Customer Reviews

Assassin's Creed Revelations with TriOviz 3D Glasses

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I received the Assassin's Creed Revelations Signature Edition, it comes with a bunch of extras (including the original Assassin's Creed) but I haven't checked those out yet.

I've only been playing for a few hours and without spoiling any of it, I think Ubisoft has done a fine job producing another installment of the Assassin's Creed series. The graphics are great, the story line is engaging and leaves you wondering "where is the apple?" I'm very pleased with the improvements made in combat scenarios and weaponry (which was already pretty good to start with). However, with all these additions it means the controls have changed slightly, but I haven't found it to be too much of a nuisance or hassle as the quick introductory tutorials were helpful.

Assassin's Creed Revelations in my opinion is a solid 4 out of 5 stars, the only thing holding it back from that extra star is that it still feels a bit recycled from previous AC games. However, I would still recommend this game to a friend and especially someone who already enjoys the Assassin's Creed game series.

UPDATE:

It's somewhat difficult to lower Ezio's infamy because of a lack of heralds to bribe and officials to assassinate (I haven't seen any wanted posters). Because of this I don't really care for Ezio's infamy going up when I renovate a shop. It doesn't bother me as much when the infamy goes up because I've recruited another assassin or taken a Templar den, as these are more infrequent than renovations. But since the Templar's don't attack unless Ezio's infamy is extremely high, this is only a small nuisance so far.

The game is significantly more interactive than its predecessors, which I think makes it even more engaging than I initially thought. The weaponry is exceptional, Ubisoft really went above and beyond with crafting very unique and innovative weaponry (and combat techniques) which weren't seen in previous games. I also really enjoy how polished and fluid Ezio's movements are during free running and combat.

PROS

Great graphics

Engaging story line

Improved combat and weaponry

More developed and interactive game play than its predecessors

CONS

Some of the story line feels a bit recycled from previous AC's

Controls have changed slightly

Infamy increases when renovating shops, as well as recruiting assassins and taking over a Templar den; lack heralds, officials and NO wanted posters

First things first -

If you haven't played the first Assassin's Creed and subsequent releases (or at LEAST starting with II, and going forward) - go no further. Do yourself a service and start with II as a bare minimum and work yourself forward to this, the 3rd in the Ezio Auditore trilogy. Otherwise, you'll be completely lost.

For those of you familiar with the story, you're going to find Ezio Auditore in his twilight years on a quest to find Altair's legendary, yet quite well-protected, library. The Templars have caught wind of it and Ezio is also trying to find his way in to thwart their attempts at worldwide control. This is hardly a spoiler as you're quickly brought into this within minutes of beginning to play Ezio - no further spoilers here.

From the standpoint of playing all of the previous Assassin's Creed entries, how does this one fare? Well, I finally played it tonight and I must say that it is really quite remarkable. There's a major change in the way that combat is handled - you select a primary and then a secondary weapon so that you can enter a sword fight and then throw knives at will, for example (no longer do you have to constantly "weapon wheel" between sword and throwing knives constantly). Graphic engine has been updated and it's quite smooth; I don't find it stuttering nearly as often as it used to. Even the story itself has been given a facelift - now there's more of a cohesive, unified story rather than a series of seemingly disjointed events culminating in your goal in the first place of killing "x" person because he did "y". "Eagle vision" also has some significant improvements, some subtle and some not. For example, in addition to identifying enemies, you'll actually see faint red lines indicating a guard's patrol route. This enhances the formulation of tactics. In other cases, where smoke bombs are even more effective at obscuring your enemies' ability to attack you, "eagle vision" will actually allow you to pierce the cloud and attack your enemies at will. In addition, you will be collecting materials to craft a variety of different bombs (lethal and non-lethal). The animations of Ezio kill moves are superb and some of his abilities show that Ezio, in his twilight years, is deadlier than ever. The music, as always, is very well-done and the voice acting is even better than usual. The beginning of the game reminds me of Matrix Revolutions, but I do mean this in a good way.

