I am on a journey to beat 360 random Xbox 360 games. Here's my next adventure
Game number 52 was Assassin’s Creed Revelations. AC Revelations is the fourth game in the Assassin’s Creed series and the final game in the Ezio trilogy. The gameplay loop is exactly the same here as it was in the previous games, with little to discuss: you play as an Italian guy in the renaissance as he parkours around and kills people. This game takes place in Istanbul.
The graphics are definitely starting to look more like a late 7th gen release. Things are getting crisper and more detailed… but I definitely noticed some framerate drop at times… this only gets worse as the later games push the 360 to its limits. Sound is again unremarkable, but the voice acting is top notch! I love how Ezio’s voice actor was able to make him seem older by changing the way in which he voiced him.
ACR’s story has some interesting aspects, but it is overall very disjointed and unfocused. Desmond has been put in a coma after the climax of ACBH and was thrust into the Animus so that his brain could still function. While in the Animus, he meets the previous Abstergo test subject, Clay. Desmond doesn’t have much to do in the animus as himself, so he follows the end of Ezio’s life to help him get out of the coma. This is the first game that Desmond’s presence really feels stupid and there is no reason for the sections outside of the ancestor. The only good thing about Desmond’s story is that we get some pretty interesting sections that go over Desmond’s backstory. These were sorely needed because nobody knew anything about Desmond’s past up until this point.
The meat and potatoes of ACR’s story focuses on the later years of Ezio’s life. He finds himself with a strange connection to Altair (the protagonist of AC1) and returns to the holy land in search of Altair’s library. Most of the game is in Istanbul, where the keys to Altair’s library have been hidden. Ezio’s main goal is to find these keys and enter the library before the Templars are able to beat him to it. Along the way, there is a major plotline where Ezio befriends the grandson of the Sultan and helps him uncover treachery in the inner palace of the Sultanate. The final plotline is about Ezio and his budding relationship with a book shop owner named Sofia. She is able to help him translate clues so that he can find the keys to Ezio’s library.
Every time Ezio acquires a key, he is shown a memory from Altair’s life. These memories all form a core of Altair’s beliefs about the Brotherhood of Assassins and about the dangers of the Pieces of Eden. They are by far the best part of this game. I was always interested in the Altair sections because they were so deep and philosophical. It felt like Ubisoft was finally giving us real insight into the beliefs of the Assassins and how they actually operate.
While some sections (mainly the Altair ones) were great, there are entirely too many plotlines in ACR for any real cohesion. One moment you will be helping out the Sultinate, the next you are flirting with Sofia, and the next you are playing as an entirely different character. You feel like you are getting whiplash at how many times the plot changes. There are some positives here… but it could have all been so much better if it was focused.
There is something about the world exploration in ACR that just feels wrong. Maybe its the unbelievably easy combat (you are essentially a god… but Ezio is supposed to be a master at this point. It probably works thematically). Maybe its the lack of emphasis on blending in with crowds or the fact that there are zero rural areas in ACR. Something just felt off the entire game.
The one good thing is the hook. I actually think this thing is super cool. Ezio gets this hook that lets him swing off of things and parkour super fast. You will be FLYING up buildings. Gone are the days of puzzling out how to get up a tower. Now you just press up and you are at the top in 10 seconds. Jokes aside, the hook is kinda cool, but I do miss the days when it felt like an accomplishment to get to the top of a building.
There is 1 sequence where Ezio is not in Istanbul, but in this cave city. That sequence is SUPER COOL and memorable.
The side content in ACR sucks. Plain and simple. There's worse versions of the forts from ACBH, a few other assassination quests, and the secret parkour areas. One thing that is really bad are the random tower defense sections. Why are these in my AC game? I would say that you should probably avoid most of the side stuff and just stick to the main story.
Overall, ACR isn’t that bad, but it really feels weak compared to AC2 and ACBH. Istanbul is a cool city, but it really doesn’t feel that great to traverse, the story is completely unfocused, and the side missions are lackluster at best. When the story has cool moments everything is amazing, but most of your time will be spent just going through the motions. I honestly think this is the worst AC game and you should only really play it if you are very invested in seeing Ezio’s story through to the end. (5/10)
I spent 13 hours, 49 minutes, and 22 seconds playing AC Revelations
I have spent a total of 561 hours and 4 minutes on the Road to 360 challenge so far!
Next Game: Assassin’s Creed 3
