With the extensive Assassins Guild and online multiplayer, this is another great entry in Ubisoft's venerable series
The story picks up the moment AC2 left off with Ezio Auditore discovering an ancient vault inside the Vatican before making a quick exit from Rome with Uncle Mario back to his villa in Northern Italy with the Apple of Eden in tow. Unfortunately the now middle aged assassins break is thunderously interrupted by Cesare Borgia; son of the pope, who attacks the villa with an enormous army, murders half the population, steals the Apple of Eden and leaves Ezio badly injured. From there the story unfolds entirely in the city of Rome as Ezio and his allies raise an army of assassins to bring down the Borgia family. The story also switches to Ezio's descendent Desmond as his band of modern assassins piece together the mysteries if the pieces of Eden. Both stories present strong mystery despite Desmond's story having nowhere near as powerful characters as Ezio's. Despite these strengths the main plot falls short of it's predecessor's as it advances the story little and introduces few key plot points for the series.
After the destruction of Ezio's beloved home you'll spend at least 15 hours going through the main story almost entirely in Rome. The city is the biggest ever seen in the series with wide open grasslands as well as busy town areas. The economy system has returned, extending across the entire city, in which you renovate shops and even famous landmarks such as the collesium to generate florins to buy your weapons, armour and ammunition. The Assassin tombs also return with a faster more vicious enemy to match. The biggest addition to Ezio's arsenal is the Assassin recruits. Random civilians are being troubled by the Templars who will now join your cause if you assist them. From here you can call upon them to assassinate targets, aid you in combat and can be sent on their own missions to level up and become more deadly using message coops scattered around the city. Be warned that your recruits can die when faced with a mission less than 50% chance of success and tougher enemies but new recruit opportunities pop up all the time. This feature is fun and addictive to play around with though it isn't required to complete any mission or task in the game which can make it feel a bit pointless. The game world also includes this hundreds of side missions including assassination, race, delivery and Borgia towers where you must climb a tower and destroy it to remove the Borgia presence from the area of the map as well as codex pages, glyph puzzles and flags to collect for the completionist. Players can also replay missions to go for an 100% synchronisation rating which is greatly welcomed
On top of all this Assassins Creed Brotherhood includes a brand new online component for up to 10 players which concerns Abstergo's training of it's operatives to go after the Assassins. Each player is assigned a character and a target to kill but the catch is there are hundreds of NPCs wandering around and your target could be any one of them. More points are awarded for a stealthy and creative kill and blending in with crowds in vital for survival. Perks and special abilities can be applied to your character as you level up and a level cap of 50 awaits dedicated players. The online play is incredibly unique, runs well and fits in nicely with the Assassins Creed world though online veterans may be put off by the random nature of the experience. As you can tell by now Assassins Creed Brotherhood is loaded with things to do, creating a great value package all round.
Gameplay is still divided into three areas; combat, platforming and stealth. Combat has received a new kick move to break an enemies block which ultimately makes the game more easy and inclines the player to use the Assassins recruits less in combat. Enemies are still fairly moronic, refusing to launch a slash at you in groups. New weapons include the poison gun and the ability to carry heavy weapons like axes, though it is baffling that Ezio still cannot carry a spear or rifle wielded by the guards Platforming again is the same as ever, stringing multiple jumps together is a breeze but problems still arise when you need to be precise with Ezio's jumps. Stealth still plays a significant role in assassination missions causing both fun and frustration despite the enemy artificial intelligence being on par in these sections. Leonardo Da Vinci also returns with new ancient assault vehicles which are great missions to blast through in their own right. Assassinations remain as satisfying as ever despite having rather lacklustre monologues between Ezio and his victims this time around.
Just like AC2 Brotherhood is an amazing looking game, delivering a brilliantly authentic and realistic game world. Everything from the collesium to the tall Castella is a sight to behold. Animation hits the top spot again with Ezio's clambering skills and facial animation both being well done. The voice acting relates well to both the setting and characters and the music hits the right vibes in both combat and simple exploration.
Assassins Creed Brotherhood sticks to the tried and true formula of the second game which results in a great if familiar. Despite being inferior to the game that came before it Brotherhood succeeds at bringing you back into renaissance Italy. Like third person adventure games? Then prepare to take the leap of faith once again.