Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

I love Assassin's Creed Brotherhood! This one was definitely one of my favorites! I really enjoyed the sword fighting combat. I really enjoyed the aspect of creating your own Assassins and then calling them in as reinforcements. I loved raising up money and then purchasing all the different stores like blacksmiths, and tailors. The missions when you went to drive around in the different creations of Leonardo Da Vinci was very fun and cool. The music sounded beautiful. The scenery was beautiful and well detailed. All the different outfits were cool and fun to wear. Therefore I loved Assassin's Creed Brotherhood! Have a great day and goooo Assassin's Creed Brotherhood!

Desmond and co. arrive at their destination(I'm not giving it away... it's a nice idea, and, well, Templars could be reading this. That last part was a joke), and over the course of this, Ezio gets the closure he's been needing since II(which this expands upon, if it leaves a lot intact... and that, I will not go into a lot of detail on, you can read my review on that one, instead) began. The story(that *again* leaves us with a cliffhanger and more questions than answers) is interesting(as is following what happened with the characters, who are so diverse, developed and varied that everyone will find someone to like and look forward to seeing more of), and for being less grand than the one before it, its beginning, middle and end are made of pure win and epicness. Prime examples are when you have to take care of the somewhat anachronistic war machines Da Vinci has been forced to create, where you literally get ahold of these vehicles(I'm not giving away what they are, it's too badass to spoil) and turn them on the other ones already completed, to even the odds in the battle. This also aids in distracting from this being the first in the series limited to a single city... Rome, and you have to rebuild her, by restoring shops(as well as the aqueducts, and a nifty tunnel system that, along with your ability to now whistle for a horse, allow you to get around much quicker) and buying famous landmarks(making your earnings go up), giving power back to the hands of its people, and you can do this in an area once you've cleared out the corresponding Borgia Tower(kill the captain running it, then *set it on fire so it explodes*), to limit their corrupt influence. Doing so also makes other missions in the area easier, and in addition to the ones you have to complete(making up maybe 20, 25 hours of play, roughly the same for the stuff that isn't mandatory), you again get assignments from the thieves(who can be upgraded to pulling enemies off their steed, by accomplishing the tasks they list; they are still distractions for hire) such as races(although now only with a set time, not against anyone running at the same time, the same course) and spy-ish ones, the courtesans(who will eventually lure away and *poison* guards... how awesome is that!; they'll have you beating up others; and they help you look like you're not up to no good) and the mercernaries(they'll tell ya who to kill; and they can fight alongside you). And that leads nicely into one of the new things this has, and one of the two that lends this its title. You're the leader of the resistance, so you're not alone. In this, you recruit, and then, through use and sending them out in the world(with objectives to deal with), train, assassins. You wind up with a total of 12, and their availability is represented by three meters(that refill over time) on the HUD. When all are full, you can use them entirely on a storm of arrows, that will take out every single foe that you can see at that time(we're talking, tens of them, no problem, if they're close enough to you), and if you use them one by one, it means 1-3 of them showing up to murder whoever you targeted when calling for them. As they gain XP, they will gradually reach the top level and be armed with the double-blades, pistol, smoke bombs and crossbow, just like you. Yup, they finally put it in, and somehow, along with the feature I just mentioned, they still manage to keep it from being just a walk in the park. In fact, for all their teeter-tottering on providing challenge or being excessively streamlined that these have done, we're finally reaching this giving you something to do that takes skill. 60% is the ratio of that, now, where it was 40, maybe sometimes 50, before. And finally, we're getting back to a Prince of Persia approach to how the climbing and parkour is done, at least on some of the more important buildings(you can still mindlessly roam about rooftops), meaning you don't just move into it and rush up it, you have to find the path that will let you scale it(and you may be under fire at this time!). And the other half of the duo? The unique multiplayer experience. Heck yeah. The range of rules and 7 or so modes boil down to basically: every player is out to eliminate others(with instantly lethal means, at first up close, later, as you unlock them by earning points, with slow guns, etc. - yup, like what you usually have in these) with and/or hide from those who are(sometimes, you are only to run and hide from them, you can "knock them out" briefly, but only if you take them by surprise), helped along by everyone(including the AI civilians, similar to SP - some stand in a group, others walk around) taking on the appearance of one of the dozen and a half models(all with their own animations for causing death of others) you can choose, meaning, you can literally blend in with others that look exactly the same as you, actually potentially tricking another human to snuff the wrong "person". Sometimes solo, sometimes on teams, one has crates to steal and another has VIPs that you either have to protect or attack. While you can do the physical feats that you are accustomed to in this, it will paint a huge bullseye on your clothes. Graphics haven't changed, nor has you buying bigger, better stuff in stores, or the gameplay being fun and you being able to take things very much at your own pace(except for when directly out to solve something specific). There is bloody, violent and disturbing content in this. I recommend this to any fan of the franchise, GTA, PoP and Hit-man. 7/10

