AN annual release now, this is the third straight year to see a brand new Assassin’s Creed game.

As our pre-conceptional fears grew that the experience would become far too diluted, the final chapter for Ezio and Altair shows its maturity.

The story kicks-off where Brotherhood finished.

Desmond Miles is in a coma, flitting between his own memories and those of his ancestor, Ezio Auditore da Firenze. To take things even deeper, Ezio is unlocking memories of their even older ancestor Altair. Every minute is an intriguing history lesson into Desmond’s lineage.

There’s been no huge changes to the rooftop jumping, bad man assassinating action we’ve come to love and know, but Revelations refines it all into one little, neat package.

So what’s new? The micromanagement system for recruiting and sending out other assassins has been fleshed out greatly and affects the Templar Awareness Meter – another new addition.

When the Templar Awareness Meter reaches full, the Templar will retaliate by attacking one of your Assassin Dens. Which brings us to another new feature – Den Defence.

Den Defence gives players a strong contrast in terms of the usual style of Assassin’s Creed gameplay. Playing out like a strategic tower defence game, it offers something different to be experienced.

There’s also a new hookblade to help Ezio reach tough spots, and a well-tuned multiplayer mode. With oodles of familiar and much-loved gameplay across a 20 hour campaign plus side quests, Assassin’s Creed Revelations is a must play for fans.

So now the wait for the big one – Assassin’s Creed 3. Where will it take us? We like the idea of Victorian London or an old-school repressive Russia, but only time will tell. One thing’s for certain however – we can’t wait, and Revelations is a great filler for the time being.

TITLE: Assassin’s Creed: Revelation PLATFORM: Xbox 360 GENRE: Action PUBLISHER: Ubisoft CLASSIFICATION: 15 (PEGI) SCORE: 8/10