Much of Assassin's Creed: Revelations has us rejoining the formerly fresh-faced Ezio a couple of decades after we last saw him. He's rocking a worldly beard and a much darker costume when he arrives in Istanbul (occasionally known as Constantinople, or so a song told me,) where the local Assassins are only too eager to introduce him to some of their more entertaining innovations. We recently had a chance to play about a third of the game, but rather than spoiling the hell out of the plot I thought it'd be more fun to talk about some of these additions to the Assassin's toy box.
"...the hookblade allows for much more rapid scaling of buildings..."
First among these is the hookblade, which does exactly what it says on the tin. A wrist mounted grapple, the hookblade allows for much more rapid scaling of buildings and, even better, enables Ezio to utilize ziplines that have been strung between rooftops all over town. Not only does this make traversal of the city about 30% faster, but opens up new combat options like dropping off the line to assassinate a target below. This new mobility is brilliantly showcased in several set-piece sequences, including a subterranean ravine full of inconveniently collapsing scaffolds, or a race down a canal to catch up to a boat full of fleeing Templars. Actually, the hookblade is an instrument of such shocking utility that it's almost baffling that word of the thing has never made its way to Rome. I realize in the ancient world the Istanbul Assassins couldn't just shoot off a text message telling their buddies to try duct taping a hook to their arm, but they could have at least sent a note.
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