The environments are breathtakingly beautiful. The game has departed from Italy and finds itself in Constantinople, once the true crossroads of the world between Europe and Asia when the United States was still a mere 264 years away from declaring its own independence. Ezio finds himself with new equipment (the hook blade is fun opening a variety of attacks as well as an ability to zip line around your environment - fantastic!), friends (including a romantic interest), and actually enters into the conflict politically - it's no longer a mere Templar/Assassin conflict. There are layers to appreciate here as Ezio makes an ally and as I am starting to delve into it, I truly appreciate what Ubisoft has created here.

If there is one thing that I have to complain about, it's the mode where you have to defend your own Assassin's Keeps in addition to creating them for those of you familiar with Brotherhood. It becomes a "tower defense" game at this point...and I don't mean that in a flattering way. It's one thing that Ubisoft could have omitted (or seriously improved upon) without impacting the story whatsoever. It comes off as a silly gimmick that didn't appear to have been given a significant amount of thought in terms of how it flows with the rest of the interlocking parts. This is an oprhan 301st piece in a 300-piece puzzle; it doesn't fit and, quite honestly, you don't really need it to complete the experience.

I haven't had a chance to explore multiplayer too much, but what I've seen so far seems to indicate that Ubisoft has taken the best parts of Brotherhood and have added both modes and additional customization not seen before. I'm more into the story then the multiplayer, but Revelations has shown me enough to convince me to give it a try...later. Assassin's Creed is still, first and foremost, about continuing a quite fascinating story. And the final chapter to the overall story arc (with Ezio's presumably ending here, if rumors are believed) is to come in yet a single year, although how Ubisoft plans to bring this epic to a conclusion in the absence of such a strong character like Ezio has my curiosity piqued.

Despite the fault of "tower defense", everything else is so vastly improved that I still have to give it a solid 4.75 stars (5 stars on the Amazon scale - don't think it deserves a 4). Enough said - get it and enjoy!

Visuals, Gameplay, and Story - what more can you ask of a game?

After I sat out the previous Assassin's Creed games, I was not so sure if it would be a good idea to start playing from the middle of the series. Well - after about 9 straight game playing hours, I can safely say that tomorrow is shot, and I have had a blast with this game!

What works well?

1. The visuals are gorgeous -

Whether it is Ezio's motion-cap as he climbs up and down walls; or the smooth cinematic swordplay; or the sights and sounds of medieval Constantinople; or the haunting melodic soundtrack; this feels so much more than just a game. The reflection from the pool of water in the Yerebatan Cistern is to be experienced. The graphics are beyond awesome!

2. Gameplay is excellent

This is a fast paced action game, with deep elements of strategy. This definitely isn't a button masher, as it is important to maintain stealth through many missions.

Voice acting is wonderful - with authentic-sounding Italian accents (at least to my ears). The characters are also well fleshed out - and you certainly meet some intriguing ones in your travels, including Yusuf Tazim who teaches Ezio bomb crafting and the use of the hook blade.

In addition, the gameplay is extremely varied - with many mini-games such as a Benhur style chariot race and a tower defense sequence where you must protect your den from waves of incoming enemy troops.

There's also an eagle vision mode which works much like Detective mode in Arkham Asylum, and helps identify your foes and discover clues in the environment (mostly treasure).

3. Absorbing story

Once I started, I literally could not stop. Being new to this series, I probably should have begun by playing the first few games. Not being familiar with Desmond, Altair, and Ezio, it was much harder to get invested in their problems. Likewise, not knowing what the Animus is, can really put a crimp in your enjoyment. Despite that I still managed to enjoy the game.

What doesn't work well?

The climbing mechanics are nowhere as forgiving as you would encounter in games like Infamous or Uncharted. Every wrong move you make is penalized with a long slow drop, often to your death.

In addition, the crowds keep getting in your way - and while it is realistic, crowd behavior can be annoying when they constantly complain as you try to get through them.

