While still holding its own in terms of fun, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is marred by flaws
The story in Brotherhood feels less impacting than the game it succeeded. Ezio is already an adult, so that charming transformation from a skirt-chasing youth to body-hiding assassin is virtually absent. I say virtually since there are certain "missions" throughout the game that serve as memories of past encounters Ezio had with his former love, Cristina. Other than that, you find Ezio operating between 1499 and 1507.
I guess my only serious gripe, story-wise, was the sudden, inexplicable advances in time that occurred in the game. There were several occasions where the game shifted up to 3 years ahead with no explanation as to why it took so long to further the assassin cause. These lapses made for some very interesting questions, none of which were answered.
Beyond the random time-lurching, I found the story pretty enjoyable. The little plot twists, revelations, and, of course, the missions (involving assassinations), gave me that good old-fashioned Assassin's Creed thrill. That being said, I'll now delve into perhaps the most negative aspect of my review: overall gameplay.
Brotherhood features the same action-packed gameplay that we're familiar with from the first two Assassin's Creed titles: stealthy killing, weapon-play, and extensive travel. The reason I called this the most negative aspect of my review is that there were glitches, man…just, such aggravating gameplay glitches that shook me to the very angry, angry core. I can't recall the last time I got so frustrated with a video game like I did with Brotherhood.
Take for example, a horrid glitch I encountered that I call the "never-ending death" glitch. I got caught in a loop where I kept automatically "Desynchronizing" every time I loaded up my file. I went through a tunnel system only to learn my destination was in an area "not yet available", and it was just far enough in where I couldn't get back to the normal zones. The result: no matter what I tried, I wound up dying. Over and over and over again. I had to start a new file just so I could actually continue past that point, wasting a few hours of my life in the process.
Another issue (perhaps not really a glitch, but still irritating as all hell) was the touchy controls. In past Assassin's Creed titles, you'd have the occasional mis-step, accidentally jumping away from the direction you had intended. It was fine when it was only happening every now and then, but I found this annoyance happened with almost every mission I took part in. Every chase scene and fleeing scene felt marred by stupid mistakes that I didn't intentionally make. I go to leap to the next ledge, and instead fall 30 feet to the ground, nearly dying, and still running for my life. Didn't help in the chasing scenes either, when that mis-step caused my target to get "lost", meaning, yet again, the dreaded "Desynchronization" (and, by extension, re-doing the last checkpoint).
Every enemy seemed to have the eyesight of an Eagle, too, meaning that staying out of sight was unbelievably challenging. I love a good challenge, but not when it means "Desynchronization" over and over again. How my target saw me around that corner or below that overhang, I'll never know. Mysterious, and frustrating. It is this part of the gameplay section that made me give this game a lower than expected score, just to be clear.
Anyway, now that I let out all of my aggression towards the game, I can move on to the positives of the gameplay. Namely, the collection of items and variety of weapons at your disposal. The item system allows you to gain some extra Florins, as well as unlock special items and equipment from vendors. That incentive gave me more motivation to do side-quests and to do all the extensive traveling that I wound up doing.
I discovered a new personal joy in the weaponry choices: the crossbow. A one-shot kill with good range, it made for some fun assassinations, at the unfortunate expense of crossbow bolts. It proved to be my most valuable tool when it came to stealthy infiltration missions, along with the trusty hidden blade. Come to think of it, I hardly ever used anything else, unless I was out of bolts or felt like testing out new equipment. Huh…weird. Anyway, beyond that, there was the intoxicating murderous aspect to the game. Much like the previous Assassin's Creed games, the thrill to kill still goes strong. Even to the point of using sadistic methods of killing. What can I say, gotta relieve my aggressions somehow, and it might as well be in the surreal video game form.
The saving grace of this game is found in the side-quests. While there aren't too many different forms of side-quests, the extent to which each one goes makes for some lengthy extracurricular activity. Perhaps my favorite was working on the Lairs of Romulus side-quests. These consisted of searching through long tunnel systems to try and find the Shrine to Romulus, a room filled with treasure. They provided many a challenge, as well as giving you some pretty sweet perks. Items, Florins, and the true prize from each Lair: a key. Collect all 6 keys to unlock a special treasure trove of armors and weapons; the best set of armor and weaponry, that is.
There are also the Feather and Flag collection side-quests, a throwback to the previous 2 Assassin's Creed games. The real excitement from these quests is finding the means to get to the Flag or Feather in particular. The Feathers are easy to find (there's only 10 of them), but the Flags pose a greater threat, with 101 to be collected throughout the entire Roman city and countryside.
The other side-quests include flashback missions, assignments from the various thieves, courtesans, and mercenaries you befriend along the way, and the recruiting and leveling up of Assassin Recruits. You find them all around Rome, and after aiding them they agree to join your cause. From there they can be called into battles, or sent on missions via pigeon coops that hold various missions and contracts for them to partake in. As they do more work, they progress through the levels until ultimately they reach the rank of Assassin.
Lastly, let's not forget the multiplayer mode. It can be frustrating at times (especially when you get killed just as you are about to kill your own target) but overall it's really fun. The thrill of the hunt, the fear of being hunted, and all the stealth and flight in between, made for some really exciting matches. But, I found 2 serious issues with the online mode (at this point it just seems like my review is nothing but a downer…).
First of all, it takes an excruciatingly long amount of time before the matches begin. I'm talking anywhere from 5-10 minutes of waiting time. A few minutes to find a session, a few minutes to find enough players, a few minutes to load up the session screen, and then another handful of minutes waiting for every other player to figure out what character they want to play as (that last one being the worst). 10 minutes to load a match in exchange for 10 minutes of gameplay doesn't strike me as worth it, to be honest.
The second flaw is the Ubisoft server issue. In my first hour of playing, I encountered the "Assassin's Creed Brotherhood server is unavailable" message…twice. In one instance it happened just as a new session started (within 3 seconds of it starting, actually). They usually aren't down for too long, but it's annoying to have to wait more than you already have to for sessions to begin.
Overall, while still a solid game for the Assassin's Creed series, it was just too flawed and too frustrating to compare to its predecessors, and that, in my opinion, held this game back significantly. An 8/10 from me.
Thank you for reading :)