more haste than aesthetic taste, but by the time you get it you may discover that the next point in your adventure is at the other end of the city. , cut in two by the Sea of Marmara, forcing you to waste precious time looking for a sewer or ship that will allow you to reach the other end.
Falling in love with the game is practically impossible, especially when you realize that, one mission after another, what adventure awaits you is to search, chase and kill, without more. It seems as if Ezio is old enough to fool around, crying out for a renewal and continually urging you to get it over with as soon as possible: ” Hey, boy, get discovered, that’s how they all come at once, hit the button for a while. attack and level exceeded “. That does not mean, however, that the work done by Ubisoft in the animations of the combats is again ten.
We have reached a point where there is neither action nor stealth , only a cocktail of both mechanics made in a hurry, so neither the ingredients are well mixed nor the whole has cooled enough for the recipient to want to try one. more.
That the game can be beaten with starting armor and assassin blades doesn’t help his approach either. How about forcing ourselves to invest time in acquiring property and training assassins to get the money that allows us to obtain that weapon that will allow us to advance in the next mission? In a very simple way you are adding hours to the game, and thus avoid lengthening the story with tedious walks from one end of the city to another .
On the other hand, if you decide to include bombs , make the integration with the mechanics fun enough, that you should use them in missions in which strategy prevails, for example, and avoiding that they end up considered as an insubstantial detail.
It does not suspend the arrival of the hook, a new blade that allows you to reach higher and / or further grips, in addition to serving as a means of transport whenever you have a zip line at hand, but it is inevitable to feel again the feeling that you are wasting an exceedingly brilliant idea.
A closing in style?
Once you assume what the next few hours in which ‘Assassin’s Creed: Revelations’ is spinning in your console, the only thing that will pull you to the goal will be the story, but more out of curiosity than because of the force it gives off. In fact, it ends up boring, and the plot twists to the point of giving you the impression that even the scriptwriters do not know how to close all the open threads, serving only as a link between mission and mission, and adding something of dramatic value to the new scripted situations. made in Naughty Dog.
If you saw the famous video of the burning ships presented a few months ago, in which Ezio dodged fire and explosions with sequences of cinematic invoice , do not expect, neither for better nor for worse, to experience such situations too much. I have counted three, and at this point in the generation they neither surprise nor contribute anything. Yes, some moments are funny, but if what they wanted was to introduce some variety I think they had it easier not falling into the aforementioned errors of repetition of mechanics. In fact, not even a surprise in first person mode saves the French furniture.
It is worth mentioning, although it will be somewhat irrelevant to most of you, that the work done by Ubisoft with the 3D mode is a real joy, with an excellent sense of depth that the movements of the character and the camera games take care of framing.
Conclution
I feel the need to remember again that ‘Assassin’s Creed: Revelations’ is a great game , but it is also inevitable to regret not being faced with something huge. Ubisoft has to get the batteries as soon as possible, but above all to urge its developers and creatives that one installment of the franchise per year must involve more than a new map and some details. The saga must evolve more with each installment, and if 12 months are not enough for it, perhaps it would be better to wait 24 and avoid burning what could become your new goose that lays golden eggs. Unfortunately, I highly doubt that strategy will change if the game works well in sales.
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations | Xbox 360
- Platforms : PC, PS3, Xbox 360 (analyzed version)
- Developer : Ubisoft
- Distributor : Ubisoft
- Launch : Now available
- Price : 69.95 euros
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations closes the story of Altair and Ezio following the superb line of the previous installments, but limiting itself to adding some improvements instead of evolving the saga as it deserves.
Video | Youtube
| ‘Assassin’s Creed: Revelations’ for PS3: first contact, ‘Assassin’s Creed: Revelations’: the trailer that summarizes the entire saga so far