Finally, for those new to the franchise, I would note that the combat system is quite complex. In addition to the standard Primary and Secondary Attack buttons, there are moves to disarm your opponent (R1+square); to perform a hook and throw combination (R1 + tap O); to throw a heavy weapon (Hold Square and release); etc. There's even a X to kick the opponent to throw off his defense. All in all - this was a bit too complex for me, personally - so I tended to stay within a smaller subset of the combos.

Did I enjoy this game? Without a doubt yes. This is motion-cap based gaming at its best - you can almost swear that it is a human rather than a CG generated image at times.

Definitely a winner from Ubisoft!

Happy Playing!

~Damodar

The day before release, I decided to take a peek at the reviews for Assassin's Creed: Revelations, just to get a better idea of what I was getting myself into. I was somewhat disappointed with that I had found. Reviewers made the game feel glitchy, incomplete, and rushed. At midnight that same day, I was eager to get my hands on the game to see just what everybody was complaining about.

What I found was a game with an interesting, engaging story coupled with the fun gameplay from past iterations. Needless to say I breathed a sigh of relief.

My completion time for the game was somewhere around 10 hours (which was roughly the same as Brotherhood) over the course of two day. One might think that completing the main story in a game would leave a player feeling cheated, but it was exactly the opposite. Everything having to do with the story was so interesting that I just couldn't wait to zipline over to the next exclamation point to see what happened next. I don't want to do into any spoilers, but know that the story is much richer than Brotherhood's, and more filling than the first two games as well.

It wasn't the story alone that kept me playing, it was the gameplay.

The hookblade is a fantastic addition to Ezio's arsenal. He can vault over guards, perform zipline assassinations, collapse scaffoldings with it, execute a wide variety of combat moves, as well as catch himself on a building while free running.

One point I saw reviewers bring up was their total and complete hatred for Den Defense. I'm not sure how you can develop such a serious dislike for it though, since if you keep your Templar Awareness in check, you hardly have to deal with it at all! In my entire time playing, I have only done it one time outside of the tutorial. Just bribe heralds and kill the witnesses and you'll be fine. It really isn't that bad though to be honest. It just takes some getting used to.

Altair's missions were a bit longer than the Christina missions from Brotherhood. I don't want to spoil the actual missions, but despite being short they were an absolute delight to experience.

Desmond's time in the game consists of five first person puzzles detailing his time before his capture by Abstergo. You simply walk forward, using simple block pieces to create a platform in front of you, and listen to Desmond remember his past. It really is quite interesting and while completely optional, provides insight into the character we know very little about.

Well, that's it! I hope you guys don't pass up on this incredible experience! It really was a fantastic game, from beginning to end.

Assasins Creed Revelations picks up where Brotherhood left off. While it is a solid continuation of the franchise an d the story delves deeper in the connection between Desmond, Ezio, and the original protagonist Altair, it leaves for some room for improvement. One of the things that has not been tweaked since AC 2 is the control playability. I don't appreciate the fact they haven't updated the playability (control of the character) its still a bit clunky while climbing which left me jumping off buildings I had no intention of jumping off of. Graphics are really solid (on par with previous titles), but at times felt very repetitive whether it be locations (mind you this is supposed to be in Turkey, but I swear they borrowed from areas of the older games). Recruiting assassins has continued in this one from Brotherhood, but now has a "defend your territory add-on" which has been more frustrating than fun.

Overall this is a fun game with little long term goals.

If you want a straight up adventure you can complete in 8-12 hours buy or better yet rent it.

Pros:

*Great Story Line

*Good Graphics

*Fun if you liked the previous titles

Cons:

*Repetitive in nature (much like prior games)

*Short (Can complete in 8-12 hours)- Might as well rent it

*Control-ability has not improved

3.5/4 stars for great story, visually appealing graphics, and fun factor.

