In this week’s Game Freak, it’s time to dip into the past with Ubisoft’s latest installation of the “Assassin’s Creed” series, “Assassins Creed: Revelations,” — and what revelations they are.

There will be no spoilers here — you’re welcome — but the story is too important not to talk about. Since the “Assassin’s Creed” series is almost wholly dependent on narrative, a lot of people were worried “Revelations” was going to disappoint, a doubt amplified by the game’s short production time.

Good news, everyone, the important parts of the story are well done, and only a very specific part is poorly explained. Unfortunately, this specific part is one of the more critical facets of the story set in the present. It also left a million questions, which was not appreciated.

Still, everything with Ezio Auditore and Altaïr ibn-La’Ahad is stellar, especially the flashbacks involving the latter assassin. After “Revelations,” Altaïr’s critical importance to everything else, which many players still had questions about, was finally answered in a perfect way.

The only other flaw with the story is that those who have never played previous games are going to be confused, badly. Like to the point where they will have no idea what the hell is going on, get frustrated and start throwing things. So if you’ve never played the other Assassin’s Creed games, do yourself a favor and play them. (They’re good too, so you won’t be disappointed.)

From a gameplay standpoint, “Revelations” has made improvements, and it’s especially impressive considering only a year was spent putting it together. Constantinople, the city Ezio adventures in, is a vibrant and exciting place to climb over or free run around. The addition of the hook blade, which replaces one of Ezio’s classic hidden blades from the past games, makes getting around the city even more exciting — and as always, the controls are easy to learn and master.

Fighting has been fine-tuned as well, though it didn’t need much work. The assassination animations have gotten more varied and exciting and the weapons are more diverse than in the past.

The addition of making bombs has also vastly opened up the way the game works now. It just adds another way for players to play the game. Now, a player can overcome a challenge by taking it head on, sneaking around, stealthily killing people, or using a variety of bombs to complement any of those playing styles.

Assassin training has returned too, in a more exciting way than before. Now master assassins have specialized missions that add character to players that were otherwise faceless. It is also tied into the newest aspect of the game, a strange type of defense mini-game involving protecting the various assassin dens scattered throughout the city.

It’s fun, sure, but takes some getting used to. Players basically order the assassin trainees to protect the den by perching on the rooftop and attacking with their ranged weapons. Then, mobs of Templars rush down a street and — the player hopes — get killed by the assassins on the roof. There’s a lot more to it, but it’s too complicated to explain without an entire article dedicated to it.

It was a fun addition, but isn’t crucial to the game. If a player does it right, they’ll only have to play this mini-game once. They have the option to play it more, but it might not be worth the headache of learning the nuances of playing it well.

_­— Jason Krell is a junior studying creative writing and Italian. He can be reached at arts@wildcat.arizona.edu. _