'Assassin's Creed Revelations' Was Once A 3DS Game

After two "Assassin's Creed" games starring Ezio Auditore, there weren't too many people expecting a third. After all, the last major time period and protagonist change was back in 2009 with "Assassin's Creed 2." Despite that, Ubisoft is sticking with the Italian assassin for one more go-around in "Assassin's Creed Revelations." The game's focus will be on forming the connection between Ezio and the franchise's first protagonist, Altair. That heretofore untold story is clearly important to the franchise, but it was a story that was originally going to be told on a handheld device, according to Darby McDevitt, lead writer for "Revelations."

Late last week, at a media event in New York City, I spoke with McDevitt about "Revelations," and he mentioned that it wasn't always such a massive project. "This story was developed simultaneously with 'Brotherhood,' but it was in a slightly different format," he explained. "It was not a full console game."

So how did "Revelations" begin development?

"There was a game announced called '[Assassin's Creed:] Lost Legacy.' It was a 3DS game. And that has never been officially cancelled, but we just morphed that idea. It was literally a matter of falling deeply in love with our subject matter and within months of realizing we needed to go bigger, we went bigger."

On that front, players can expect deeper multiplayer and a storyline that features playable sequences as Ezio, Altair and Desmond. McDevitt wants to be clear that this is still primarily an Ezio game, saying that sequences as the other characters will be much shorter and more linear. You won't, for example, explore the ancient city of Constantinople as Altair, though you will have specific missions as him.

Although some fans may be disappointed that this new "Assassin's Creed" game is sticking with the same protagonist, McDevitt does point out that when the franchise is ready for an "Assassin's Creed 3," it'll have a fresh new time and character. "First and foremost, it's an ancestor thing, and a location and a time period thing." As you may recall, my fingers are crossed for the American Revolution.