Developed and published by Ubisoft in 2011, Assassin's Creed: Revelations is the fourth game in the Assassin's Creed franchise. In Revelations you reprise your role as Ezio Auditore da Firenze who has travelled to Constantinople in search of an ancient artifact which could end the war between Templars and Assassin's forever. Revelation's story picks up right where Brotherhood left off allowing you to smoothly continue the events of the previous games. Here are my thoughts on Assassin's Creed: Revelations;

Pros

+ Addictive gameplay makes you want to achieve 100% synchronization.

+ Fantastic story that ties up a lot of loose ends in the series.

+ Unique and rewarding multiplayer mode.

+ Missions were more varied than in previous releases.

+ Cappadocia was beautifully designed even if it was small.

+ Freeroaming gameplay was fun as always.

+ Phenomenal graphics.

+ Interesting and challenging puzzles to solve.

+ Fast-paced combat.

+ Flashbacks were great and provided you with the ability to play as both Altair and Ezio.

+ Great variety of weapons and tools to use. I especially liked the additions of the parachute

and climbing/sliding hook.

+ Bomb crafting was a new and unique addition to the game.

Cons <Contains SPOILERS>

- Certain game features felt more tacked on than fully fleshed out. Examples include the Tower Defense of dens. Its quirky camera made it troublesome to place your assassin's. Another example included the conquest of the Mediterranean cities. It just felt like too much micro managing. Certain cities also seemed to lose assassin's influence more quickly than others. Also, some times the missions didn't reward influence. Both the Tower Defense and Conquest felt a bit disjointed from the rest of the game.

- Some annoying invisible barriers.

- Limited armour customization.

- Lacked a satisfying amount of challenges. The ones that existed were great however.

- The beggars were back in numbers and in full force.

- Maps seemed smaller than in previous installments.

- Game crashed at least half a dozen times while I was playing it, especially for extended

periods of time.

- Story was quite short.

- Faction missions were lacking.

- Cappadocia was underutilized.

- Gameplay is primarily presented for experienced Assassin's Creed players.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations is another solid release in Ubisoft's franchise which wraps up a lot of loose ends in the story left open by the previous installments. The introduction of the hook and bomb construction added a new and interesting element to the game as did the ability to play as Ezio, Altair and Desmond throughout the games story. I did however feel that out of the previous three Assassin's Creed releases this was the weakest. This by no means warranted a lower rating in my opinion but I did feel there were things that felt rushed, incomplete or simply too short. That being said Assassin's Creed: Revelations is sure to please the majority of fans of the franchise. I'm eagerly looking forward to the next installment in 2012.

If you have played the previous entries in the series, especially Brotherhood, you know what you will be getting from this game. The story is great and the mix of combat and parcour is a load of fun!

My only issue with the game is that Ubisoft, in an attempt to make money off of used sales, is employing the online pass. This code comes on a sheet of paper inside the original game and is at least only used for multiplayer access. But as it is a one time use code, you need to be careful when buying this game used and make sure that the code is unused if you want to play the multiplayer. If you happen to get the game and not have that code you will have to directly pay Ubisoft when you try and sign into thier servers, ten bucks. This isn't a big deal to me as I don't play multiplayer in this game, just letting other buyers know if they did not already.

Otherwise you should have a blast playing this game!

Before I begin, I would just start by saying you really should only play this game if you have played the previous game, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. Revelations begins with a video overview of what happened at the end of the second game, which, I consider a huge revelation and spoiler for the series thus far. The game, as the final entry in the Assassin's Creed 2 series, is the culminating event and brings the story together fully, and one would miss out on a large and important portion of it without playing the former.

Revelations begins differently than the previous by instead of having players start in the real modern world, they spend the time in the Animus. It is shown that after the events of the previous game, that in order to keep Desmond from experiencing total mental collapse that he had to be put in the Animus. Subject 16, who, if players solved the puzzles in the second game, serves as the only other real life contact Desmond has in the majority of this game. He states that we must relive parts of both Ezio's and Altair's (from Assassin's Creed 1) life in order to separate the three from Desmond, which would allow Desmond to come back to normal. It sounded like a lot at first but during the game, it proves to be quite interesting as we do get to spend a majority of the time as Ezio, who is seemingly in his 40's or 50's, and as Altair through several points of his life after the experiences in Assassin's Creed 1.