Essentially an expansion to Assassin's Creed II, but as a full game. It plays the same and looks quite similar, but it's all accompanied with improvements. The gameplay is smoother and the visuals are sharper, but there's more.

I like to look at Brotherhood as a hub or platform of content - because it kind of is. There are TONS of various side quests and collectibles to keep the sandbox compelling. Some of the content offers some fun and unique gameplay opportunities, while others allow for more worldbuilding and storytelling. It's kind of overwhelming how much content this game has, and that's not even counting the expansions.

The main campaign is also pretty solid from a gameplay and mission design standpoint - and thank goodness we can replay story missions again. But the biggest gripe I have with Brotherhood is the story. While Assassin's Creed II's story wasn't perfect, it had memorable characters, a compelling plot, and just some good writing. A lot of Brotherhood's story feels a bit rushed. Certain plot points aren't that well fleshed out, story arcs get wrapped up quickly, and characters don't really develop all that much. When it comes to playing through missions, there is the addition of optional objectives that add to the overall completion of the game. They are fun and add some replayability to accompany the replayable story missions (and some of the side missions). But when you fail an optional objective, the only way to try again is to completely restart a mission instead of from a checkpoint (which there are plenty throughout missions). The more challenging optional objectives become MUCH more frustrating and tedious because of this flaw.

The greatest aspect of Brotherhood is the gameplay. While it all feels like Assassin's Creed II, there are some improvements that add to the fluidity of things. Most notably is the chain kill system. To spare the clunkiness of combat, players can now chain together finishing blows on multiple enemies in fluid motion (as long you're not hit or interrupted). This makes combat feel more stylish and snappy. There's also the addition of hiring recruits to assist with getting rid of enemies - while I barely used this mechanic, I appreciate the effort. While the parkour is largely the same as ACII, it does feel a bit smoother with a world that feels more consistently designed for it.

The visuals have also seen very noticeable improvements. Character models look much sharper and the lighting looks pretty great at times. While the setting isn't my favorite, I do have to applaud some of the environmental design.

Speaking of the setting, there's something about the map of Rome that just leaves me feeling conflicted. It's not a bad open world or sandbox by any means, but I never really found it as intriguing as Venice or Jerusalem. The aesthetic of Rome (from the urban landscapes to the countryside) are fine, but admittedly a bit basic compared to what came before.

In the end, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is a noticeable improvement over its predecessor, but it isn't perfect. The variety and quantity of content is impressive. The visuals are a good improvement. But the story leaves a bit to be desired, and I personally didn't find the setting to be that engaging.

Brotherhood only adds to what makes ezio the best assassin, he shows development and becomes more then a vendetta seeking killer, he seeks to expand the brotherhood for the freedom of italy

I am a big fan of AC. I loved the first game, and I loved the second. Now, for the third game (AC:B), I thought it is quite similar to AC2, but do not get me wrong, if I say it is as good as AC2, I mean it's a great game.

What I loved mostly about this game is that the whole story was in Roma. You did not have to go from one city to another like the previous games. As for the weapons, I was hoping for much more weapons, but yet, the weapons were amazing. I believe it is a bit more difficult than the previous games, but still not very complex. I hate games that are very difficult, which keeps me in a frustrating state.

I was hoping that the player could have control of more than one character (not only Ezio), but this did not happen. Although you can do it in the multiplayer game, but not the main game. Maybe this is something that Ubisoft should look into when designing their next game.

Excellent job Ubisoft. We will be waiting for the next game.