Review of: Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

Reviewer: David Lam

Title: Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

System: Xbox 360

Genre: Action Adventure

                The Assassin’s Creed franchise is huge and very popular. It has given the fans a well  developed story plot and well done combat system involving free running and parkour techniques. When ever there is a sequel to a franchise we complain about the few years it takes to make it. The time is necessary for the sequel to be actually good yet Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood was released only a year after the second game. That worried many of the gamers who believed that the game would not be at the full potential.

                Fortunately these gamers were not disappointed because Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood  surpassed the previous games with another plot twist and altered combat system.  The addition of a kill streak in the combat system definitely solved the biggest problem gamers had in Assassin’s Creed II. People complained about constantly blocking and waiting for a counter kill when faced with a group of guards. In Brotherhood the kill streak allows you to continue killing after you have countered resulting in very quick deaths for large groups of people. Throughout the whole time you are amazed at the kill and grace you see as Ezio dances around the guards slicing them in any open vital spot. No longer must we complain about not being able to move around with eagle vision. Now you can free run with it on allowing you to follow your target with ease.

                An even better addition would be the various weapons and gadgets allowing for new strategies to be used. The parachute allows us to glide from high structures and land on the back of our target. The poison dart gives players the ability to take out a target with poison from a distance which would be better than blowing your cover and having to run after your target. The crossbow has a long range giving us the change to kill any guard with a bolt from a distance meaning the dispatching a annoying guards on patrol before they can see you.

                The new weapons and new killstreak feature are nice touches but it would not be complete without the new executions . The executions are deadlier and quicker resulting in flashy, quick kills that cause the player to gain extreme enjoyment from performing kills. You watch in awe as Ezio stabs the guard in the back while shooting the alerted guard right next to him.

                With a revamped combat system Brotherhood succeeded in surpassing Assassin’s Creed II while fixing all the previous flaws and complaints gamers had with it. The multiplayer is very unique and difficult to grasp at first if you are new to Assassin’s

Creed. For those who have been playing the game religiously the multiplayer system is easy to handle and play. There are different game modes along with abilities, perks, killstreaks, and loss streak resulting in a fully equipped assassin. You must prepare yourself with offensive abilities like hidden guns or poison. Then there are solely defensive abilities such as the smoke bomb or decoy. These abilities allow the players to kill/locate their target or escape their pursuer. You are given a target and a picture of your target which stays on the right side of your screen. In the center is your character along with a circular radar which will light up when your target is in sight. It will also get wider as you get closer to your target and then eventually you will find and kill you target. It is not easy because your target may realize you are his pursuer and he will run. You may also at the same time be followed by your pursuer and risk exposing your self as you kill your target. The multiplayer definitely requires a lot of observation and strategy to be able to kill your target and avoid your pursuer at the same time. I would not recommend this multiplayer to those in the COD franchise who simply run around without caution killing.

                Lastly the plot is the same as all the other games and yet its not. It is the same in the sense that the plot is well thought out and well done. The plot is different in the sense that we are given new insight as to how the war against the Templars is faring and how Desmond is the chosen one. There are also 10 new puzzles that Subject 16 created and it is amazing how the story is tied in with all these real life conspiracy theories. Everyone is connected and it seems that the Assassin’s Creed franchise teaches you how to find patterns and solve difficult puzzles unless you simply look up cheats and guides for the game. Overall the game is great although I wish the story was a bit longer and the multiplayer needs some work on the servers and glitches. You will be glad to know that it is confirmed that this is not Assassin’s Creed 3 and that the third game that will be titled Assassin’s Creed 3 will feature Desmond becoming the ultimate assassin and it will star a new character.

Graphics: A

Gameplay: A+

Sound: B+

Lasting Appeal: A-

Overall: A-