Assassin's Creed: Revelations details from GI -- hookblades, bombs, and LA Noire-esque facial capture

NeoGAF user SolidSnakex has posted a breakdown of this month's Game Informer coverage of the just-announced Assassin's Creed: Revelations. First off, let's get the protagonist problem out of the way: In Revelations, you'll play as both 12th century stabber Altair and his 16th century descendant Ezio, now over 50 years old. Ezio will be looking for "seals" which will allow him to access Altair's memories, similar to how Desmond used the Animus to access both Altair's and Ezio's memories. Speaking of Desmond, he's unsurprisingly back in the Animus "where he finds a safe mode called the 'Black Room.'" The gameplay in Desmond's mode is described as "narrative-fueled puzzle sequences," geometric shapes and all.

The lion's share of the game will take place in Constantinople (or, as it's known today, Istanbul) separated into four districts: Constantin, Beyazid, Imperial, and Galata. If you want a change of scenery (fairy chimneys!) some of the game will also take place in Cappadocia. Inside the cities, you'll be able to establish Assassin's Dens, a sort of expanded Borgia Tower mechanic from Brotherhood. Complete various scenarios, take down the regional Templar presence, establish a Den, and then "upgrade the buildings in that region along with adding ziplines across the rooftops."

Ubisoft wants to make your time spent in Constantinople (and Cappadocia!) more valuable, so they've not only done away with traditional side missions in favor of random events (ie: noticing a shop owner being robbed) but have also given Ezio (and Altair?) a new item called the "hookblade" which can be used with the aforementioned ziplines to speed up navigation "by about 30%."

But it wouldn't be a video game if you couldn't use that hookblade to mess dudes up. Lucky for you it can be used to pull said dudes in for a mean combo. More interested in bombs, you say? So is Ezio! He can now make up to 300 bombs using a crafting system. Along with the new toys comes a new level cap and a more narrative-focused multiplayer mode with the ability to customize your character and create guilds.

Lastly, Ubisoft Montreal is using a new facial capture technology called Mocam which Game Informer calls an "intriguing amalgamation of traditional animation, performance capture and the fascinating new style of performance on display in games like LA Noire." And yes, Ubi is doing all that with another one-year turnaround. With the success of Brotherhood, we're certainly giving it the benefit of the doubt.

Of course, you can find more details (and pretty pictures!) in the June issue of Game Informer.