Assassins Creed

[mode107]

Just in case anyone hasn't, don't forget to watch Assassin's Creed Embers, but only have after you've played Revelations.  It's been uploaded at Youku.

[Tuffty]

So I know for a fact I'm getting Revelations on Christmas cause Dad told me as much. So with that in mind I have a quick question maybe someone here can answer as I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere else. Does Revelations have the same virtual training mission mode as it did in Brotherhood? I loved doing those challenges and aiming to beat my friends on the leaderboards.

[mode107]

^ There are training tutorials that you can participate in during the loading screens, but virtual training from Brotherhood is no more.

[Tuffty]

Bullshit! I genuinely don't understand why they took it out? It was such an underrated game feature in Brotherhood which got overshadowed by pretty much everything else, loved it. Here's hoping it makes a return in AC3.

[mode107]

^ Overshadowed is correct, cuz I don't remember playing it myself. (....I think I tried one challenge)  I had to watch YT videos just to see what it looked like. It does look pretty cool though. I wouldn't mind trying the feature, but I don't see myself popping in Brotherhood anytime soon.

[Tuffty]

So I did get Revelations for Christmas! More than that my sister bought me the tied in novel as well! So the question is do I complete the game before finishing the novel or do I finish the novel before completing the game? Think I'll go for the latter! First impressions so far:

Single player

• How many teams at Ubisoft worked on this game?!
• What happened to Desmond and Ezio's faces?! In game Ezio doesn't even look human with that elongated face of his. The Ezio you see in the opening FMV looks more like what I would expect. Not sure I'm liking the change.
• Hey wait...this is the castle from AC1!
• Not really liking this delay when all you're doing is hitting the pause menu to bring up your map. Could be a bit of an annoyance as I'm hunting stuff down later and I'm waiting to bring up a map. Didn't have this issue in AC2 or Brotherhood
• Encountered the first instance of a bug where you have to trail the Templar group as they're stuck on the road and won't move. And being the completionist that I am by wanting to fully sync the memory, I had to restart it.
• The Chariot sequence was cool.

Multiplayer

• Wow. This is it. This is exactly what I would have liked to have seen improved from Brotherhood. More modes. More characters. In game currency you can accumulate to buy abilities, perks, icons for your profile. Challenges to complete. Additional stuff to unlock and prestige levels! There's just so much to earn in here.
• Also, it's cool to realise that as you progress, you unlock story driven content as well such as additional information on Abstergo and the Templars. That at the moment is giving me the most incentive to continue playing this.
• Deathmatch is as fun as ever. The new mechanics really improve it too. Finished 2nd in all 3 matches I played. Only guy to beat me was Lvl 43 and the rest of us were noobs. Pretty unfair if you ask me

Liking it a lot already despite that the VR missions from Brotherhood aren't included and my few single player grievances aside. No biggie though, still super excited to play more of it.

[Tuffty]

Now that I've spent more time with the multiplayer I can safely say I don't like it....I'm in love with it. I've played all the modes and all of them are so much fun to play. Artifcact Assault was fun. Works just like Capture the Flag. Had this awesome moment where it was tied, the enemy had our artifact and was heading back to base, but I was there too and as he turned a corner I was waiting for him and stabbed him. I bet he must have been pissed!

Due to the nature of the multplayer it never feels unbalanced and from a technical standpoint it's leaps and bounds beyond Brotherhood. I can always get in a lobby, it has never once kicked me out and the matchmaking is quick and once players are locked in, the match is underway. Hell I love it so much I even adore the menu music in it (reminds me of old school RE games when you're in a save room). All my attention is focused on this you know, I've barely made a dent in the single player when I know I should.

[Tuffty]

Another question for my fellow Assassin's. You know how in Brotherhood you can turn Eagle Vision on and if you found a treasure chest/feather/flag it would automatically add it to the map? Is that feature still in Revelations I tried since I got it but it hasn't worked since then, but for some reason tonight it added a chest to my map...that I was nowhere near. I looked at another chest right in front of me and nothing happens. Very very confusing, I was surprised they ommitted it completely considering the data fragments are actually of use to collect seeing as they unlock Desmond memories. Am I unaware of something?

[mode107]

^In Revelations, the only chests I remember being added to the map while using eagle vision were the ones that were mission/quest based.

[Tuffty]

Cheers! Such a weird omission to make. You can still buy treasures maps to add the chest locations to your map, so it's not like the system was completely left out. And it shouldn't be that hard to implement as it follows Brotherhood so closely anyway! A shame.

[Tuffty]

Ok so, you can add chests/fragments to the map with eagle vision. Kinda. It's weird, I climbed on top of a tower and saw for myself a data fragment on top of another tower some distance away from me. Switched to eagle vision, looked at it for a few seconds and it added it to my map. Yet I look at a chest right in front of me, for a few seconds once again, and nothing happens. Very strange, even if it worked I'm not sure I like the fact I have to spend time looking at it before I add it to the map. Doesn't make the hunt to find them all as forgiving as in Brotherhood.

