While Ubisoft is still withholding hands-on access to Assassin’s Creed Revelations to me and the rest of Top Tier Tactics, there’s no solid reason we can’t watch videos other sites are uploading and draw our own, better conclusions. Gametrailers recently posted some footage of two new multiplayer gameplay modes, chock full of both obvious changes and subtle tweaks. While it hasn’t been confirmed which existing modes will return (other than Manhunt), there’s plenty to absorb here.

You can watch the embedded videos after reading my long-winded observations about them.

General Gameplay Notes

• Instead of unlocking skills and perks at set levels, players will earn Abstergo Credits at the end of each match based on their score, challenges completed, etc. These credits can be used to purchase unlocks, which is a great system since it lets the player choose his/her own skill progression. There may be limits/prerequisites to purchases, though
• Players begin at Discreet and don’t gain Silent or Incognito until they’ve retained line of sight on a victim while remaining in low profile for some time. This encourages stealth gameplay a bit more and makes roof-running a little less profitable (since running to a ledge for a quick kill will only be 250 points)
• In order to balance this increased difficulty of obtaining Incognito kills, Incognito kills will now play a much faster, less ostentatious animation. In other words, the more stealthily you approach your target, the lower profile your actual assassination will be, decreasing the odds an onlooker will easily notice it
• It is significantly easier to stun opponents, however you can also now stun NPCs. It has not been shown how one navigates crowds using Gentle Push without stunning them
• A player who attempts to stun his killer during the kill animation will delay it and receive some points, though will still ultimately die. This system has been implemented to encourage more stealthy kill approaches
• You can now throw Smoke Bombs, because fuck you, that’s why
• Most skills from Brotherhood seem to have been carried over, including Disguise, Morph, Smoke Bomb, Firecrackers, Throwing Knives, and more. Sprint Boost hasn’t been shown yet, so hopefully it has died a painful death
• Throwing Knives is apparently improved to help cut down on roof running, though it hasn’t been explained how. A simple suggestion might be to reduce the recharge considerably
• The lock-on system has been changed so that the “quick lock” tap function will be available any time your target is in high profile. This should make it slightly less annoying to lock onto enemies in the console versions of the game

Artifact Assault Mode

I don’t know what the hell this mode is, but it looks like Capture the Flag with a few tweaks.Players on two teams must steal a small artifact from a given area and escape with it, smuggling it to a safe hideaway. Matches are played in a single, ten-minute round, and it looks like whether you can kill or stun enemies is tied to which team’s territory you are currently in. That is to say, when you’re on friendly turf, you’re the hunter. When you’re on enemy turf, you’re dogmeat.

Personally, I don’t find objectives other than “murder another human being” to be inherently rewarding, and I can’t imagine the existing Brotherhood user base will readily jump on board this strange mode. That said, the whole on/off predator/prey balance makes it a tad more interesting than standard CTF, and rounds should still be much more fun than 2Fort any day.

Deathmatch Mode

Now this is interesting; in Deathmatch Mode there are no persona duplicates, and there is no radar. You must identify your target using only a line-of-sight indicator, waltzing around a smaller map with a keen eye ready to determine where exactly Waldo is. It’s basically Wanted with a few drops of reality added, and I think the gameplay will be significantly more interesting than what Assassinate ultimately became (pretty much a game of chicken with a lot of bullshit rodeo circle-strafing). While the frenchmen in the Gametrailers video don’t do a particularly good job at sussing out enemies and avoiding death, they do a good job of demonstrating how this intense addition will work.

While I’m excited to bring my skills to the table in this installment, I am slightly worried that general balance may have taken a backseat to flashy new effects and extra modes/social features. Any developer that decides buffing Smoke Bombs is a priority can’t be too focused on building a competitive scene. What do you think of these new modes and gameplay changes?