[Timgt5]

Get ready once more for a trip into dark history of the assassins and Templers as they battle for the mysterious Apple of Eden, and Desmond Miles learns more about his very interesting lineage.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

Type: Third Person Action/adventure
Genre: Historic Fiction/ Science Fiction
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft, Montreal
Released: November 2011
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Highs: Excellent Graphics, Well Written Story, solid voice work, smooth and deep gameplay, interesting multiplayer

Lows: Occasional Collision detection issues, some clipping and pop-in, a few cheap deaths. A few very difficult stealth based missions.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood is the third game in the Assassin’s creed series following Assassin’s Creed and Assassins Creed II and continuing the story of Ezio Auditore De Firenza.

Background: In the first Assassin’s Creed we met Desmond Miles, a local bartender living in modern times, blissfully unaware that he is a descendent of a long line of Assassins. The Assassins were a secret order that arose to counter the power hungry Knights Templar. Desmond is brought to a laboratory facility owned by a large conglomerate called Abstergo (which in reality is front organization for the Templar order, you guys did not really believe they were wiped out in the Middle Ages did you?) and attached to a machine called an Animus. The Animus allows the user to use the subjects DNA, to bring up memories of the subject’s ancestors. Abstergo hopes to use Desmond’s genetic memory to locate a powerful device, lost many centuries ago.

Desmond has several ancestors that are of particular interest to Templers, the first game focuses on Altair, an assassin living in the near east during the crusades. Altair, a part of the Assasin order stumbles on a grand conspiracy carefully orchestrated by both the Templers and his own leader. They are after an artifact called the Piece of Eden. This powerful relic is capable of mind control. Altair succeeds in destroying the conspiracy, but ended up with even greater questions afterwards. The game ended with the revelation concerning Abstergo and their attempt to hold Desmond captive. One of the Lab Assistants, Lucy Stillman, turned out to be a mole for the Assassins and she helps Desmond escape Abstergo’s clutches.

In Assasin’s Creed II we learn that shortly before making his escape from Abstergo, Desmond Miles has had yet another ancestor revealed to him. This man, Ezio Auditore De Firenza, lived during the early Renaissance, not far from Venice. The Assassins have Desmond in a hidden location, and have set him up in an even more advanced version of the Animus. This one allows not only for the user to see and hear the memories of his ancestor, but over time acquire some of his abilities.

Ezio, we learn was the rambunctious son of a local banker, who was leading a double life as Assassin (Ezio was unaware of this at the start of the game) A conspiracy hatched by the Borgia family who sought greater power for themselves and the Knights Templar. Ezio’s father and brother are framed and executed. Ezio escapes with his mother and sister to his Uncle Mario’s villa. Ezio plans on leaving Italy, when his uncle reveals himself and his now deceased brother to have been Assassins. Ezio agrees to stay and learn the ways of the Assassins in order to avenge his father’s death.

As Assassins Creed 2 progresses the piece of Eden an artifact now known as “The Apple” has resurfaced. Ezio makes it a priority to secure this artifact for the Assassins. In the end Ezio defeats Borgia, but ultimately cannot bring himself to kill Rodrigo Borgia (who has rigged events to get himself into the Papacy). Ezio then is shown a vision of a being calling herself Minerva, and revealing she and her kind were an advanced race that created mankind itself and foretells of a future disaster that will destroy mankind in the year (anyone want to guess this one?) Ezio leaves the scene confused and distraught.

In the present, Desmond, using his newly developed skills is able to escape an assault by Abstergo Mercenaries on the Assassin base and one more flees with Lucy to yet another location to continue using the Animus and finding out more about Ezio’s later years.

The Plot: Desmond Miles, once more from a newly secure location, continues using the Animus to explore the further memories of his ancestor, Ezio Auditore. Ezio’s life jumps ahead a bit as he returns to his villa in triumph over the Borgia. He meets with his allies to explain what he saw at the end of AC II. Among the Assassins is one Machiavilli (yep that one!) who questions Ezio’s fateful decision to let the Pope live. Ezio ends up living to regret his miscalculation, and the next day his villa comes under attack. A new army led by Rodrigo’s son Cesare Borgia destroys the villa, and murders Mario Auditore. To male matters worse, they steal “The Apple” from Ezio, who barely escapes with his life. Ezio then heads to Rome to seek revenge and take down the Borgias once and for all.

Like its predessors AC Brotherhood has a well crafted story of mystery and intrigue. Ezio’s tale is compelling and works hand in hand with the gameplay very well.

Gameplay: AC Brotherhood features a variety of different gameplay. At its core it is an action game. Its structure is that of an open world (like GTA and Red Dead Redemption.) All of the action takes place this time in the vast city of Rome. Like its predecessors, AC Brotherhood combines “Parkour” style free running, sword play and reconnaissance into a single experience. The mechanics that are carried over from AC II are improved and both combat and free running are smooth overall. AC Brotherhood adds some nice extras; players can now ride horses inside of the city for example.

