Difficulty:

Very Easy

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Underappreciated"

We were all a little worried when Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood was first announced, and for good reason too. AC2 had only just come out and Brotherhood appeared to be just a multiplayer add-on, set for release roughly a year after the previous game. Everyone was thinking: "Great. An overpriced multiplayer expansion. No thanks." however, Brotherhood is more than a mere expansion; it is a full game with ridiculous amounts of content, polished gameplay and an entertaining narrative. And for the first time, multiplayer.


Once again, you play as Ezio Auditore da Firenze, our Italian Assassin from AC2. If you have not finished Assassin's Creed II, then make sure you do that first because Brotherhood picks up exactly where AC2 finished. Basically, Ezio's home town of Monteriggioni is attacked by the Borgia, and Ezio is forced to travel to Rome and finish it once and for all. Parallel to Ezio's story is the story of Desmond Miles, the modern-day bartender who's memories we explored in the first two games. Despite what some people may say, Desmond's part is very major, and it is very significant to the main story. And I hope you like cliffhanger endings, because Brotherhood has the cliffhanger to end all cliffhagers. To be perfectly honest, Desmond's story is what keeps it from being a disappointment, because Ezio's part simply isn't as engaging as it was in Assassin's Creed II. There are a few interesting new characters such as the antagonist Cesare Borgia, but most of the people you meet will be familiar faces. It was great to see some of the characters from AC2 be developed a bit more; particularly Ezio's sister Claudia, who plays a bigger role this time, and the mysterious thief La Volpe, who appeared in only one scene of AC2, also gets some good screen time.


The gameplay is quite similar to that of it's predecessor; you'll run, jump and stab your way to victory. The combat is a lot more intense and realistic than it used to be; rather than stand in a circle waiting for an enemy to attack, it is now more effective to fight aggressively. After several successful hits, Ezio will finish them off with a brutal, and very satisfying death animation. Once you've killed one enemy, you can start an execution streak, killing the next enemy instantly. There are a lot of different animations for each weapon, so you don't need to worry about watching the same animation hundreds of times.The execution streaks make the combat very easy, but if you want a challenging game then this is simply not the right game for you.

The combat gets slightly more complicated when you face stronger foes, where you need to kick them to break their defense. Some guards are armed with weapons that cannot be countered with a sword, like axes or spears. the great thing about those weapons is that once you kill or disarm that enemy, who can actually throw the spears and axes at your foes. And speaking of weapons, most of your cool gadgets from AC2 are present here as well: Swords, maces, daggers, throwing knives, smoke bombs, hidden guns, hidden blades, poison etc. But the biggest addition is the mighty crossbow. It is a great way to silently take down guards from a distance and there is also now the ability to hotkey equipment on the D-pad. I could also go on about poison darts and the ability to throw 3 knives at once, but I can't write forever.

Missions now give out bonus objectives that are required to achieve full synchronization with Ezio's memories, and this is one of the best additions to the game, because it adds a bit of challenge to those who wish to achieve it, but is not required for the lazy who wish to just breeze through the game. Best of all, many of these bonus objectives are to remain undetected; making Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood the first AC game to feature actual stealth. Another large addition is the ability to recruit assassins and send them on missions. They can be called in when you are feeling lazy or are trying to stay undetected, but the game is easy enough that you won't actually need to get help unless going for a bonus objective.

The final major addition is the multiplayer. It is quite a surprise to see multiplayer in an Assassin's Creed game, and it is actually quite fun. rather than run around getting as many kills as possible, the game rewards you for impressive kills. The only real issue is it takes such a long time to find a game.

As far as graphics are concerned, ACB is a very good looking game. The buildings and landscapes are absolutely gorgeous. the voice acting is also top-notch, honorable mentions to Nolan North as Desmond and Kirsten Bell as Lucy.

So that's it pretty much. Brotherhood is easily the best Assassin's Creed yet, and it may not have the stunning story that AC2 had, but the polished gameplay more than makes up for that. I would easily recommend this game.

Pros:
-New killstreaks speed up the combat
-Rome is an attractive, well-designed city
-Kill animations are super gory
-Huge amount of content
-Innovative multiplayer component

Cons:
-Story is disappointing
-Still too easy
-It takes forever to get into a game during Multiplayer