After completing Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, I was hungry for more stealth action in 2011’s follow-up: Assassin’s Creed Revelations. It is the final playable chapter in the Ezio Collection, which I bought on my Nintendo Switch shortly after the port was released in January. Since then, I have played all three chapters telling the story of master Assassin Ezio Auditore. Each has been wonderful, and in many ways an improvement over the predecessor. Revelations is no different. I had a fantastic time in my twenty hours with the game.

It is fascinating when, like me, you go through the Assassin’s Creed collection all at once. You see how framework was laid early on for big concepts that came into fruition later on. Like how the combat system has evolved. I also notice how true to itself the story has remained. I love jumping between modern day and ancient times, doing parkour across Istanbul rooftops, and assassinating my targets with skilled execution. But, all this would be quite dull if not for the skilled storytelling by Ubisoft in these games. Over the Ezio Collection, I have grown quite fond of Ezio, and I love to see him being more personal in this game.

Ezio is in Constantinople between the years of 1511-1514 recovering lost keys to a hidden library of Crusade era master Assassin, and Assassin’s Creed 1 protagonist, Altaïr Ibn-LaʼAhad. While doing this, you raise the local assassin brotherhood to greater heights. Making interesting friends along the way. Revelations has characters that quickly make an impact, and continue to amuse. Again, seeing Ezio open up was a really satisfying way to close his tale. I was immensely happy not only with how this game carried on the story, but brought closure, or at least light to a lot of shadowy palaces that had been built by the first few games in the series.

The graphics and sound design are better than previous installments. Music swells the moment. The textures feel richer, while the world is more technically coherent. With rich color, and detail. Parkour is intuitive with some more precise moves that will have you looking to practice. The freerun platforming is fluid for the most part, especially if you are calculated about your button inputs and maneuvers. There are platforming sections that I thought were a highlight of the game. Every so often you do a mission that requires puzzle solving and smart traversal, it left an imprint because parkour has always been a fan favorite part of these games.

Combat is a delight. For a game that focuses on stealth, it really has a solid combat system. Different enemy types bring varying degrees of threat. The Janissaries are the baddest of the bad, but even they can be defeated in small numbers, with clever use of tools. And do you ever have tools! The weapons in your arsenal are all valid somehow. I felt in earlier games a lot of weapons and tools were underutilized, but here basically anything has respectable uses. Bombs spice things up, I found a loadout that worked for me, and did not experiment with them much, but many seem interesting that I never even used.

Stealth lovers will adore this game. Even when things go badly, it is often salvageable. This is one thing that makes this an exceptional quality stealth game in my opinion. I love taking my time and delicately slipping inside an enemy base to silently execute my target, but one little mistake shouldn’t rob me of the entire mission. Who is to say I didn’t want a little fight? With this fun combat, why not? Every mission has a optional objective that often involves not killing or being seen, and some missions do forbid you from doing these things explicitly. How you navigate a crowd, position yourself next to your target, traverse the rooftops and alleyways, all these things make stealth very enjoyable.

I have already reviewed Assassin’s Creed 3 on this blog, which is the next title. Desmond’s story ends there, and what a journey he has been on. He spends this entire game in a coma. Hooked up to the Animus, reliving the memories of Ezio while being monitored by Assassin pals. Ezio took a horrible shock at the end of Brotherhood, and it is something he doesn’t simply surmount in this game. It is a pain that will carry with him to his end. Desmond is so tragic, yet inspiring. Being thrown into the secret war as he was, and taking it all like a champ. He never loses sight of the goal, which is the very preservation of mankind.

I am still playing Valhalla on my Xbox Series X, and after Revelations I will begin AC4: Black Flag. A game I played upon release, and is one of my absolute favorite gaming memories. So, I’m beyond stoked to get back into it. I already own Black Flag and Rogue on Xbox, otherwise I would buy the Rebel Collection on Switch to play them both there. The eternal battle between Assassins and Templars rages on, shifting the sands of society. Ancient artifacts from a pre-human civilization contain indescribable power, and much blood is spilled over them.

The Ezio Collection played very well on my Switch. You can find it for $40 typically, but if you are a patient hunter I am sure you can find a good deal. For at least twenty solid hours per each of the three games, it is really a fair deal at full price to be honest. It can be found on most platforms. I had a stellar time with AC: Revelations. Stealth action at its finest. The upcoming Assassin’s Creed: Mirage is supposed to be an experience much like Revelations, and I for one am totally here for it. A game like this with modern technology and refinements could be next level. Mirage coming next year.

Credit: Assassin’s Creed Revelations. Screenshots by me.

