- Publisher: Ubisoft
- Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
- ESRB Rating: “M” for Mature
- Genre: Third-Person-Action
- Pros: Nice presentation; great gameplay; lots of stuff to do; mission variety; multiplayer
- Cons: Assassin recruitment makes the game a bit too easy; feels too familiar
The story literally picks up right at the end of Assassin's Creed II. Ezio Auditore has fought Rodrigo Borgia and had his mind blown with super crazy awesome knowledge at the end of ACII, so he thinks he has earned some time off from the war between Assassins and Templars. His return to his safe haven, Monteriggioni, is short lived however as it is attacked by the son of Rodrigo, Cesare Borgia. In order to rid Renaissance Italy of the Borgia family's tyranny and corruption, Ezio heads to Rome to take them out.
You do also play as Ezio's ancestor Desmond in the real world (you're actually playing through Ezio's memories through a device called an Animus, for those not familiar with the series), and he's learned some new tricks thanks to his time in the Animus playing assassin that have translated to the real world, which make exploring as Desmond as the game shifts back and forth from the Animus to the real world very interesting.
The story takes a solid 20+ hours to beat, if you bother with side missions and collectibles (which you should). I would say that experience with ACII is recommended. The story here won't really make sense if you haven't played ACII.
Gameplay
Ubisoft
The game plays very much like ACII, for the most part. The controls are the same, the gameplay feel is the same, and the missions are mostly the same. You are an assassin, and you get to sneak around, try to take out your targets quickly and silently, and then beat a hasty retreat. There are collectibles scattered around Rome, as well as hidden tombs to explore (with Tomb Raider / Prince of Persia-style platforming), Truth puzzles to find (left there by the previous person that used the Animus), and more. Like I said, we've seen a lot of this before, so I'm just going to cover the new stuff.
First off, the Borgia family controls Rome through huge towers that dot the landscape. By killing the captain of the soldiers there, and then burning the tower to the ground, you open up that section of the city. These Borgia tower missions are interesting because there are a lot of ways to complete them, and by being smart you can make them much easier on yourself. By destroying the towers, you open up the shops in the area and unlock new weapons and items. You actually don't even have to destroy all of the towers if you don't want to, but it makes the game a lot easier if you do. Plus they're fun.
Another change is that you can recruit other people to go on missions for you or call on them to help you. As your assassins complete missions, they level up and get more powerful. Delegating missions to others is very cool, but it makes the game a bit too easy.
A Bit Too Familiar
AC: Brotherhood is in most ways an improvement over ACII. But it also has some of the lingering problems, and they aren't so easy to dismiss this time around. The gameplay is clearly deeper, and better, but the controls are still just as finicky as ever. Fighting groups of enemies is a pain, and trying to quickly run and jump across rooftops under duress is as frustrating as ever. Some missions can also be pretty brutally difficult if you don't play them out the way the game wants, which can get very frustrating. We forgave these issues in ACII because the game was fresh and new. In AC Brotherhood we've seen and done a lot of this before, so the flaws are harder to ignore.
Multiplayer
One huge new feature in Brotherhood is multiplayer. Basically, you are hunting down other players, but you (and they) can hide in groups of NPCs, climb on buildings, etc. As you level up, you get better abilities. It works amazingly well. It is a little slowly paced, but very rewarding, and there are a few different modes that are variations of the core formula to keep things interesting. It isn't for everyone, but for patient gamers the multiplayer here is a nice change of pace from FPS deathmatch.
Ubisoft
Visually, AC: Brotherhood is a step up from ACII. The character models are very detailed and look great, and the animation is generally very smooth. The buildings and architecture are great looking, and the city filled with NPCs wandering around really looks and feels alive. It does still suffer a bit from the same problem ACII had, namely that the farmland outside the city looks ugly and the tomb sections aren't much to look at. Overall, though, the rest of the game does look fantastic.
Sound
The sound is also well done. The music is excellent. The voice acting is perfect. It has Kristen Bell in it. It is all great.
Bottom Line
In the end, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is a great addition to the series. It takes everything that made ACII an amazing Game of the Year-quality game, and mostly improves on it. It does retain some of ACII's shortcomings as well, however, and this time around they aren't so easy to forgive. It is still a great game, though, that is highly recommended. The single-player campaign is lengthy and worthwhile, and the multiplayer mode is surprisingly well designed and great fun. The "Wow" factor is diminished a bit since we've done a lot of this before in the same setting (kind of like BioShock 2 earlier this year), but the game is still fantastic overall. Fans of the Assassin's Creed series will be more than happy with a purchase.
