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Assassins Creed Brotherhood Review [PS3]
Topic Started: Nov 23 2010, 01:02 AM (1,837 Views)
Wintergreen5000
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WCZE


WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS INFORMATION ABOUT AC: BROTHERHOOD TO A CERTAIN IN-DEPTH LEVEL, AND MAY RUIN YOUR AC EXPERIENCE IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY PLAYED THE GAME.

Is ACB worth the money? In a word, yes! ACB offers an interesting new sandbox to play in: Rome. This city, despite the obvious rich history and culture, offers an interesting habitat for any kind of AC player. They said that the city was three times the size of Florence from ACII, but that is part lie. The entirety of the map is, but the city itself is mediocre in size. It ain't small, but it isn't exactly what they said it was going to be. Now, that isn't completely a bummer since you will find the surrounding ruins in the outskirts of Rome to be a fun enough playground, especially during assassination missions and mainstream missions.

Now, talking about the story, is it better than ACII? In my opinion, no, it isn't a better story. A few reasons include the rushed feeling of it, with no real explanation as to how you got your new Assassins clothing or why it is the way it is. The story is all about taking out the Borgia, who, if you didn't know, strike back at the Assassins for the assassination attempt on the Pope early on. After the eradication of Monteriggioni, Ezio is forced to Rome to bring the fight to the Borgia to finish what he failed to do. This story leaves certain characters behind from ACII but includes some favs like La Volpe, Leonardo Da Vinci, Caterina Sforza, and Bartolomeo. The story itself is a simple one, and all entails you carrying out missions that first bring Rome back on its feet from the persecution of the Borgia, and secondly bring the Borgia themselves to an end. So, it is not a story of revenge as before, but of justice. However, there are some exceptional missions like the Leonardo missions and the Templar Assassination missions, that bring a interestring and increasingly fun streak to the mainstream story. The Leonardo missions include you having to destroy various instruments of death designed by Leonardo and devised by the Borgia to bring their [Borgia] enemies into submission and subjugate all of Italy under Borgia rule. The Templar Assassination missions are fun because you aren't assassinating just anybody, but key Templars, who actually are real agents, just like the Assassins. Some are more assassin-like then others, but they are are fun to chase down and kill with your new assassin capabilities all the same.

Overall, Ezio's story is one-track minded and is really just the concluding episode to his story. As for Desmond however, it is just beginning. And I will not spoil what goes on with Desmond, but, you certainly progress in the assassin role. The end to Ezio's story is a little disappointing in that there is no closure. You defeat your enemies, and retain the apple, but there is nothing more to it after that. We expect him to live in peace after destroying Italy's enemies, but, it as if he just bows out without applause...as if he fades into the darkness without a word said. As I said, no closure on the character of Ezio. The same sad thing can be said about Leonardo. After the missions with Leonardo are finished, it's as if Ezio and him simply part ways, even after being close friends and going through so much.

Let's talk now about interaction. What is there to do that is actually interesting. Well let me first say that there is certainly more to do in ACB than in ACII. I suppose the biggest thing would be the ability to recruit assassins and maintain your own guild. While that idea alone makes the game sound worth the while, it is flawed. While recruiting assassins is a fun venture and using them in battles is also not only useful but entertaining to see, you simply end up becoming bored with them. You are only able to use them in battle and they are not able to simply accompany you, which is a huge disappointment. Seeing yourself with four of your top assassins walking down the main street of the vatican with not but Swiss Guards to oppose you would certainly be a rich site indeed. But alas, it is not possible. Now, after recruiting your assassins you are able to send them on international missions across Europe. This is fun also...for a while. While the thrill of being the master of your own guild and sending assassins out across Europe to fulfill your bidding is fantastic, the simple fact that you cannot see anything going on with your assassins during their missions is the real let down.

Assassins can die on missions of course, and that gives reason to play safe when sending them on those missions, piecing a rook with an adept for mediocre missions, and an adept with a veteran on hard missions to give more points to the lower levels without risking their lives. The good things about your assassins is they are able to be customized. The bad news around that is that the customization is extremely limited. You can choose their garb color, but not their garb. And once your assassin trainees make it to the Assassin level their assassin robes cannot be colored. They stay white. FOREVER. 0.0 Why this is so is beyond my comprehension. Laziness, perhaps? Furthermore, upgrading your assassins offers little pleasure when the upgrades for your assassins are all the same and all pre-determined, and ALL limited to four basic levels. Not only that, but there are only two categories to upgrade: Weapons and Armor. You'd think that they would allow more than that to be upgraded, since that says nothing about their speed, strength, climbing skill, etc, even though, once you upgrade them all those things do increase. But what I'm saying is that their should have been more categories.

What else is disappointing about your assassins is that their weapons cannot be switched out. If they were all at the same level, whatever that level might be, they would all have the same weapons. So...yeah, as I said, very limited upgrades, extremely limited. And disappointing on so many levels. What is meant to be the strength of the game is actually it's weakness. And it's very sad.

