Assassin's Creed Revelations is going to be bringing some new features to the Assassin's Creed universe in an expanded multiplayer experience, and new weapons and travel mechanics for the single player campaign. One previously mentioned feature is the fight for Constantinople between the Assassins and the Templars, and we're finally being given details on just what this fight is going to entail.

The Borgia Towers played an important role in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood as strongholds that increased the number of guards in a region, and restricting Ezio's access to shops, banks, stables, and underground tunnels in the surrounding area. These will be making a return in Assassin's Creed Revelations as Assassin's Dens - hidden locations around Constantinople that serve as bases of operations for the Assassins in the city.

While the Dens are under Assassin control, Ezio will have the ability to upgrade shops in the area just like in Brotherhood, but these shops will once again have multiple tiers of upgrades, like Monteriggioni's shops in Assassin's Creed 2.

It's not clear how many tiers these shops will have or just how much upgraded shops will impact gameplay, but it's a welcome change regardless.

The Dens are going to be under constant threat of Templar attack, and as Ezio's notoriety rises, so too will the risk of them being captured. If control of a Den is lost Ezio will lose the ability to upgrade surrounding buildings, and more neutral Ottoman guards will be replaced with aggressive Byzantine guards allied with the Templars.

Ezio will be able to go in personally to defend Dens or if the player can't be bothered to defend these strongholds, there will be an option to send assassin recruits to repel the Templar attacks. This defense system will work just like the assassin missions in Brotherhood did, with the percentage chance of victory decided by who is sent to defend the Den.

Assassin's Creed Revelations Assassin's Dens Revealed

Assassins will once again have a leveling system in place, but instead of 10 levels the assassins in Revelations will have a level cap of 15. Once they reach level 10 they will attain the rank of master assassin and be able to defend Assassin Dens. A welcome addition to the formula from Brotherhood is the more unique personalities the assassins will possess, sometimes requesting that you go on missions with them, and players will also be given the ability to customize them to a greater extent.

Here's where it gets really interesting, and perhaps even a little confusing. As you unlock more Assassin's Dens around Constantinople you will gain access to missions outside of the city that span the greater Templar/Assassin war across the Mediterranean. Other cities are fighting their own battles, and you will be able to fight for districts in those cities. The way these battles are played out is still yet to be revealed, but apparently the player will be able to participate in the outcome of these battles, or let the AI handle it on its own.

All in all, it looks like Ubisoft has made a much greater effort to expand on all the new gameplay mechanics that made their way into Brotherhood and ensure that they're even better in Revelations. This is shaping up to be the biggest release in the series yet with so much to do, some may even wonder if they'll find the time to play the single player campaign.

Who are we kidding, it'll be virtually impossible to skip over a single player campaign that features Ezio's last chapter and the reveal of Desmond's backstory.

Are you looking forward to fighting for Constantinople, or were Borgia towers a bore for you?

Assassin's Creed Revelations will have you fighting for the whole of the Mediterranean when it releases on November 15, 2011 for the Xbox 360, PC, and PS3.

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Source: GameInformer