Review: Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood picks up where 2009′s Assassin’s Creed 2 left off.

Literally right where it left off. You have defeated the Pope and returned to your family, flush with cash and earning the adulation of the people.

Of course, no one wants to play a game where everything has been accomplished and everybody is happy, so things change and you are again on your own, with little money and few weapons.

So, due to the intervention of the powerful Borgia family, you’re back at it as an assassin, dedicated to defeating those who oppose you.

As with past AC games, the medieval action is replayed through a machine that tracks the institutional memories of a modern-day descendant of the assassin – Desmond Miles.

Miles and three other people go underground to avoid being captured by the company that invented the Animus – the machine that is being used to mine memories for valuable ideas.

In this case, both sides are racing to find the hidden location of the Apple of Eden, a powerful item that can be used as a weapon.

In the 16th century, you again play as Ezio Auditore, assassin extraordinaire who must liberate the now-occupied Rome from the clutches of the church and the Borgias – Lucretia, Cesare and Rodrigo. The family dominates the Italian landscape, crushing opposition with an iron fist.

Gameplay takes place almost entirely in Rome, where Ezio must liberate the city, a section at a time. He does this by hunting down the Borgian general who rules the area. After assassinating the general, Ezio can then climb the nearest Borgian tower, setting it afire and freeing the area.

Doing this allows Ezio to renovate the section – by reopening banks, art offices, fabric shops, stables and ironworks. As they reopen, the amount of money earned for the city increases, which Ezio can then withdraw to spend on armor, weapons and other items.

Getting around Rome can be accomplished by walking, running from rooftop to rooftop, riding a horse or using fast travel tunnels, The tunnels must be unlocked to be used.

Also new to the series is the ability to recruit new assassins. These recruits are then trained by being assigned missions around Europe and Asia. As the recruits complete missions, they rank up and gain the ability to complete more difficult missions and add weapons and armor.

This mission training all occurs away from the game, with only reports coming back that indicate success or failure.

These recruits prove to be very helpful in-game also. When not away on assignment, they can be summoned during battle to help Ezio. They greatly weigh the odds in your favor during large battles.

Returning from Assassin’s Creed II is inventor Leonardo da Vinci, who again provides gadgets for Ezio’s use. But in addition, Da Vinci has been forced into supplying the Borgias with advanced weapons that Ezio must hunt down and destroy.

Adding to the variety of action are the followers of Romulus, people who live underground that conceal treasures that Ezio can claim. The underground levels require a lot of climbing and swinging from place to place.

The world and the activities therein have been greatly expanded. In fact, there might be too much to do.

I often find myself, while journeying to begin the next memory, distracted by lots of things.

I might stop to buy artwork or dye my clothes, look for treasure chests, pickpocket peasants, recruit new assassins, climb and unlock viewpoints, explore underground tunnels, surreptitiously poison a heavily-armed guard and then throw money at him to see how many bystanders he kills before he succumbs, send assassins around the globe to carry out missions, search for flags … well, you get the idea.

New to the series in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood is multiplayer action, tailored to the unique assassin gameplay.

In game mode Wanted, up to eight players can join together in a world where all are assassins, with contracts on each other. Players must use stealth when hunting, employing disguises to approach their prey and not making it obvious who they are while hunting.

There are many non-playable characters that match the assassin’s description, making it more difficult for the player to be detected while angling for a kill.

There are also two team-based modes – Alliance and Manhunt – that allow cooperative killing. Completing contracts open up new abilities and weapons.

A 2011 Assassin’s Creed game has already been announced, proving that the developers feel that there is still life in this series. That reamins to be seen.

But in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, life is still bountiful and gaming is good.

Platform: Xbox 360/Playstation 3 Rating: Mature Manufacturer: Ubisoft Score: 8.5 ledge-hanging chilies