About the game
Assassin's Creed: Revelations is a 2011 action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the fourth major installment of the Assassin's Creed series and a direct sequel to Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and it concludes the Ezio trilogy. It was released on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows in November and December 2011. A remastered version came out in The Ezio Collection for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on November 15, 2016.
The main story spans 1511 and 1512 and follows an aged Ezio Auditore as he travels to Constantinople to find five keys that open a library built by Altair in Masyaf. Ezio gets caught up in a war of succession for the Ottoman throne and has to uncover a plot by the Byzantine Templars, who want the keys for themselves. In the modern day, Desmond Miles lies in a coma and must relive his ancestors' memories through the Animus to wake up and find a way to avert the 2012 apocalypse.
It is an open world game played from the third person, built on combat, climbing and stealth. The big new tool is the Hookblade, which replaces Ezio's broken second hidden blade and speeds up climbing, ziplines and some combat moves. Players can also craft around 15 kinds of bombs, though only three can be equipped at a time. Constantinople can be renovated shop by shop for income, Templar dens can be taken over but may be attacked again if notoriety gets too high, and recruited Assassins can be sent on missions around the Mediterranean.
Altair is playable in six flashback memories set in Masyaf between 1189 and 1257, unlocked as Ezio finds each key. Desmond has his own sequences called Desmond's Journey, which are first person platforming and puzzle levels inside the Animus. Multiplayer returns from Brotherhood with new characters, maps and modes, including Deathmatch and a Capture the Flag mode, and it needs an Uplay Passport code that comes with new copies and works on one Uplay account only.
The game grew out of a planned Nintendo 3DS title called Assassin's Creed: Lost Legacy, which was shown at E3 2010 and quietly cancelled, and its main idea became Revelations. It was announced officially at E3 2011. A multiplayer beta ran on PlayStation 3 in September 2011. Several limited editions were sold, and the animated short film Assassin's Creed: Embers, which wraps up Ezio's story, was released alongside the game.
Reviews were largely positive, with praise for the world design and story, and some complaints that the series was getting familiar and that the new features felt thin next to those of earlier games. It sold better than its predecessors: Ubisoft reported about 1.26 million copies in the first month and 7 million shipped by February 15, 2012. Assassin's Creed III followed in October 2012.
The text above is adapted from Wikipedia and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
What critics said
Metacritic 80 out of 100 (Xbox 360). Individual reviews: IGN 8.5/10, Game Informer 8.8/10, GameSpot 8/10, GameTrailers 8.8/10, Official Xbox Magazine 8.5/10, Official PlayStation Magazine UK 9/10, GamesRadar 8/10, Destructoid 7.5/10.
Extra content
Three paid packs followed the game: a multiplayer character pack, a multiplayer map pack and a single player expansion. Each has its own achievements in the Xbox 360 list.
- Ancestors Character Pack: Four multiplayer characters: the Privateer, Corsair, Brigand and Gladiator. Four trophies.
- Mediterranean Traveler Map Pack: Six multiplayer maps, three of them returning from Brotherhood. Six trophies.
- The Lost Archive: A new first person Desmond campaign in the style of Desmond's Journey, plus most of the content exclusive to the limited editions. Ten trophies.
Good to know
- It started life as a Nintendo 3DS game called Assassin's Creed: Lost Legacy, shown at E3 2010 and then quietly dropped.
- Multiplayer needs an Uplay Passport code. New copies include one, it works on a single Uplay account, and secondhand buyers had to buy a new code.
- The multiplayer servers closed on October 1, 2022. Twenty of the 69 achievements are for multiplayer, and those can no longer be earned.
- The console versions support stereoscopic 3D, and all gameplay and cutscenes have 3D support.
- Players of Brotherhood multiplayer unlocked the Courtesan character; pre-order editions came with the Ottoman Jester, the Crusader and the Ottoman Doctor.
- Ten of the 69 achievements are for The Lost Archive and ten are for the multiplayer packs, so the disc alone has 49.
Made by
Director Alexandre Amancio, Producer Martin Schelling, Designer Alexandre Breault, Programmer Alexandre Begnoche, Writer Darby McDevitt, Composer Lorne Balfe, Composer Jesper Kyd.
