Assassin's Creed: Revelations Ubisoft Game Review 2011

Assassin's Creed Revelations presents the most immersive experience available in the series to date and the culmination of Ezio's adventure. In Assassin’s Creed Revelations, master assassin Ezio Auditore walks in the footsteps of his legendary mentor, Altaïr, on a journey of discovery and revelation. It is a perilous path – one that will take Ezio to Constantinople, the heart of the Ottoman Empire, where a growing army of Templars threatens to destabilize the region.
In addition to Ezio’s award-winning story, the acclaimed online multiplayer experience from Assassin's Creed Brotherhood returns, refined and expanded, with more modes, more maps and more characters that allow players to test their assassin skills against others from around the world. The latest chapter in the Assassin’s Creed saga also includes revolutionary gameplay, allowing players to manipulate the construct of Desmond’s memories and the Animus to decipher the mysteries of his past and gain insight into the future.


BECOME DEADLIER THAN EVER – Wield the lethal skills of a wiser, more efficient and deadlier Ezio. Swiftly eliminate your adversaries by deploying a new arsenal of weapons and abilities, such as enhanced free-running and hook blade combat. Experience new levels of gameplay customization with bomb crafting, and use heightened Eagle Vision to overcome your enemies and the environment.


TEST YOUR SKILLS AGAINST THE BEST – A critically acclaimed multiplayer experience gets even better, with all-new team modes and infinite replay value.
EXPERIENCE REVOLUTIONARY GAMEPLAY – Explore the farthest reaches of the Animus as you uncover the mysteries of Desmond’s past while gaining insight into what the future might hold.

Battlefield 3 slated for release on November 2

Although DICE has been candid about Battlefield 3's features and development priorities, the company hasn't been quick to share a release date. We've only heard that the game is expected to appear sometime in the latter half of 2011, butCVG may have discovered a potential launch date. According to a screenshot published by the site, the French version of EA's Download Manager displays a release date of November 2, 2011 -- the same timeframe as COD: MW3.

Many question the accuracy of that date as it falls on a Wednesday instead of Tuesday, which has become the traditional release day for major game launches in North America. European launches usually occur later in the same week, often on Friday. The fact that the screenshot is in French adds another layer of ambiguity, as November 2 might be the EU launch while it's actually scheduled to land in the US on Tuesday, November 1. But again, this is all speculation.

As one of 2011's most anticipated PC titles, it goes without saying that we're pretty excited about Battlefield 3. DICE is developing the game in its new Frostbite 2.0 engine and has promised that the PC version is receiving the most attention. Battlefield 3 reportedly features co-op gameplay, four classes, non-superficial character customizations, more unlockables than Battlefield: Bad Company 2, as well as improved level destruction, character animations and war sounds.

MALIBAL's Lotus P150HM: GeForce GTX 485M Gets Its Game On

Using the latest advances from Intel and Nvidia, MALIBAL attempts to prove that portability and performance are no longer mutually exclusive. Can a fully-loaded Lotus P150HM meet the needs of performance enthusiasts and gamers at a more reasonable price?

As the mobile vendors who specialize in DTRs try to prove their battery-equipped workstations can replace performance-oriented desktops, many appear to have forgotten that most people like to carry their portable devices farther than the distance from their office to their car. Due to the extra cooling and energy needs of high-performance components, any effort to reduce weight has come at a huge cost in capability.

That is, until now.

The recent launch of Intel’s Core i7-2920XM CPU, which brings massive efficiency gains to the table, puts desktop-class performance into mid-sized notebooks, addressing exactly one half of a “high-end” notebook’s typical shortcomings. The other half of the middleweight performance problem is graphics, to which Nvidia thinks it has an answer in its GeForce GTX 485M.

The combination of these latest components looks good on a spec sheet, but we had to find out how well these worked in actual games and applications. MALIBAL was ready to help us find out, sending its mid-sized Lotus P150HM for evaluation.

MALIBAL Lotus P150HM Configuration
Platform	Intel FCPGA988, HM65 Express, MXM-III Discrete Graphics
CPU	Intel Core i7-2920XM Quad-Core 2.5-3.5 GHz, 8 MB L3 Cache, 32nm, 55 W
RAM	16 GB (4 x 4 GB) Apacer DDR3-1333 MT/s SO-DIMM, CL9, 1.5 V, Non-ECC
Graphics	Single Nvidia GeForce GTX 485M, 2 GB GDDR5 575 MHz GPU, GDDR5-3000, 256-bit
Display	15.6" "Full HD" Glossy, LED backlit TFT, 1920x1080
Webcam	2.0 Megapixel
Audio	Integrated HD Audio
Security	Finger Print Scanner
Storage
Hard Drive	Intel second-gen X25-M 120 GB, MLC, 2.5-Inch, SATA 3 Gb/s SSD
Optical Drive	Panasonic UJ240 Blu-ray Burner: 6x BD-R, 2x BD-RE, 8x DVD±R
Media Drive	9-in-1 flash media interface
Networking
Wireless LAN	Intel Ultimate-N 6300, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n, 11/54/450 Mb/s
Wireless PAN	Optional Internal Bluetooth Module (not included)
Gigabit Network	Integrated 10/100/1000 Mb/s Ethernet
IEEE-1394	None
Telephony	None
Peripheral Interfaces
USB	3 x USB 2.0, 1 x USB 3.0
Expansion Card	Internal Only
HDD	None
Audio	Headphone, Microphone, Line-In, Digital Out
Video	1 x VGA, 1 x HDMI
Power & Weight
AC Adapter	180 W Power Brick, 100-240 V AC to 19 V DC
Battery	14.8 V 5200 mAh (77 Wh) Single
Weight	Notebook 7.0 lbs, AC Adapter 1.8 lbs, Total 8.8 pounds
Software
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition, OEM
Service
Warranty	3-year labor, 1-year parts (Add $149 for 3-Year Full)
Price	$3,307

The configuration we received adds over $2000 over the base model, including the $895 CPU upgrade from the standard Core i7-2630QM and a $495 upgrade from the GeForce GTX 460M. While many of these upgrade rates seem at least somewhat reasonable, substituting Intel’s 120 GB X25-M for the base model costs $5 more than purchasing the drive separately from Newegg. Though reinstalling the OS would have been a nuisance, there’s little chance any of us would pay someone $5 to take the standard 320 GB drive off our hands.