The three Assassin’s Creed games featuring protagonist Ezio Auditore, AC:2, Brotherhood and Revelations, were released in a remastered bundle in 2016. This collection was ported to Nintendo Switch last February; I picked it up shortly after. Three classic games for $40, and I got it on sale even lower than that. With my fantastic experience playing other AC games, how can I turn down an offer such as this one? The first game in the Ezio Collection, Assassin’s Creed 2, shows a series getting legs beneath it and showing magnificent potential. Developers Ubisoft have given this series the royal treatment throughout its legacy.

Assassin’s Creed 2 follows two stories. One, Desmond Miles. Desmond was kidnapped and forced to live the memories of an ancestor, using a high-tech device in search of magic artifacts. After escaping, he uses another “animus” to go deeper into the memories of his ancestors and beat the evil forces to the punch. The memories he goes into next are those of Ezio Auditore, a Renaissance era Italian in a struggle between orders of Assassins and Templars. Both stories are interesting. The whole lore of these games is so fascinating, the parts influenced by real history and the made up bits.

AC2 is a game with a lot of grand ideas. Some pay out better than others. The story feels like that of a much longer game, in which we get to explore the people a little more intimately. I played over thirty hours, and there is a lot of side activities left to do. The parkour is more like fun platforming than fluid movement. You should always be thinking steps ahead when traversing. One wrong leap can be really unfortunate. This is fine, my bigger concern is the combat. Getting into fights is to be avoided, but far from torturous. Indeed, this is an earlier version of what ended up working great in later games. It is weirdly difficult to retrieve a weapon if you for some reason lose it.

The Nintendo Switch was a wonderful way to play, whether docked or on-the-go. Although, I would recommend this game on whatever platform you prefer. I have yet to play Brotherhood and Revelations, so I can’t speak for the whole collection yet. The Ezio Collection also comes with two short films, Lineage and Embers, which bookend the three games. The remaster is a light one. It looks and runs nice, but the graphics do feel a bit dated as I play AC: Origins on my Xbox Series X. For a game from 2009, I feel like you could do a lot worse. The production value is there. Running around Venice at night during carnival season does prove to be quite a charming setting.

Pulling off a cool stealth section in this game is immensely satisfying. Whether weaving between dancing partners until you reach your target, leaping on a preacher in the middle of a sermon from high above, or however you end up taking out your target. The final kill is worth the buildup. From staging missions, to the meta of the assassination in question. There is always a scene of Ezio sharing the last moments of his target, and this has been a signature of the series. The last mission had me using every last one of my resources, besides the massive stack of cash I had acquired doing side content.

The sound design is on point. Music is sparse, but it is suiting. The environments feel alive. While I did say movement is not super fluid, there is a degree of skill that makes parkour much more enjoyable, and practical. You learn just the way to approach certain obstacles, you know when to exercise caution and slow down a little as you work a certain line, correct button use becomes more natural, these are the kinds of things you learn. You figure out how to engage certain enemies, or utilize certain weapons. Sometimes I felt like I had to cheese my way through, but the game is good at stopping that behavior.

After beating AC2, I am excited for Brotherhood. I will start it almost immediately, I honestly doubt I will revisit AC2 anytime soon. Like I said, I am also playing AC: Origins on my Xbox, for one thing. Also, I would rather just move onto the next game than do the only other interesting thing left in AC2, which is collect the Animus Glitches. Fun little puzzles that are hidden in the world that if you find them all, you get some unique lore. The codex is also worth a read, if you skip it often when articles are introduced. Tons of information about landmarks, featuring some real sites and information.

Assassin’s Creed 2 set an amazing stage for the future of the series. With the success of the first game, Ubisoft knew they had something legendary on their hands. It’s clear they didn’t want to let down fans’ anticipations or expectations. The game was a blast, once I got the hang of combat and parkour. If you struggle early, I encourage you to persist. Thirty-some hours well spent. Lore, gameplay and setting are the big three things that I enjoy about it. Hanging out with Leonardo da Vinci and helping each other is neat.

Soon, I will finish Origins on my Xbox, moving onto Odyssey. I’m stoked for my Origins review, as I am finding it extraordinary. It is something to see how this series has evolved by playing games from the earliest, and most modern eras at the same time. They’ve just gotten better for the most part, in my opinion. I am thinking strongly about reviewing the entire series here, as I have started with the Assassin’s Creed 3 Remastered review in my Archives. For the price, the Ezio Collection seems to be an unavoidable deal. Brotherhood, then Revelations, coming soon.

Credit: Assassin’s Creed 2. Screenshots by me.