The gameplay is much of the same that players have expected from Assassin's Creed. In quick review, there is still the same free running horizontal and vertical gameplay of being able to climb almost everything, free run to jump wherever, swing from walls, pull ups, etc. Melee combat has been enhanced with the new aspect of a slow motion effect when doing various counter kills in combat, which feels more refined than in previous games. This was the most impressive part as I continually stayed in combat just to see it. The metagame of capturing various zones in the city remains as well as renovating it. There is no trophy for it this time, but it is still interesting.

The only part of gameplay that does not feel refined is the Den Defense. In this game, players have to defend the zones they capturing by playing a minigame in which you have to station various units such as barricades, archers, shooters, on rooftops as they defend their Assassin's den for the zone. It's quite aggravating as you have to rely on some morale meter that builds up over time so more units can be stationed, as well as anticipating where enemy units will come from, as well as needing to pay attention to any units that fell, not to mention at times the enemy will bring up some mobile unit that can smash through any barricade quite quickly. The game also feels as if it takes ten minutes each time. I found that rather than go through with that, just lose the den on purpose then recapture it by killing the enemy commander(s), an effortless task usually which takes five minutes tops.

My favorite aspect of gameplay was the use of the Assassin's. Similar to the previous game, Ezio can recruit Assassin's that can be ranked up. With more assassin's most missions became quite easy as they could be called in to defeat enemy units, or just to keep me from being detected.

And closing out on the gameplay, platforming in various locations as Ezio in various monuments was fun. There is something fun about the euphoria of jumping from platform to platform, climbing, and running through at times gorgeous landscapes to reach some treasure uninhibited by enemy units. The game features many of these which was always something to look forward to over the duration of nine sequences (chapters).

Presentation wise, the game looks like a step up from the previous. Cutscenes have character models that look quite real at times, blocky fingers of Assassin's Creed 2 seem to be gone, and the landscapes and Constantinople look gorgeous. Blood doesnt look flat this time as well. For sound, the language of Constantinople was great and I always get a blast when the people of different languages interact. Similar to the last the player has choice of dialogue to play beyond English. I played in English and call characters sounded great. Altair sounded different than I remember, but still decent. Music is quite amazing and its great they give the soundtrack with the game.

Overall, the game is interesting. The lack of much gameplay in the modern world was missed, however with the circumstances of the games story it is to be understood. The best moment of the series happened in this game as well, which will be a spoiler if I said it but it was just as impressive as a set piece in Uncharted 3. The game felt short overall, as there just wasnt as much to collect. They ditched the 100 collectibles idea and just focused on collecting animus fragments (for some gameplay as Desmond and unlockables), there were no monuments with hidden truths in them like the previous games, and the metagame of rebuilding the city felt kind of old as it was in the previous two games. I think the game could have used a bit more content, but that is most likely what Assassin's Creed 3 will do. However the games story concludes great and left me browsing the internet for speculation and theories on the future.

The game is definitely a must play for Assassin's Creed fans and the Assassin's Creed 2 trilogy is a must play for everyone. This game also has a multiplayer mode that fills silly at first but overly addicting. The reason I say silly is that people are supposed to be assassins yet other human characters will run and jump while not being sneaky. It takes a while to get used to but quite addicting. Its a nice multiplayer mode in this age of the first person shooter. The game also includes a 3D mode for polarized lenses as well as Assassin's Creed on disc.

I got the game as soon as it was released and I've gotta say, WOW. What a great sequel to the other three installments. Assassin's Creed Revelations starts you off immediately following the events of Brotherhood and throws you right into the action. It also comes with full stereoscopic 3D, which is absolutely breathtaking on our 55" Samsung 3DTV. Oh, and in case you've forgotten how awesome the first game was, it comes free with this one too. If you're a fan of the first three games, this is a must-buy.