There is also the pleasure of rebuilding Rome, which is in my opinion, one of the funnest aspects of the game, besides the fighting. Building up Rome, buying shops and sites, gives you the idea and feeling that you are really the king of the city, and you run things. And this is especially true once the Borgia are gone. Another aspect of the game that offers some good interaction is the ability to plant your three favorite factions in certain parts of the city, at will. Not only that, but you can carry out missions from these different guilds, side missions. Other than those things, there is one other noteworthy part of the game that'd I'd say is not only enjoyable on the adventure level but also on the pure win level...if that makes sense... And that is the Followers of Romulus: An extreme fanatical underground sect that believe in the spirit of Romulus, the founder of Rome, and intend to slowly but surely rise to prominence in Rome through their underground state. Identified by their wolf skins and wolf-like behavior, they are at first intimidating foes. But if you are anything decent as an assassin, they pose little threat and make good fodder. :) The missions that require you to deal with these guys force you to lurk through ancient tombs, baths, and tunnles. And there is one mission that is especially entertaining and is perhaps one of the best missions of the game [there's RAIN!]. After you complete each mission [there are six] you gain one of six of the keys of Romulus, which, when all gathered, open up a certain vault which holds a special something for you, just like on ACII.

And finally, there is the option to obliterate Borgia influence from all territories by destroying their towers in said territories. And I must say, if you don't catch the Borgia captains off-guard, they make tough foes, especially when annoyed by the surrounding crossbowmen and the charging horsemen. It can get real hectic.

Now, additional new content. What else is new in this free world, I mean besides the missions and story? Well, as I said, there is horsemen. Yes, Horses can be ridden in the city in this new AC world. And taking horsemen down is always fun and it does add a new and productive aspect to the AC series, at least on the animus story level in that time period. Other new enemies include Crossbowmen and Arquebusiers, the most annoying enemies you will ever face. And, there is the Swiss Guard. These guys are formidable when they have their pistols out, but, if you know how to fight them, they prove little challenge for Ezio. These guys are actually easier to kill than Borgia Captains, which are the toughest guys to kill in the whole game.

Besides the various new units, there are also new weapons and gadgets. These include heavy weapons, which can be holstered, poison darts, and the crossbow, one of your favorite weapons, trust me. Furthermore, there is also the new combat system, which allows you to use two weapons or multiple weapons at once, such as the sword and the wrist pistol, or the knife and the throwing knives. This is very pleasing and is enjoyable in any battle. One of the better things of ACB. And surprisingly you are also able to fight hand to hand with your crossbow. All other devices seen in ACII make a return. Another plus in the combat system is the ability to throw multiple knives without having to engage yourself in open combat. This annoyed me in ACII and I'm glad it was addressed properly in ACB. The combat system itself is really one of the best things about ACB, and it's what causes you in my opinion to want to keep on playing. You are also able to assassinate from horse-top, and onto horseback. :) You are also able to throw heavy weapons and spears. This is surely a great addition to the fighting system, although, you are still not able to throw regular swords or bigger knives. And that to me just didn't make sense.

Though, with all these additions, some things yet could've been added. Things like having two knives to wield, two swords, or two wrist pistols only seemed logical at this point. It's a shame that they disregarded the possibilities. You also cannot carry bows or rifles. Though I suppose the bow is made obsolete with the crossbow, it doesn't mean that it still should not have been in the game. Just because one weapon is better than another... Other things that lacked were the lack of different clothing. It would've been nice to customize Ezio's clothes besides their color, and even that was limited. By this time I would've expected them to have given us all sorts of colors to mix wth. Even though, now, as an improvement, you are able to change the color of your cape. However, it isn't improvement enough. What also got my goat was that you are not able to go full speed on the horses, which was to me really stupid, considering that there is so much open space. Perhaps they could've applied this within the boundaries of the city itself, but in the outskirts it should be available.

All in all, the game has it's ups and it's downs. Certain things you will like and enjoy, other things you will shake your head at and wonder why. This game is definately worth the buy, especially for any Assassins Creed fan. But the rushed story, strange character cut-offs, lazy implementations, and the lack of content that only seems logical to have included, do make you wonder just where this series is going now that Patrice Desilets is gone.
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Noir
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I got it for free :)
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You're Gonna Carry That Weight
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Daniel
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I like Pokémon

that was a very long post, and how did you get it for free i wasted 112$ on the collectors edition lol
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+ Pelador
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Crazy Awesome Legend

Ha ha, mug. I won't even pay for food and drink at the cinema so I'd never get a collector's edition of anything. Plus I think this game was only worth half the price they were selling it for. It wasn't that good. Bargain bin quality if you ask me.


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Daniel
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I like Pokémon

it was way better than AC2 that game was crap, i think it is on par or a bit better than AC1 but i am a die hard AC fan so thats my opinion!
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