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In this final hands-on with the game, we join everyone's favourite Renaissance hit man Ezio Auditore da Firenze as he journeys up the Bosphorus to Constantinople, the ancient city where east meets west. Following a bloody encounter with the Templars at the Assassins' fortress of Masyaf, Ezio now seeks five seals which his ancestor Altair has concealed throughout the city. These Masyaf keys unlock an ancient artefact which will help unite the shattered consciousness of present day Desmond Miles who is still trapped in the Animus' Black Room with subject 16.

Do you dare unlock the secrets of the Animus? Head on over to the Unlock the Animussite to win a splendid trip to Constantinople, the ancient city where Assassin's Creed: Revelations is set.

But the back story will probably take a back seat as you first sail into the Galata district in the company of a poor student named Guzel, as your eyes will be too busy feasting on the the sights and sounds of the ancient crossroads. As always with the AC series, the city itself is stunningly realised and with landmarks like the Galata tower, Hagia Sofia and the Topkapi palace, it's clear Ubi Montreal have been given full reign to construct another amazing assassins playground for to enjoy. The city is every bit as much a star as the main protagonist.

Yet it's an older, greyer and altogether more grizzled Ezio who stalks onto the Galata shore. Now ascended to the rank of mentor assassin (the highest there is), Ezio in 1511 is rich in experience and craft, but more tired, weary and prone to the ravages of time. Fortunately the assassins, like Greggs, have branches in every town and local Master Assassin Yusif Talim is on hand to show him the ropes.

Or in this case rather, the hook blade, for, after a quick meet 'n greet at the local assassins HQ, it's time to get introduced to the Ottoman assassins' favourite travelling companion. A quick sprint up the local Galata Tower proves instructive, with the hookblade allowing you leap higher and further up sheer surfaces, tapping B to extend, reach and grab high ledges. While free running across rooftops you can now hit B in mid air to perform even longer jumps and if you find yourself plummeting towards the streets, the hookblade will grapple onto nearby walls, saving you an undignified appointment with a pavement face plant.

Constantinople's rooftops are also criss crossed by multiple zip lines and your blade will hook onto them allowing you to fly around the city at a rare old speed and perform stylish airborne drops on unsuspecting rooftop guards. It's versatile in combat too, with evade and trip moves and it certainly adds more speed and flow to Revelations' free-running sequences. As Ezio remarks, the boys back home would certainly like this one and the hookblade is a very satisfying addition to your assassin's arsenal.

But while you've been Batmanning around the city, the Templars are also on the march and are now threatening to storm your Assassin den. Replacing the Borgia towers mechanic from Brotherhood, Dens are a new tower-defence style mini-game which puts Ezio in command as the Templars lay siege to your gates.
From a rooftop overview you place units to defend the approach, beginning with Assassin leaders and crossbowmen to meet the first wave and you can also place barricades to block the street which the Templar attackers will have to tear down.

Every kill improves your morale score which can be spent on additional units like the riflemen necessary to bring down more heavily armoured targets. When the Templars resort to bringing up a siege ram to batter you into submission, you can counter by calling down artillery fire in the form of cannon strikes to rain death and destruction on your foes. Maintaining control of your ten Dens will be key in the wider conflict for the city and Den battles promise to be an interesting and diverting new feature, which add a strategic element, very much in keeping with Ezio's venerable status.

After further embroiling ourselves in several missions the wider Ottoman versus Byzantium conflict, an encounter with our student friend from earlier who turns out to be Sulieman the (not yet) magnificent, and a very welcome minstrel punching foray, we eventually found our way back to the Galata Tower, ready to have a crack at retrieving one of Altair's seals.

These impressive underground sequences are reminiscent of the old Assassins Tombs, big set-piece puzzle areas with spectacular leaps and falls, collapsing bridges, precarious zip lines, falling ceilings, huge fathomless drops and a thorough examination of your free-running skills. These were always one of our favourite parts of the series and Revelations continues in that fine tradition. Your reward for solving one will be a trip back through time, unlocking new memory sequences and the secrets of a certain Altaïr ibn-La'Ahad.

We'll confess we're big fans of the whole AC series, but after a long, deep and highly enjoyable play session with Revelations, we have to say, colour us impressed. The same great core AC gameplay is there as always, but with a splendid new setting in Constantinople, new components like the hookblade, Dens and bomb-crafting (which we barely had time to touch on), there are also many subtle but intriguing refinements on offer.

We've deliberately tried to avoid 'OMG Think of the Spoilerz!' in this preview, so we'll just say that the quick peek we've had at the storyline promises a thrilling and fitting conclusion to AC's Renaissance adventures. Needless to say we'll be one of the first in line when Revelations hits on November 11th.

Do you dare unlock the secrets of the Animus? Head on over to the Unlock the Animussite to win a splendid trip to Constantinople, the ancient city where Assassin's Creed: Revelations is set.