Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

A few weeks back I picked up AC:B but did not mention it due to all the events in WoW and not wanting to waste my 100th post on a non WoW topic. However we still have a week until Cata and I am not raiding until later so now is the perfect time to review it.

Remember how cool the Fable 3 collectors edition was? This Collectors does not just top it, it waits on the roof for it then drops down killing it with his hidden blade.

First just look at this box


Open it up and you find the whole set enclosed in a box that looks like a marble tomb decorated with the Assassins symbol.



Inside, nothing.


Obviously a false bottom but you get;


Behind the Scenes DVD
Soundtrack (not embedded on the DVD like two's was, thank god they did not make that mistake again)
Map of Rome

12 Cards containing pictures and backgrounds on all the multiplayer characters

Codes for two bonus multiplayer characters as well as bonus levels and armor
3 Cards with amazing art from their art studio

Finally a leather bound Codex that is split in two sections. The first is a physical representation of Altiar's hand written codex pages as seen in AC2, the second half is beautiful concept art.




For only $10 more than the Fable CE this set comes out as one of the best I have brought yet.


To the game itself. The Solo play begins as the second game did, in the exact moment that the game before it finished. From there you are given a quick action packed refresher coarse on the gameplay followed by your standard slow intro the the new storyline.
Once you get to Rome and out of the intro the game really opens up with many different places to go and thing to see, it only gets bigger from there as well. By the time you start getting Assassins to train you have half a dozen different paths to take outside of the story, quests and events that can tie you up for quite a while.

One of the best and most time consuming features brought into the Solo play is the addition of different levels of Synchronization through memory's. Just running the mission how you want and being successful is not enough to get 100%. To come out on top you must complete certain criteria i.e. meet a set time, kill no one in the level before your target or maybe perform the kill with a certain technique. The variety and challenge of some of them will have you redoing whole missions just to get that perfect run through.

The new addition to the game franchise is the addition of a multiplayer mode. Not your standard multiplayer games you are required to hunt down and kill over players in solo or team play with more points given the more stealthy and artistic the kill.
There have been many times where I will come 1st place after 6 odd kills while place 4 has 11 odd kills.
As you level through your kill score/exp you will earn new skills to make you a better killer such as disguises, smokebombs and throwing knives.
To make matters more complicated the zones are filled with NPC's that look exactly like you and your targets.

Game modes include 'Wanted' which involves each member being assigned a target to kill while someone else is assigned to kill you. Later in the match the targets change so that the higher up the list you are the more people are assigned to you. In big games of 7+ this means that those who come late or are having a bad day can pull themselves up the ladder without having to worry about being taken out.

Next we have 'Alliance' which is a basic 2v2v2 game which functions a lot like 'Wanted' but with a partner. In this game bonus points can be earned by working with your partner but this proves difficult in a random online pairing. The game is broken into two segments where you chase one team and then reverse the order in the second half.

The final basic type is 'Manhunt' which is a 4v4 team game. Each team shares a look and is given a 5min round at being the hunter while the together team must hide. The aim in this game is simply about earning the most points ether by killing the other team or by avoiding being killed.

Over all the game is very fun and full of things to keep you busy well into the future. While the graphics have not been updated since the second game the rest of the experience has evolved nicely. The multiplayer is a very welcome addition that brings a unique and enjoyable experience.
This is a really well made game for it only being a year since the last one was released. I defiantly recommend you give this ago even if you have never played an Assassin's Creed game before.

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