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Assassin's Creed: Revelations Launch Event

We drop by the Ubisoft Canada launch event for Assassin's Creed Revelations

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My experience with the Assassin's Creed games have all been Toronto based, for some reason I always chose to buy the game while in Canada, so covering the event that would launch the latest game in the franchise, but also bring a chapter to a close, seemed fitting.

Despite the best efforts of Toronto traffic and the elements, I managed to arrive in the centre on time. With my destination programmed into my phone, I hurriedly made my way to the Berkeley Centre, a building that had once been a church but now served as the location for the Assassin's Creed Revelations launch party. Having milled through the streets, half expecting to break into a bout of free-running and populace shoving I arrived in one piece, if a little wet.

Upon signing in we were taken into the media room where a Turkish food spread had been set up, displaying various foodstuffs from the latest game setting, the city of Constantinople. A few minutes passed with the various people sampling foods, (something inherent in a few journalists to avoid exotic looking food) until we were escorted next door to have our chance to be "immortalised" as Ubisoft's photographer put it, behind an Assassin's Creed backdrop.

Assassin's Creed fans

After striking my best pose, we entered the heart of the church, the surroundings mirroring the Templar missions from the previous games. With a projector displaying a trailer for the game, as well as several units set up to showcase multiplayer we had enough to keep ourselves busy until Darby McDevitt (Lead Writer) took to the stage to run us through one of the game's missions.

This mission, around chapter 4, where Ezio first runs into the Ottoman Empire started with our hero engaging in some free running to meet up with one of the Brotherhood. The man revealed to us that a prince was hosting a party but had some assassin's after him.

As we traversed the city, making use of the new zip wire feature, we really had the chance to see the level of detail and accuracy that had gone into creating 16th century Constantinople, a locale that deftly managed to create a beautiful landscape without interfering with the game mechanics.

Darby explained that the next portion of the mission was inspired by the fandom surrounding the AC games, recounting "the fandom hated minstrels... we wanted something with them in", just before leaping from a roof and punching several of the music men unconscious.

Ezio and friends infiltrated the party, charming guests with his (surprisingly good) vocal abilities while NPC's crept up behind and dragged the assassin's off, a particular highlight throwing one of the mooks into a well while a crowd stood around oblivious.

assassins creed revelations launch event

After disposing of several bad guys all hell broke loose, the assassin's targeting the prince, leading Ezio to break his Lute in half and leap onto one of them, stabbing the man in the neck in a flashy display the crowd cheered at.

With the demo over Darby was joined on the stage by Raphael Lacoste (Graphic Art Director) and Andreane Meunier (Producer - Multiplayer).

A large part of the Assassin's Creed games have been taking locations that only survive in maps and art and transforming them into tangible cities, Raphael saying that to create locations they had been lucky enough to have access to actual maps from the 16th century. However, he also stressed the importance of not wanting to become "constrained" by the maps, commenting, "We took out some of the houses... and modified architecture to make it more accessible."

The locations in the game were not the only element that required an expansive and intense wealth of knowledge, the lore, characters and setting were also integral, Darby saying "Everyone involved the project became a history buff." Which can be easy to see but hard to appreciate as an audience. We can sometimes forget that Assassin's Creed is historical fiction, Darby describing the game writing process like "writing a book... narrative is the most important thing."

Multiplayer, though relatively new to the series is also an increasing selling point in games and can leave a player worried when they think that the single player may fall short, but Andreane was quick to allay the fears saying "multiplayer was just as important as the single player experience". However, now that time has passed from Brotherhood she expressed that they wanted to expand on the characters, feeling that "they deserved their own backstory".

assassins creed revelations

And with a game series that the team all have a lot of history with Andreane said that sometimes "we had to police each other" to ensure that they were staying true to the game's legacy. This rang true when Darby spoke about Ezio's love interest for the game Sophia and the importance of creating a three dimensional role. "I went back and looked at older games but found that they lacked strong female characters", adding, "when writing her, I looked back at the women I had dated, and not the ones I wanted to date."

