“No books... No wisdom... Just you, fratello mio. Requiescat in pace, Altaïr.”
This was the Ezio game I anticipated to revisit the most. Revelations used to be my second favorite AC game growing up and I was very interested in seeing how it holds up.
Suffice to say that it did not disappoint in literally any area.
I usually open my positive reviews by getting the negatives out of the way first and believe me when I say I legit have 0 complaints about this game (other than the PC port fucking sucking as always). It literally improves on everything I criticized the previous games in the series for while striving to be its own beast in the grandest of ways.
Revelations is both the most introspective and the most action-packed game in the series so far, two essentially polar qualities that it manages to masterfully balance.
This game serves as the final chapter in Ezio’s journey, now a living legend who has to embark on a journey in search for knowledge, closure, and self-reflection. This is easily Ezio at his best, his personality still shines just as brightly as ever but now with a thick layer of wisdom and grandiose that conveys just how far his character has come. His travels lead him to Masyaf, a grand return to the setting of AC1, and a brilliant way to give Altaïr some much needed closure while intertwining his tale with Ezio’s in one of the most beautiful narratives ever.
The story is absolutely fantastic, filled with incredibly memorable dialogue and deeply charismatic characters, all wrapped up in a perfectly paced script. Yusuf’s overdose of charisma, the refined and fascinating affairs with Suleiman, the beautiful and organic romance between Ezio and Sofia, everything is so damn good.
As the first mainline game written by Mcdevitt, he leaves an incredible first impression with the best script to grace the series so far (a script that would only be topped years later by his second go at it but I’m getting way ahead of myself, if you know you know). His writing manages to hit deep while keeping an endearing and engaging energy going full speed at all times. He brings back the philosophy to the conflict between assassins and templars, presenting the opposing faction for the first time since (partially) AC1 as human beings who strive to attain peace through their own beliefs and understading of the world. We get an insanely smaller amount of corridor sequences but every single one here hits thrice as hard as any attempt Brotherhood made. Ideological debates are presented and Ahmet establishes himself firmly as the best antagonist to grace the Ezio trilogy.
The setting of Constantinople is widely considered to be one of the weaker locations in the series.
I violently disagree.
This is one of the absolute best worlds AC has ever been graced with. The atmosphere is on point as always and the city is compact and beautiful. However, what stands out here is the level design. Complemented by this game’s mechanics this is easily the second-best designed city in the franchise (only standing behind Paris from Unity). The rooftops and overall geometry of the city make for an insanely fun playground to free run in, coupled with the fantastic addition of the ziplines and other traversal assistances scattered throughout the buildings, making parkouring through Constantinople a delight. This is where the addition of the hookblade shines, one of the best gameplay additions in the whole series that sadly didn’t stay. An extremely fun tool that makes traversal insanely better.
The Brotherhood and city management system from the previous game make a comeback pretty much intact but with a few tweaks. Templar dens replace the Borgia towers with the added gimmick of possible attacks, meaning you can take over a spot and have it be taken away from you by the templars once again, triggering a really cool tower defense style mission that is a great addition to the gameplay. The brotherhood now boasts a few hand-crafted recruit missions that were sorely needed in ACB, featuring a narrative showcasing how Ezio convinces his leaders to join the cause.
This game also clearly took some inspiration from Uncharted because it’s filled to the brim with crazy set-pieces that honestly put most of the action sequences in that series to shame. These utilize Revelations refined parkour system to its maximum potential while also boasting the occasional really fun puzzle that organically integrates the parkour to the challenges.
Another thing this game home runs is the tutorial segment. It fully trusts you to be up to speed at this point, not nerfing Ezio in stupid ways like Brotherhood did. You start off the game with next to no control hand holding and with a properly equipped Ezio, keeping his most useful tools from last game like the parachutes and the climb leap. Also, he has the best drip in the series by far in this game (fight me).
The OST is phenomenal. Lorne Balfe makes his debut alongside the return of Jesper Kyd and their work is fucking incredible. The cutscene tracks, the main theme and the theme that scores the streets of Constantinople are so damn good.
The modern-day segment is incredible. There isn’t much gameplay going on there but the Animus Island and Subject Sixteen are so intriguing and captivating. Easily one of the coolest parts of this story with a stellar integration of Desmond’s arc colliding with Ezio’s.
(UPDATE) I completed the Desmond's Journey missions a day after finishing the main game and holy FUCK. I am very glad I did not skip these because they're so fucking good. Easily my favorite segment with Desmond in the whole series.
Seeing his past from birth to the start of AC1 beautifully chronicled through this crazy introspective mind trip scenario that is expertly crafted not only through creative puzzles and fascinating visual storytelling but also by some of the most enthralling writing in the whole game. Desmond’s monologues go HARD and getting such an interesting deep dive and analysis of who he is as a person, his place in this world and how he feels about the situation he was forced into is absolutely incredible. It recontextualizes a lot of his presence during the first few games and why he’s so determined to see his role as an assassin being properly carried on. It’s the best shit ever and yet another incredible home run for this game.
All in all, this is one of the few games I’d dare to call perfect. I cannot fathom how Ubisoft was able to put this out in 8 months but it just goes to show how balls deep they were into this series back then. Pure art, a masterpiece in storytelling and game design.
