Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Reviews

8 March 2011, the release date of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood's 4th DLC.
Fans have been expecting it, the rest probably didn't even know or care about it. And this DLC leaves it that way.


At first you've got a few new story aspects involving Leonardo Da Vinci and his student Salai. Those will lead you to hints on events from the end of the main game.
But except a reunion with a few old characters and an introduction of Salai and some new enemies everything has stayed the same.
You still tail, assassinate or beat up targets while mostly remaining undetected. Although the difficulty level has slightly increased you are still left with maximum 5 hours of gameplay.
It's not surprising but Ubisoft could have made this a bit more special and rich in variety when one has to actually pay money for it.

The second additions have been made in the multiplayer.
There are now 4 new characters available (Knight, Marquis, Pariah, Dama Rossa)
and also 2 new game modes with one new map come with it. Those are:
Escort= One group hunts a VIP and another group tries to protect the VIP from that certain group
Assassinate= like the mode „Wanted“, just with no fixed targets (everyone hunts everyone)


The new multiplayer features will probably gain popularity really quick but those of the singleplayer remain weak and just leave an even bigger desire for a real sequel behind.

The “Da Vinci Disappearance” costs Xbox360 owners 800 MP and people with a PS3 will have to pay 10$. The new PC-Version already contains all 4 DLCs.

So if you're not in the possession of a console you should get AC Brotherhood so that you can get the main game together with the DLCs (for free).

If you do possess a console you should think about buying the DLC again. 10$ is not that much but spending your money on this add-on may easily lead to a disappointment. And there are better things around to spend 10$ on. (Excepting you're a complete fan like me and just want to see Leonardo and some new cutscenes C;)

Ubisoft shouldn't rush things too much. They should take their time or else the sequel will be real bad... (I just wanted to say that out loud once.)

Assassin's Creed x Multiplayer. The thing AC Brotherhood has
been praised for the most.
But does online gaming really work out in the Assassins Universe or is it just excitement for no reason?



The first thing you have to do is "forget" about Ezio and the Order of Assassins for the time being, since the Multiplayer is all about Abstergo and its agents.
That's not too bad because that gives you some entirely new story aspects, even if the story is rather trivial in this case.

The usual features of Assassin's Creed were of course kept:
Killing targets, climbing walls, trying not to be detected.
Those make the game unique and can actually match up to certain first-person shooters.
The controls are very easy to understand and allow "newcomers" to get along quickly.
The characters are creatively designed and for now there is enough variety.
The maps include places all over Italy and require different strategies. Still, there are too little.
Till now there are 6 game modes:
Wanted (and Advanced Wanted) = the player is on his own
Alliance (and Advanced Alliance) = the player acts in a team of 2
Manhunt = the player acts in a team of about 4
Chest Capture = the AC version of Ctf in a team of about 4
All these provide a great amount of fun and fortunately do not get tiring too fast.

You are also supplied with a couple of abilities which make assassinations or escaping easier. By creating many compilations of different abilities the game turns out much more diversified.

The graphics are quite alright but the spawning mistakes that are also present in the singleplayer remain. That doesn't disturb the gameplay though.
And of course there is the fact of transmission, that still seems kind of unfinished.
Sometimes the game just breaks down right in the middle of a session and in other cases it takes ages to even connect to a new session.

Another thing that occurred to me is the good balance of the single- and multiplayer mode. In my case I have finished the singleplayer first and then moved on to play the multiplayer. But there are still a few things left to explore in Rome so I'm switching between playing as Ezio and the Knights Templar. Meaning they are both equally interesting.

All in all I am very pleased with the Multiplayer and I also think that there can't be passed a final judgment yet since Ubisoft is still working on it (adding more characters, maps and the ability to go beyond level 50...I hope).

So yeah, a multiplayer mode in Assassin's Creed works very well and makes it even more special because there's nothing quite like it. All the enthusiasm is justified and if one is not completely averted to the AC series it's really worth checking out.

The long awaited sequel to Ezio's epic story has finally come.
But is the next part of the Renaissance Assassin really worth buying?



Looking at the gameplay mostly everything has stayed the same as in Assassin's Creed II. One still has to climb, jump and find several ways to kill or threaten targets of course. But there are a few new features that distinguish it from the other AC-Games.

1. The usage of Ezio's newly founded Assassin's Guild that helps him out and can carry out tasks all around Europe. Although this feature is quite handy I've got the feeling that the fractions (merchants, courtesans, thieves) aren't really needed that much anymore since more missions are focusing on the use of your guild.

2. Ezio has much better fighting skills now. Makes sense somehow I guess. When you pull off a successful counter attack in ACBh you most likely start a Killing Streak. It's useful to deal with many enemies and it looks great. In the end it makes the fighting a bit too easy though when one is just waiting for the enemy to strike first.

3. Besides the use of your blades, guns and now also the indispensable cross bow
you are now instructed to destroy a couple of war machines that Leonardo da Vinci has built. These missions display some very creative variety. Unfortunately there are only 4 war-machine-missions and they are, in my opinion, way too short!

Some other new features are
- the ability to call your horse to wherever you are
- the usage of cannons
- more shops with specific quests
- Lairs of Romulus and Templar Hideouts to explore
- the ability to buy and restore buildings
- the ability to train in a virtual training room
- being able to leave the Animus whenever you want...
- and actually do some stuff as Desmond
(though not of much use for the most part.)
Unfortunately you can only reach very low spots from out of the water, that can be pretty annoying sometimes.
(But as long as they don't go back to Altaïr's swimming-skills it's alright. ;))



Looking at the story it continues right after the events of ACII. Not to spoil anything I'll just say that the story takes an even more epic and also dramatic turn of events-both Ezio's and Desmond's. It is (as also in the previous games) brought across brilliantly. At least I was fully absorbed from the very beginning.
Some new characters are introduced but there's also a re-encounter with many old ones. But as great as the story may be, it is all in all very short and for that much waiting (and money) I expected a little bit more. They could have made it longer, instead of planning another sequel. :/



The thing that fascinates me the most about the game is the way it is presented.
The city of Rome and especially the countryside are so extraordinary beautiful and because this is supported with an equally beautiful soundtrack you sometimes just stand around or ride your horse while enjoying the landscape.
The characters are depicted very believable and human and the changes from an oppressed Rome with desperate citizens to a brighter and more cheerful city is amazing.(Praise to all the fantastic voice acting! :D)

So is all this excitement justified?
I'd say it is in many points and it really is great fun to play but the length of the storyline is definitely a disappointment despite there are many more tasks to do in Rome and there is of course the new multiplayer.
There are also still a few spawning mistakes and in the X-Box360-version that I played were some lags at times. Didn't bother me though. I couldn't miss this game in the slightest. ♥

I'd recommend it to everyone that played and liked/loved the two prequels.
Also to those who are into 3rd-person action-adventure/open world and cherish the atmosphere of a game.