With the discussion over, we marched back into the media room to watch an exclusive preview of Assassin's Creed Embers, the short film produced in-house at Ubiworkshop. The film gives the audience closure on Ezio's tale and completes a chapter in the Assassin's Creed universe.

The film utilizes buildings, locations and characters straight from the game's universe, meaning that everything you see is also included in the video game. Louis Pharand of Ubiworks described the project as something that "could not be told through a game" and its subject matter and pace were testament to the decision.

Without wanting to give too much away, we are introduced to a few new characters and witness several nicely choreographed action scenes with the movesets we've seen in game. A particular highlight being when an older-Ezio disarms one of his attackers and thrusts the sword clean through the man's skull, drawing a "well that was awesome" gasp from everyone in the room.

assassins creed embers

When the film finished it was met with resounding applause even though it dealt with bittersweet subject matter and afterwards I had a quick chat with Rapael and asked him a few questions regarding the new game. Addressing the earlier issue concerning level design, I asked about how it might take a toll on the mechanics of the game. "The street designs were not as linear" he said, "so with elements like collision detection and complex routes, a foot popping up or NPC occasionally not blending as well is worth it."

I asked him if was worried about how the game would be received, this being the year of a number of high profile games drawing to a close, Assassin's Creed being no exception. After pondering for a moment, he replied, "People need to look at the game, and what has come before, and take it as a continuation of the story not so much as a separate game, enjoyment and immersion is what's great about it."

After the strong focus that is put on the older environments, I was interested in where the inspiration came for the levels focused on Desmond on the near-future environment he inhabited to which Raphael stated that Japan's Tadao Ando was a big inspiration for the clean, almost sterile environments.

I also asked how different Assassin's Creed was from his earlier work on the acclaimed Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. "Prince of Persia was a game that had fantasy elements and also, the gameplay was more linear so it impacted the design. Assassin's Creed is set in more reality so that affected the environments, also" he laughed, "it was running on the PS2 engine."

assassins creed revelations event

When talking about if the game could be thought to have a 'casual element', and maybe appeal to those simply wanting to play the main story. Raphael explained that "it is a game where you can, if you want, go through the main storyline, but there is so much more to the game, side missions in the game take you all over the environment and allow you to take in the architecture. It was important to me that we created an immersive environment, to be able to explore...I'm the kind of person who likes to chill and watch the sunrise."

Back in the media hall and with the admission of the crowds the event was in full swing. The bustling atmosphere was filled with the games fans, some decked in the assassin's and Templar's garb, multiplayer booths occupied with players.

I had the chance to see some of the multiplayer action and players having to channel out the environmental noise of their surroundings. Concentrating on the screen, they kept focus in the "Wanted" multiplayer, test-driving characters such as the Harlequin and Courtesan, and performing some vicious stealth kills as they tracked and eliminated their target. It was impressive to see that even in a crowded environment; the tense gameplay that accompanies Assassin's Creed did not diminish.

assassins creed revelations

Upstairs displayed a selection of artwork including character designs and matte paintings of Constantinople, highlighting the spectrum of the design process. It was interesting to be able to see a level of detail that goes into every facet of the game and how what begins as a "flat" work of art is able to transfer over to environment that we are able to traverse.

Ubisoft put on a great show, and Assassin's Creed revelations looks and feels like a fitting end to the chapters of Ezio, Altair, and Desmond. Although it may be bittersweet, "every end is a new beginning" and I imagine we'll be seeing more of the Animus in the future.

Comments
Assassin's Creed: Revelations
Assassin's Creed: Revelations box art Platform:
Xbox 360
Our Review of Assassin's Creed: Revelations
82%
Great
The Verdict:
Game Ranking
Assassin's Creed: Revelations is ranked #353 out of 1999 total reviewed games. It is ranked #42 out of 95 games reviewed in 2011.
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353. Assassin's Creed: Revelations
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Screenshots

Assassin's Creed: Revelations
19 images added Oct 23, 2011 16:13
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