This was the Ezio game I anticipated to revisit the most. Revelations used to be my second favorite AC game growing up and I was very interested in seeing how it holds up.
Suffice to say that it did not disappoint in literally any area.
I usually open my positive reviews by getting the negatives out of the way first and believe me when I say I legit have 0 complaints about this game (other than the PC port fucking sucking as always). It literally improves on everything I criticized the previous games in the series for while striving to be its own beast in the grandest of ways.
Revelations is both the most introspective and the most action-packed game in the series so far, two essentially polar qualities that it manages to masterfully balance.
This game serves as the final chapter in Ezio’s journey, now a living legend who has to embark on a journey in search for knowledge, closure, and self-reflection. This is easily Ezio at his best, his personality still shines just as brightly as ever but now with a thick layer of wisdom and grandiose that conveys just how far his character has come. His travels lead him to Masyaf, a grand return to the setting of AC1, and a brilliant way to give Altaïr some much needed closure while intertwining his tale with Ezio’s in one of the most beautiful narratives ever.
The story is absolutely fantastic, filled with incredibly memorable dialogue and deeply charismatic characters, all wrapped up in a perfectly paced script. Yusuf’s overdose of charisma, the refined and fascinating affairs with Suleiman, the beautiful and organic romance between Ezio and Sofia, everything is so damn good.
As the first mainline game written by Mcdevitt, he leaves an incredible first impression with the best script to grace the series so far (a script that would only be topped years later by his second go at it but I’m getting way ahead of myself, if you know you know). His writing manages to hit deep while keeping an endearing and engaging energy going full speed at all times. He brings back the philosophy to the conflict between assassins and templars, presenting the opposing faction for the first time since (partially) AC1 as human beings who strive to attain peace through their own beliefs and understading of the world. We get an insanely smaller amount of corridor sequences but every single one here hits thrice as hard as any attempt Brotherhood made. Ideological debates are presented and Ahmet establishes himself firmly as the best antagonist to grace the Ezio trilogy.
The setting of Constantinople is widely considered to be one of the weaker locations in the series.
I violently disagree.
This is one of the absolute best worlds AC has ever been graced with. The atmosphere is on point as always and the city is compact and beautiful. However, what stands out here is the level design. Complemented by this game’s mechanics this is easily the second-best designed city in the franchise (only standing behind Paris from Unity). The rooftops and overall geometry of the city make for an insanely fun playground to free run in, coupled with the fantastic addition of the ziplines and other traversal assistances scattered throughout the buildings, making parkouring through Constantinople a delight. This is where the addition of the hookblade shines, one of the best gameplay additions in the whole series that sadly didn’t stay. An extremely fun tool that makes traversal insanely better.
The Brotherhood and city management system from the previous game make a comeback pretty much intact but with a few tweaks. Templar dens replace the Borgia towers with the added gimmick of possible attacks, meaning you can take over a spot and have it be taken away from you by the templars once again, triggering a really cool tower defense style mission that is a great addition to the gameplay. The brotherhood now boasts a few hand-crafted recruit missions that were sorely needed in ACB, featuring a narrative showcasing how Ezio convinces his leaders to join the cause.
This game also clearly took some inspiration from Uncharted because it’s filled to the brim with crazy set-pieces that honestly put most of the action sequences in that series to shame. These utilize Revelations refined parkour system to its maximum potential while also boasting the occasional really fun puzzle that organically integrates the parkour to the challenges.
Another thing this game home runs is the tutorial segment. It fully trusts you to be up to speed at this point, not nerfing Ezio in stupid ways like Brotherhood did. You start off the game with next to no control hand holding and with a properly equipped Ezio, keeping his most useful tools from last game like the parachutes and the climb leap. Also, he has the best drip in the series by far in this game (fight me).
The OST is phenomenal. Lorne Balfe makes his debut alongside the return of Jesper Kyd and their work is fucking incredible. The cutscene tracks, the main theme and the theme that scores the streets of Constantinople are so damn good.
The modern-day segment is incredible. There isn’t much gameplay going on there but the Animus Island and Subject Sixteen are so intriguing and captivating. Easily one of the coolest parts of this story with a stellar integration of Desmond’s arc colliding with Ezio’s.
(UPDATE) I completed the Desmond's Journey missions a day after finishing the main game and holy FUCK. I am very glad I did not skip these because they're so fucking good. Easily my favorite segment with Desmond in the whole series.
Seeing his past from birth to the start of AC1 beautifully chronicled through this crazy introspective mind trip scenario that is expertly crafted not only through creative puzzles and fascinating visual storytelling but also by some of the most enthralling writing in the whole game. Desmond’s monologues go HARD and getting such an interesting deep dive and analysis of who he is as a person, his place in this world and how he feels about the situation he was forced into is absolutely incredible. It recontextualizes a lot of his presence during the first few games and why he’s so determined to see his role as an assassin being properly carried on. It’s the best shit ever and yet another incredible home run for this game.
All in all, this is one of the few games I’d dare to call perfect. I cannot fathom how Ubisoft was able to put this out in 8 months but it just goes to show how balls deep they were into this series back then. Pure art, a masterpiece in storytelling and game design.
3 Comments
THAT'S THE INTENTION THO LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Ik ik, it just makes me giggle
TheBigBurger
2 years ago