AC Brotherhood’s primary objective is to unseat the Borgias from Rome, this is done by taking down the various towers (10 in total) and then completing a variety of missions that are unlocked as you free each area. Taking down the towers involves locating and assassinating the captain (this gets harder as the game progresses)

Once a Boriga tower falls, Ezio is able to operate out of the immediate area with greater freedom. In addition to missions, Ezio wins the heart of the people by restoring local businesses and opening closed shops such as the apothecary, blacksmith, taylor and painting seller. Each of these shops bring in additional income, that Ezio can collect and use to buy weapons, repair armor and purchase supplies( like medicine) and additional clothing pouches to increase his ability to carry small weapons like daggers and crossbow bolts.

About one quarter of the way into the game, Ezio gains the ability to recruit citizens and train them to become assassins, like him. Once a citizen is recruited Ezio can send them on missions (you do not actively play these) and as they carry them out successfully, the new assassins become more powerful. If Ezio has enough of his recruits available to him he can call them in for backup on his own missions. This sounds complex but the non player character management is intuitive and works very well (Kudos to Ubisoft for getting this right)

Overall the game is rich with a large variety of challenges and missions. To get substantially complete expect 15-20 hours worth out of this title. The mechanics are solid for the most part and it all flows with the narrative very well.

In addition to the robust single player campaign, Ubisoft added a rather unique take on multiplayer. It is a sort of “cat and mouse” chase through the streets and rooftops of Rome. I have to say it’s quite a challenge and a lot of fun.

Sights and Sounds: AC Brotherhood introduces small but noticeable improvements to the visuals over AC II. The day to night cycle transitions more smoothly than before. Character models are more detailed in physical features and clothing. The stealth based Leonardo Divinci missions have truly spectacular set design. The city of Rome and the surrounding area are vast and highly detailed, with period-accurate building architecture. Particle effects and water are also well done here. Overall AC Brotherhood is in a top tier group of games as far as graphics go.

The sound effects are good here as well. The marketplace comes alive during the day with many voices. Weapons, armor and horses all come off as substantial. The music score is solid with a few great moments but overall does not stand out for me.

Kids Corner: AC Brotherhood is rated M and contains a fair amount of violence. There is also a sex scene (albeit non nude) and dark subjects such as incest are touched upon. In the modern world portions there are some curse words here and there. Overall I would not advise letting the young ones play this one.

In Summary: Assassins Creed Brotherhood continues to improve on a series that already had a lot of promise at the start. With addition of a multiplayer mode, continuing efforts to smooth out the mechanics and other improvements, Ubisoft has demonstrated a real commitment to this title. I cannot wait until the next itineration. So with that, I definitely recommend this title for the adventurer looking for intrigue and lot of game for the money.

[Timgt5]

I forgot the trailer oops

Timgt5

Thanks for the review Tim. I'm definitely going to have to look into this one.

[RRU96]

Thank you very much for the review. I currently own ACII for my 360, and had been thinking about this one as well. Though it may need to be a "greatest hits" purchase.

I would assume that there is still no difficulty settings?

[Timgt5]

Originally Posted by katlover251

Thanks for the review Tim. I'm definitely going to have to look into this one.

Definately worth it, gamestop dropped the price of a new copy to 39.99 not long ago.

[Timgt5]

Originally Posted by RRU96

Thank you very much for the review. I currently own ACII for my 360, and had been thinking about this one as well. Though it may need to be a "greatest hits" purchase.

I would assume that there is still no difficulty settings?

In answer to your question, no, but if you have AC II most of the gameplay in Brotherhood will be instantly familiar. (i have played all three)
Oddly the first Leonardo mission is the hardest (my opinion) but fortunately there are only 4 of these in the whole game. All of them involve his actual designs. My favorite was stealing his idea for a "Tank" very cool ending on that one.

The multiplayer is a bit tricky too, but a lot of fun

Gamestop had new copies at 39.99 a few weeks ago when I got mine, so this could be down to 29.00 very soon.

If you did enjoy AC II you will be really impressed by the expanded gameplay of Brotherhood.

[TheDragon]

I've been an Assassin's Creed fan since I tried the first game. I started Brotherhood yesterday and it's great because if you really got into ACII, Brotherhood just feels natural with great added features. Can't wait to get further and unlock more stuff (I miss Altair's armour!) and explore the new features. My biggest complain so far is the similar economy system. It feels very tedious and that money is just spent on getting more money. Otherwise, amazing game so far. I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in action/adventure. Great puzzles (especially platforming puzzles) too.