The revelations are few and far between for Alex Duncan in the latest Assassins Creed.

Revelations is the fourth game in the Assassin’s Creed saga. To those unfamiliar with the series, the games follow Desmond Miles as he explores his ancestor’s memories via a combination of fictional technology and incorrect biology. What makes the Miles family tree so enrapturing is that since medieval times they’ve all been assassins.

In particular the player relives the lives of two assassins; stoic Altair and vigorous Ezio. The purpose of all of this is to unearth secrets to aid in the fight between the modern day assassins and their arch rivals; the Templars.

The adventure begins with Desmond’s mind breaking down as he struggles to distinguish his own memories from those of his ancestors. The main focus of the game quickly shifts to delving into Ezio’s memory and reliving his later years. These are spent in the intricately detailed city of Constantinople as Ezio tries to retrace the final years of Altair.

Much like earlier games, Revelations' best quality is its story; the characters all have vibrant personalities and the intrigue surrounding their adventures is compelling. Veterans of the series will find the tale particularly gratifying as you learn more about the final days of Altair and Ezio; Characters that you played as young upstarts have matured to wizened elders.

Not many features have been added since the previous instalment. One of the new features is the administration of assassin dens. As you conquer dens throughout Constantinople, apprentices join your cause, who in turn you can train up and send on missions. As well as recruitment, you are also responsible for defence. The more active the assassins are in the city, the more likely the den is to come under attack. This involves a mini game where you have to marshal your assassins to kill the attackers while they are funnelled through a street.

The flaws that plagued Revelations' predecessors are back. The fights are not challenging and indeed most of the fighting can be avoided by simply running past the enemies. What is truly damning is that usually this is the most enjoyable option as it avoids the repetitive task of combat. Despite the variety of opponents, the fighting always boils down to the same chore of individually whittling down each enemy with the same steps. And this is the biggest problem with Revelations; while a lot of the tasks are entertaining or novel at first, the game forces you to repeat them ad nauseam.

In sharp contrast to the killing and sleuth work of the assassins, the player can at any moment choose to leave Ezio’s adventure and begin to piece together Desmond’s own memories. This involves completing a few minor puzzles while at the same time learning a bit more about Desmond’s background. While not particularly demanding, the change of pace is greatly appreciated.

I should mention there is more to this game than just the story, players can also go online and compete against each other in a collection of game modes. Each mode has its own nuances but they all revolve around the premise of having to track down other players in a city while avoiding being tracked yourself. While there is some entertainment to be found here, it’s hard to imagine a large community emerging and so my advice would be to enjoy the multiplayer while it’s still active.

Overall, Revelations fails to keep up with the competition; there are simply more innovative and interesting titles out there. Having said that, fans of the series will relish some of the secrets revealed and for those just looking for something different to Call of Duty, you can assassinate many hours with all this game has to offer.