This is what Brotherhood should have been, interesting, expansive and fresh (relatively speaking).
I was being to think that each new instalment of the series was going to gradually decline in quality like too many of my favourite films and other game franchise's. Thankfully Revelations proved me wrong.
The worst aspect of the game is unfortunately the story, after the bombshell ending of II it seems to of run out of steam. None of Desmond's story is particularly memorable, Ezio's is also oddly dull and unlike the previous entries completely un-absorbing.
The gameplay on the other hand is a big step up, the hookblade that Ezio receives makes travelling around the city more of a pleasure than usual, The fighting mechanics are similar to previous games as you would expect, with the kill chain system still in place, there are some notable improvements though, such as new and improved animations. Combat is also all the more fun when fighting the Templars, it gives you a sense of purpose and it's always fun to dispatch a handful of thugs on assassin land.
Assassin recruitment has been superbly adapted and improved and is where a considerable portion of the fun is to be had. There's a great sense of excitement in recruiting dozens of assassins and sending them across the world to diminish Templar influence.
Ezio appears to be slipping away from the limelight now that he has grown older, the most exciting missions and battles are fought by your own assassins in distant lands, it shows that everyone has to make an exit eventually and let the next generation take the world into their own hands.
The difficulty has been nicely ramped up. There are enemies that are now a match for Ezio, and when there are half a dozen of them, things become almost difficult, until you remember you can spam your medicine pouch with a quick left on the D-pad. Some can block grabs and kicks, others counters, and many will simply dodge your blade until you can loosen a bullet off into their chest.
Your assassins alike are no longer virtual tanks on the battlefield. Even your masters can be threatened by a handful of Janissary's. It's good to see that every assassin isn't the best fighter in the world.
The new city you find yourself in is a welcome addition from the mundane plains of Italy. Constantinople is a vibrant place of colour, noise and architectural wonderment. New enemies to ambush and new civilians to systematically rob to start a 30 on 1 brawl makes for some hilarious moments.
Revelations has definitely learned from the mistakes of it's predecessor by delivering a fun and engrossing experience despite the underwhelming main story.