Assassin's Creed Revelations: a Fitting Finale

When Assassin’s Creed Revelations released worldwide back in 2011, it made an impact on the series as a great conclusion to the “Ezio Trilogy”, which is a collection of three games released in a row featuring the fan-favorite protagonist, Ezio Auditore, who had his entire story told throughout three mainline entry games. Gamers follow Ezio from birth, literally, until his older age. His story began in 2009’s Assassin's Creed II and continued with Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood in 2010 and ended his journey with Revelations, which was then concluded in the short animation titled Assassin's Creed: Embers.

While Assassin’s Creed Revelations is by no means perfect, it was a very satisfying end to such a renowned trilogy, and wrapped up Ezio Auditore’s story nicely and did his character justice with such a strong finale. Revelations tried to be different than its predecessors by adding in unique gameplay elements, such as a new tower defence feature minigame, the addition of crafted bombs to take on or lure enemies, and even an upgrade to the famous hidden blade, a weapon that defines an Assassin, which was called the “hook blade” that offered gamers a faster way to scale buildings or take down enemies with style. While some of these additions were welcomed by fans, others were not, specifically the tower defence minigame, but the game’s brilliant story and narrative direction made up for that, and then some. 

Revelations had a unique storyline where it not only continued and told the story of Ezio, but also told the story of the franchise’s first protagonist, Altair Ibn La’Ahad, and the direction his life took him after the events of the very first game until his old age. The combination of two fan-favorite protagonists was a beloved feature that fans easily appreciated. It was a unique and creative narrative element that really turned the game into the great memory it is today. Having two characters and their story coincide really impacted the story and the emotional turns it took. This new feature worked out perfectly and as it told two separate stories, they were both connected narratively. That was seriously impressive from a creative standpoint, as the ability to mix two storylines at once but have them both connected really made fans love Revelations, despite whatever flaws it may have had.

Revelations also took us on an adventure to Constantinople for the first time, which brought with it connections to the famed Ottoman Empire. This was a welcome time period that fans enjoyed. It was also creatively genius to explore a location outside of Italy, as that is where the past two games took place. It worked out perfectly to explore a different part of the world while not jeopardizing the story and the journey Ezio took. It likely was a narrative gamble that Ubisoft took, as they had to make the location work even if the previous two games relied heavily on Italian culture and lifestyle. To branch out of this familiar setting and completely nail it was great work from Ubisoft, and showed that they were willing to take a gamble to please gamers around the globe.

Revelations also focused on the Assassin recruitment ability, where you could use and train your own personal apprentices to help in combat or quietly take down nearby enemies to help you sneak around and complete the mission. This was a very unique and tactical option that expanded on the previous game’s similar feature, but made it better in every aspect. Sometimes it is useful having extra help against a large number of enemies and apprentices that could develop and achieve higher ranks in the brotherhood to make your apprentices more powerful and more durable against tougher enemies. This feature was certainly a welcome addition to the already great Revelations.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations also added a fun multiplayer game mode option. It was an improvement on the previous game and was a complete upgrade in every aspect. The online feature was not used by everyone, but it offered variety for fans who loved and finished the main story and had something extra to do, or gamers in general who prefer online games and had the ability to experience online features in the unique format that the Assassin’s Creed games offered. It was a fun feature to the game that remained available even several years after the game’s lunch until it somewhat recently shut down for good. 

Some fans do not remember that Assassin’s Creed Revelations was originally planned to be created as a Nintendo 3DS game until Ubisoft realized the potential their idea had as a mainline game and the formerly planned 3DS game was quietly cancelled in favor of the game we know and love today. Ubisoft made a smart choice scrapping the original 3DS plans to focus on a mainline game as the story they had in mind was far too good to be limited to a handheld device, and instead fit perfectly in the mainline story of all the games in the series.

While Revelations certainly has its flaws, its plot and perfect ending to Ezio’s story made it a beloved adventure that fans still enjoy to this day, and its legacy will undoubtedly live on. There were a lot of factors that went into the creation of this game, and smart choices that the developers made in order to let Revelations reach its full potential. As imperfect as it may be considered, there is no doubt it became an emotional and fitting end to such a great story from such a beloved character in Ezio Auditore. It truly became a fitting finale.