Assassin's Creed definitely has a following, and there was a fair enough bit of excitement when Revelations was released. I played Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed II, but never bothered with AC Brotherhood. I mostly enjoy playing single player campaigns and don't often get into the online gaming component. I was playing Uncharted 3: Drake's Fortune, a superior game, when I received AC Revelations, but was excited about playing a game in 3D.

Assassin's Creed Revelations is the fourth game in the series, and the first to be introduced in 3D. Along with the disc which includes the original Assassin's Creed, Revelations, and Uplay Passport access, is a pair of stiff paper Trioviz 3D glasses manufactured by American Paper Optics, LLC and the Uplay Passport Code.

* Graphics

The graphics are nothing spectacular and reminiscent of previous games. Supporting characters and street people are stiff, and fabric doesn't flow. With the exception of landmarks, distinct wealthy and poor neighborhood buildings are constructed of reused facades with very little variance from one block to the next. Plus, artifacting can occasionally be seen when opening treasure chests. 3D play, using the old style red/green lens glasses, feels more gimmicky than it adds to the game, plus tends to give me a headache after about 20 minutes.

* Single Player Campaign

Desmond is in a coma, and to save himself he must finish the Ezio Auditore da Firenze memories to separate him mind from the animus. Along the way, Desmond will also access Altair ibn La-Ahad memories, and have access to animus puzzle mazes. While there is a story, the game largely progresses through a checklist of tasks and memories to complete. Tasks include opening businesses to make money, collecting weapons and books, locating animus fragments, Ishak Pasha's memoir pages, and treasure chests, restore and open guilds, save citizens then train them to be assassins, send assassins on missions, build bombs, find five keys, and play the memories/missions. Completing all these tasks just feels like busy work serving to distract from a thin storyline.

Then there are bugs to deal with. Since the camera view is behind Ezio, there are occasions during fight scenes where the view of action is replaced by a wall or tree so you can't effectively fight or defend yourself. While other times Ezio may mysteriously fall through stone steps only to pop out again moments later. Plus, trophies like Sage don't trigger when collecting all the books has been achieved, forcing people to replay the game in order to acquire this achievement.

Fortunately there are fun moments to the game, such as performing an aerial assassination, disarming an enemy to kill them with their own weapon, or grabbing an enemy to shove them into collapsing scaffolding which crushes them. Plus the hook blade is a fun new weapon and utility tool. Sometimes it can be more fun to search out guards to attack, than to play the DNA memories.

* Online Content

Online multiplayer gaming starts off with a cinematic, a profile building process then off to the animus introductory sessions which are basic tutorials. The first online game, a death match, is basically made of two teams where contract hits are set out against opposing teams. Other gaming options include death matches, wanted, assassinate, steal the artifact, corruption, manhunt, chest capture, artifact assault, and escort. I couldn't figure out how to get to these other options and got bored with the deathwatch in which I do poorly in anyway. I do far better in online games where I am part of a support structured team like Battlefield Bad Company.

The worst feature of this game is the single use passport code for online game play, an effective method of devaluing used game sales. Once a person tries the online gaming, the next person has to purchase a new passport code to utilize the online gaming component. So a new game is purchased whole, and a used game is sold with access to only half the content. It's not like the original owner can continue to play online either, only Ubisoft benefits from this greed inspired tactic. Unfortunately, this is a tactic many gaming studios are going towards.

If you are looking for a game to occupy your time, Assassin's Creed Revelations is worth looking at. However, those looking for a story line based action adventure will probably be disappointed by the strong focus on task lists. Additionally resale capabilities are reduced due to Ubisoft's greed inspired online play code requirements. While this game can be fun to play, there are stronger game titles to consider.

PROS:

Fun fighting/attack skills

Long lasting game for those who want to complete every option

Includes the original Assassin's Creed for additional playable content

CONS:

Game feels like a list of chores

Online content required code activation

Glitchy game play and trophies

3D gives me a headache