Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - Review

I wasn't looking forward to having to write a review on this one.  Writing the review would mean that I would have to finish the game, and after several weeks of time spent with it, I have, and I'm so happy to say it's easily the best of the series.  Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is the direct sequel to last year's Assassin's Creed II.  Different from the others, this one picks up at the end of the second and leads you to discover the large single city of Rome.

And Rome looks GOOD

Don't let the single city fool you.  There's more to do in this game than there ever was in any of the other games.  Traditionally you would get into a city, carry out a few quests to learn where your mark was, and carry out the assassination.  This one deviates strongly from that formula by having you bring factions together.  You're completing missions for the thieves, fighting along side mercenaries, and training up your own lethal band of assassins.  I spent a large chunk of time avoiding completing main storyline events just because I was enjoying the side missions so much.

While the factions are interesting to work with, none of them compare to building and training your group of assassins.  This extremely diverse group can be called on to lend aid in battle, remove a troublesome guard, or even take out your marks for you.  It's one thing to leap onto your target from a roof top, but it's extremely cool to watch two assassins take out a guard post while you try to remain anonymous.

Combat has received a big improvement.  Prior games had you wait for an enemy to strike, counter attack, and then wait for the next enemy to strike.  This one encourages getting through combat quickly with chain attacks.  You block and counter once, and then jump from enemy to enemy, taking them down with one fluid move.  Some enemies are easier to take down with different weapons, offering a reason to fight sometimes with a sword, and sometimes with a dagger. 

Combat looks good, too

I spent some time with multiplayer and found it to be way too fun for its own good.  Players take on the roles of assassins and are given targets that they must hunt down in a city full of lookalikes.  High scores are gained by killing your target with stealth and finesse, and for escaping your own pursuers.  The game has a level up system which allows you to unlock tricks as you advance such as disguises, poison, and benefits for getting multiple kills.  I'm planning on spending some more time here in the future.

So we've come to the section of the review for the parts that I didn't like.  Even as much as I gush over this, there's some.  The assassins, at times, can make things a little too easy.  Getting through areas undetected isn't a challenge when your assassins don't raise any alarms by themselves.  The ending, in true AC fashion, is a bit crazy and far fetched, but that's part of the appeal.  The path leading up to the ending feels somewhat forced.  Once you step on the last quest check point (which you won't realize you've done until its far too late to do anything about), you become thrust through the rest of the game.  I would have liked to see something more organic than just teleporting between important times for the last chapter of the game.

I love these types of games.  I liked Hitman when it came out, and I'm a big fan of this series, even with the flaws that it has from time to time.  This is an excellent game, and I would hate for anybody to dismiss it as a glorified expansion pack.  If this is the direction that the series is going, I approve very much with the model, but would like to see them bring back a few major target marks to deal with again.  If you haven't played anything from the series, I'd recommend starting with Assassins Creed II before taking this one on.  The assassin's story goes far beyond than what most reviews will ever elude to.  Nothing is true.  Everything is possible.  Get this game.