Gotta say, while nobody seems to like the Desmond memory puzzle sections (a poor man's Portal as I so frequently hear it), I do enjoy them. The gameplay is simplistic and isn't all that great but it's a change from stabbing dudes in the neck all the time. I hadn't really noticed it before the third memory, but the visual aesthetic in these segments is pretty impressive. The combination of simple geometric shapes, the subtle use of color, and masterful sound direction make delving into Desmond's past an engaging experience. That part where he's talking about floating down the river, as you navigate down a section that the Animus constructed as a river was pretty neat.

Got the 'Spider Assassin' achievement in one go and I didn't even realise it existed until I climbed to the top of the Hagia Sophia

[Tuffty]

I haven't beaten the game, but I have read the accompanying novel for Revelations. It not only follows the story of the game but also includes the story in the animated short Embers as well. As a character, Ezio's going to be one hard act to follow. Not just because he was a great protaganist (certainly compared to Altair from AC1) but he's a rare case where you watch a character literally from birth to death and bare witness to his journey. It's hard to not be attached to a character in that fashion. For me at least, I'd be interested to hear if there are any cases where other games do that. The little closing monologue that Ezio has at the end was sad So effectively I've spoiled myself playing the game cause I know everything that's gonna happen But the novel never touched Desmond's stuff so I'll be curious to see how that plays out.

Back to the game and the tower defense stuff is just so stupid Tried it for the hell of it and you go through a bunch of waves no problem and then this siege cannon comes along and is impossible to destroy. But even at that, the whole thing takes maybe 10 mins or so, but when you fail you can literally kill the Templar captain and recapture the den again in less than 10 mins.

[TeriyakiBoi]

I've pretty much finished both Brotherhood and Revelations (I don't have the willpower to collect all the flags, tresaures, and data fragments).  I have to say that achieving 100% Sync is much easier in Revelations.  There's only two missions I haven't full-sync'd on (1 Master Assassin mission and 1 Piri Reis mission).  I have to agree that the Tower Defenses are pretty tough and trivial.  I only had to do 3 since that's as many times as I had max notoriety before locking down my dens.  The Desmond Sequences scare the hell out of me (I'm not a fan of heights) so I probably won't do the rest (I just did the first one).

[mode107]

[Tuffty]

First off, that artwork is fucking awesome.

Secondly, I couldn't be more excited now. The new period setting for AC3 is so promising but also has me thinking just what kind of game it will be. You think of that time and you don't recall any tall buildings or structures like in Renaissance Italy. You think of open plains and small settlements. The parkour is such an identifiable trait of the AC games thus far that you wonder if they can do without it for this one. Granted, they could just add buildings or structures in there but as OL mentioned previously, people would just love to bitch about that not being authentic. Perhaps they could do an open world game in the same vein of Red Dead Redemption? Would be something new at least.

Certainly an interesting setting. Instinctively you would think the British would be the evil side with the Templars but people have already pointed out that there were Templars on the American side too. In fact, it has been already mentioned in one of the Subject 16 puzzles that George Washington had a piece of Eden used to control the masses and it is passed down to each successor. It could mean both sides are 'bad', and it would be plausible as it's been stated that both Hitler and Churchill were Templars and that WWII was staged in the buildup to founding a Templar based NWO.

Also, can't really tell by the face alone but the Tomahawk seems to suggest our new Assassin is Native American or at least half. Another interesting thing to me, which they could do cool stuff with for the story. Really, I just can't wait to hear more details and just to see what it's like.

[TeriyakiBoi]

It would be interesting to see what the official arsenal we get to use against any enemies (whether they're British or American).  Judging by the cover, an actual pistol might replace the "wristol" and maybe the small axe would replace the hidden blade (nothing says awesome like flying down from some height and sticking an axe in the back or the head).  Since the game would take place during sometime in American history, it probably would have that "Red Dead" feel to it.  Instead of towers to light, maybe we can take over whole forts by killing the general.

[mode107]

There's more pics here:
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/03/01/april-cover-revealed-assassin-39-s-creed-iii.aspx

Seeing how they made Machiavelli an assassin, my best bet for historical-figure-turned-assassin for the new game is Benjamin Franklin.  And he'll probably double as your inventor buddy, like Da Vinci. 

Edit: I'm having a little fun predicting the new guy's name. My predictions: Dyami, Kwahu (#1 choice), Paco, Wamblee, Mochni, Antinanco. I searched up Native American names that related to eagles/birds

[thatonezombie]

Time to play AC2 and Brotherhood 

[Tuffty]

Scans from the GameInformer magazine including details of what to expect from AC3

Seriously, I cannot wait. But have to laugh at some idiots knee jerk reactions. People thought the British would be painted as the bad guys or that Ubisoft would piss all over the American'swhen really, they've taken the smartest approach by making the new guy half-Native American, as they have issues with both parties Besides, the Assassin's have never really taken sides. Ezio worked with the Ottoman's to further his own agenda and Altair was killing people on both sides of the conflict in AC1.

Imagine how Fox News will feel when they hear that there's a game out there that will let you assassinate American patriots and potentially founding fathers. Won't somebody think of the children?

[mode107]

Well, looks like I was wrong with those name predictions.

Currently squinting my eyes trying to read this article.