[Review] – Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

[Gamercide]

Developed by:  Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Annecy (multiplayer)

Published by:  Ubisoft

Platforms:  Xbox 360, PS3

Players: 1 offline, with 4-8 player multiplayer

Rated M (Mature) by the ESRB

Assassin’s Creed II was a great game and improved upon the already revolutionary first Assassin’s Creed in almost every conceivable way.  With Assassin’s Creed:  Brotherhood, Ubisoft aims to improve even further upon an already great series, even adding a completely new multiplayer mode.  But is it worth the full price, or is it little more than an expansion?

You don’t need to read to the end of this review to know my personal impression of this game.  The answer is yes, the game is absolutely worth the full price, and is much more than a simple expansion.  It continues the story of Desmond’s ancestor, Ezio, while picking up right where Assassin’s Creed II left off in the present time line, with Desmond and his new found fellow Assassin’s running from the Templar’s and seeking sanctuary.  Though it doesn’t seem possible, Brotherhood actually manages to refine the winning formula of AC2 even further.  There is easily as much to do in Rome, though it is a single, connected city (with stretches of countryside in between), as there was to do in all of AC2.

The combat has been changed up to where Ezio is even more powerful, but the enemies are more aggressive.  It is now possible to chain finishing moves.  Upon killing an enemy, if you direct your next attack towards another you can perform a finishing move on him, and continue this streak by targeting another enemy after that.  This is similar to the other AC games where enemies would suddenly lose heart and run away, lowering their guard for easy kills, but much more stylish.  Most of the new weapons are just upgraded versions from the previous games, like faster acting poisons, but there are also some new features like the ability to keep a heavy weapon permanently, though it will replace your medium weapon.  In terms of equipment, all of the previous equipment that helped Ezio be a great Assassin, such as smoke bombs and throwing knives, return alongside a few new items like the parachute, which allows you to survive falls from any height.

One of the best new features in Brotherhood’s single player campaign is the ability to recruit and train Assassin’s.  You can train them up by sending them out to complete missions that give you gold and occasionally loot through a meta-game found at pigeon coups throughout the city.  Your Assassin’s can be summoned to either quietly take out guards as you are sneaking around, or to assist you in a fight.  The higher the level they are, the more equipment they’ll have access to, and the more efficient they’ll be at taking down guards.  Features like this, and the ability to chain finishing moves, make Brotherhood a fairly easy game compared to previous entries, but it never holds the game back, and is still great fun to play.

The biggest addition in Assassin’s Creed:  Brotherhood is undoubtedly the multiplayer.  Amidst the dozens of multiplayer shooters out this year, this game has one of the most unique, refreshing multiplayer experiences I’ve ever played.  Most of the game modes essentially play out like a game of cat and mouse.  You must find your target amongst a crowd of civilians, all of whom inconveniently decided to dress in the multiplayer costumes, while simultaneously trying remain stealthy so any pursuers won’t immediately recognize you and try to assassinate you.  Very few multiplayer games have ever actually made me nervous like Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.  No shooter has even come close.  The multiplayer in this game will have you paranoid and on the edge of your seat, wondering where the next attack might come from.

If I have anything bad at all to say about the game, it’s that the controls are almost too smooth.  It can be a pain when you’re running from a pursuer in multiplayer and your character decides to jump into a hay bale that you intend to run past, leaving your enemy to start an inescapable killing animation where they jump into the hay bale after you.  Though most of the issues you may have with controls, such as Ezio jumping farther than you wanted, or grabbing the wrong ledge, are much more manageable once you’ve gotten used to how to work the controls and avoid them.  Regardless of the quirks, Assassin’s Creed still has arguably the best climbing mechanics out there.

In the end, Assassin’s Creed:  Brotherhood is an all around great game that shouldn’t be missed.  If you consider yourself a core gamer, Brotherhood has everything that you could want in a game, including smooth melee combat, stealth, parkour, and much more.

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[StealthyShadows]

nicely written kev. i didnt know you got a parachute in game, i may have to play through to get it this weekend

[Kevnvek]

nicely written kev. i didnt know you got a parachute in game, i may have to play through to get it this weekend

Thanks, Stealthy. Honestly to me it was kinda rushed. I had been sick and procrastinating the review for weeks, then finally got some writing energy a day or two ago and went, "Fuggit! *scribble* *scribble* done!" lol

You get the parachutes from completing all of the Da Vinci misisons, the action packed ones where you blow up several types of war machines. Honestly they're not that great, though I haven't used them much. You can only seem to open them within a few seconds of jumping, then you're left to fall to your death if you didn't. Also, there's a glitch where, whenever you load a new area (like going into a Romulus Den), all of your parachutes disappear from your inventory.

[ThermoNukePanda]

Good job AK.

Coy bought this for me for Christmas so I'll be checking it out shortly afterwards. I took the Mon-Wed off after Christmas from work so I can be lazy.

[Dateranoth]

Nice review. Looks like I will enjoy this when I do get to it.

[Kevnvek]

Just made a quick edit, added a mention of the crossbow. It's such a great weapon in Brotherhood. It's basically just like the pistol from Assassin's Creed 2, but has more ammo, aims faster, and doesn't make any noise when fired, so you can remain hidden while using it.

[ThermoNukePanda]

I'm interested in trying out the multiplayer when I get it on Christmas. sounds fun