"Assassin's Creed Revelations - preview"

Assassin's Creed Revelations is shaping up to be another fine entry into Ubisoft's exciting adventure series, Ashton Raze goes hands-on with its newest gameplay additions

A couple of weeks ago, we had the chance to go hands-on with Assassin's Creed: Revelations, taking a look at the single player portion of the game. Our preview began with Ezio, now looking considerably older and more battle-worn, arriving by boat in Constantinople. Here, he met a new major character for the series, Yusuf Tazim, head of the Constantinople Assassins Guild. After a little plot development, Yusuf introduced Ezio to the Hook Blade, a new weapon which acts as a makeshift grappling hook.

The Hookblade, worn in the same way as the Hidden Blade, allows Ezio to grapple onto ledges mid-jump. In mechanical terms, this makes the platforming a little tighter, giving you option to grab at distant ledges, or correct yourself if you fall short. It also allows walls to be scaled quicker, making vertical climbs even more fluid than before. And the lamps that hang on corners can be triggered with the Hookblade, allowing you to swing directly forwards instead of the usual 90 degrees. In some of the later sections we tried, this allowed for multiple routes through an area, with the quickfire Hookblade move often leading to a slightly easier path if you timed it right. It also allows Ezio to use ziplines, either as a means of travel or to perform aerial executions. On the ground, the Hookblade lets Ezio hook onto an opponent and swing around them, thus avoiding their attack. This comes in handy during the game's many chases, making getaways quicker and more fluid.

We then had a look at some later missions. One particular mission, which is best left unspoiled, added a fantastic bit of humour and fan service to the game. Then there were the self-contained platforming levels, with Ezio sprinting around crumbling ruins and caves. The scale here was more impressive than ever, with environments collapsing underfoot, desperate climbs for survival up falling structures, and with the Hookblade in tow the platforming was tighter than ever. Completing these sections unlocks the Altair portions of the game.

Following on directly from the first Assassin's Creed, we once again took control of Altair, in the aftermath of Al Mualim's death. It was clear things weren't going too well in Masyaf, and the Altair missions jumped forwards in time, showing snapshots of Altair's life after recovering the Apple. Talking about the Altair sections in too much detail would involve fairly major plot spoilers, but Revelations seems to begin answering some questions about the plot as a whole, tying together loose ends and explaining the connection between Desmond, Ezio and Altair.

Then we were back with Ezio, and had a look at the bomb crafting. This new feature allows you to create your own bombs, either for attack, defense or evasion, using a variety of materials and functions. You can test your concoctions in the Animus, without wasting precious materials, so there's good scope for experimentation and playing about with the different combinations. Different bombs can be made to suit different playing styles or situations. The emphasis on Ezio's arsenal was significant, and to compensate the radial menu has been split into two, both of which appear on screen at once and allow for quick selection of weapons, projectiles and traps. The interface felt like a significant improvement over previous games, the ease of use apparent.

Finally, we checked out the major new gameplay section. Called Den Defense, this new mode has Ezio capturing areas of Constantinople (much like the Borgia Towers in Brotherhood) but this time, it takes the form of a tower defense section. While some may groan at the addition of tower defense mechanics, here they take on an entertaining, fast-paced form and fit very naturally with the flow of the game. Ezio sits atop a roof, directing his assassins. Roofs must be captured by placing leaders on them, then a variety of troops can be set down, from crossbow-wielders to riflemen. Barricades can be placed in the street below, and Ezio also has command of a cannon which can be used to decimate large groups of enemies. Enemies swarm in, in waves, and have to be stopped with a combination of strategy and time management. As the section progresses, better troops are unlocked and you gain points from killing troops and successfully completing waves. Territories you capture become contested again throughout the game, upon which point you return and defend them from invaders. It's relatively quick-fire, blending a perfect mix of strategy and speed, and given that I'm not much of a tower defense fan it was a testament to the feature's quality that I was disappointed when we only got to try one of them.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations is shaping up to be another great entry in the series. If you've played the others, the majority of it will feel familiar, but from what we saw this is no bad thing. It's a refinement, a tightening of the mechanics, with some new elements thrown in to keep things fresh. And for anyone invested in the story of Desmond, Ezio and Altair then Revelations looks set to finally provide answers to many of the plot questions that have been hanging over the series for quite some time.

Buy Assassin's Creed: Revelations from Amazon (UK)

Buy Assassin's Creed: Revelations from Amazon (US)