Assassin's Creed:Brotherhood

To the casual gamer, Brotherhood may appear to be a large expansion to the second installment of the series, Assassin's Creed 2. However, the further into the game you progress, the more it becomes apparent that ACB is so much more that a retooling of the second game. While there have not been any significant changes to the game mechanics and gameplay, there have been many, more subtle changes.

The game picks up at the exact moment that the second game ends, as Ezio Auditori exits the secret chamber of the First People, below the Vatican. After emerging from the subterranean chamber, and suffering through half and hour of cinematic, the playable game picks up with an aging and injured Ezio shuffling his way to a doctor. From here, Ezio picks up his fight with Francisco Borgia, now Pope Alexander. In addition to his fight with the Pope, Ezio must now contend with the threat of Chaesare Borgia, son of the Pope and Captain of the military. As Ezio recovers from his injuries and the destruction of his sanctuary at Monteriggioni, he must also contend with the greater responsibilities that have fallen to him within the Assassin Order. The Assassins are under attack on all fronts, Baralomeo contending with the persistent assaults from French military, Machiavelli managing the political initiatives, and La Vulpa trying to root out an enemy agent within the Order itself. Amongst the chaos of the Borgia rule, Ezio struggles to maintain the remains of the once great Assassins Order. As the player, this means running missions for many of the characters from the second game. Gaining experience, florans and new weapons technologies as you progress.

Changes to the game are less about the gameplay itself and more about what you can do in the game. Some of these changes are not as important (i.e. Riding a horse in the city), and others change the game in major ways. Large changes to the game include the all new Assassin's Apprentices. After a certain point in the game, you become able to rescue citizens from Borgia attacks and induct them into the guild. These assassins perform missions for you, gaining experience and Floras. Additionally, you can call on the aid of your assassins. The assassins level up and gain new weapons the more experience they gain. Another change to the system is the new Improving Rome deal. As you are now apparently the savior of the people, you can invest you hard earned cash in improving the entire city of Rome, through stores, architecture, and transport. Even purchasing landmarks is an option. While these changes don't heavily influence gameplay, they certainly change the pace of the game.

With ACB, Ubisoft unveiled their multiplayer for the Assassin's Creed series. The multiplayer boasts five different game types over about ten or so maps. The player also has the opportunity for some customization. Uncertainly, most of the customization requires the player to level up their Assassin. A major over site on the part of Ubisoft is the incredibly terrible loading rate of the matches. At any given time it may be as much as twenty to thirty minutes for a match to load, though this time does shorten once you have found a group of players. Beyond this networking failure, the gameplay of multiplayer is very entertaining. The player has the option of a free-for-all search and kill mode called Wanted, where players compete for kills and style points while searching assigned targets and being hunted themselves. There are also multi-team game types of varying sorts, all following the same hunt and kill process. It doesn't take long to get a good start on leveling up, which quickly unlocks new equipment. Most of the customization is only available at upper levels.

Ubisoft writers seemed to have to stretch to fill the game this time around. While the story is engaging, newcomers to the series will be lost. Additionally, many of the missions seem to be repeats of previous ideas. Leonardo makes multiple appearances throughout the game, but with a pricetag attached. The story follows the lives of the Borgia in a tumultuous period of Italian history, including a great deal of conflict within the Papal family. Ezio runs along the rooftops of Rome, hunting but never killing Caesare Borgia, though many opportunities seem to present themselves. It may have been better if Ubisoft had not bent to pressure to continue the Ezio storyline, as it seems they just didn't have much material. The story of Desmond Miles advances very little, though some major changes do occur at the end. In what is quickly becoming an Assassin's Creed tradition, Ubisoft cuts the game at the climax, at a moment so infuriating that it seems almost cruel. For players of previous AC games, you probably expected this, but for newcomers, brace yourself for one terrible ending.

Rating

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is really sort of a filler game, something to tie over fans for a year or so until the next game. While the gameplay continues to sparkle with promise and intrigue, the lackluster story detracts from the overall experience. As with all Assassin's Creed games, Ubisoft spared little expense in the graphics department, and the combat system has some minor tweaks that really did improve the gaming experience.

Gameplay: 3.5/4.0

The tweaks to the system helped improve the game beyond its predecessors. There weren't any major drawbacks from performance or intuitive play. Overall a very well orchestrated piece of gaming.

Story: 1.0/3.0

An unimaginative story, coupled with a terrible ending. If not for the character development from the previous games, I don't think this would be engaging at all. The story of Ezio needs to die here.

Graphics: 2.0/2.0

The graphics are great, no matter how close you get to something. Excellent job.

Bonus Point: Awarded. This game includes over thirty weapons for Ezio to wield, many all new ones to the series like a cross bow or huge swords and axes that Ezio can keep. Bonus point is also included for the 50/100 synchronization process.

Normally I include the multiplayer in the gameplay section, but un this instance I will cite it separately. While the multiplayer is, overall, a very nice touch, the load time is simply abominable. I start a search for a game, leave, come back in about fifteen minutes, and still keep waiting. I hope this is Ubisoft's Beta testing for multiplayer. If this is how things will be in AC3, they'd be better of not including it at all. Note that the rating does not include multiplayer. I will be rating multiplayer separately from now on.

6.5/10.0

The Future:

With a big ticket series like AC, I like to think about what we can expect from the next installment. For the Assassin's Creed series, the biggest question is where will the game take place. Based on hints throughout the game, the biggest one being the comment by Shaun in the last moments of the game, the next game will most likely occur during the French or American Revolutions. While I was personally hoping for a Cold War era Creed, I guess either of these locations will work out just as well.

Final Rating:

7.5/10.0

By Hegemon

Date: February 22, 2010