Assassin's Creed: Revelations – new details on Ezio’s hookblade and Eagle Sense arrive

New details revealed in Game Informer magazine indicate that Revelations' title refers to an increased fleshing-out of Altaïr's memories for the 50-year-old Ezio, and both stories in turn for Desmond, whose gameplay sequences are split between puzzle sequences and a new “Black Room” Animus safe-mode. The new Altaïr sequences are accessed by Ezio through the discovery of hidden seals.

Ezio's item set will be expanded to include a “hookblade,” which functions much like the Claw in Bionic Commando, allowing travel along zip-lines throughout the game's environments (Constantinople and Cappadocia) and enabling Ezio to hook and drag enemies in for attack. Bombs are also available via bomb-crafting, with over 300 different combinations of ingredients available. Eagle Vision will be replaced with Eagle Sense, which provides more of an insight into NPCs' movements, allowing more strategic tails and ambushes.






Above: A poorly hidden seal. Expect more devious concealment in later levels

The side-mission heavy nature of earlier games will be replaced with a more emergent structure based on random events, but controlling territory also plays a large part, with the presence of Assassins' Dens playing a role similar to that of the Borgia Towers aspect of Brotherhood. Notoriety is tied to how much control you'll have over each Den, encouraging the series' trademark stealthy play. A new motion-capture system allows hopefully more detailed facial acting on the part of characters, a la (obvious comparison alert) LA Noire.

Details on the game's story are still thin, but if the series so far is anything to go by, expect a heady blend of sci-fi gobbledegook, fastidiously-researched conspiracy theory and a frustratingly tight balance between long-demanded answers and new, equally vexing questions. Doubtless you'd have it no other way.

May 9, 2011

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