Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

Should you be Bother-hood?

Annual releasing has become a controversial issue in the games-industry, for both creators and consumers alike. Activision released a new Guitar Hero relentlessly since its inception and exponential rise in popularity, and quickly followed suit with their now infamous Call of Duty franchise. Call of Duty is now so famous, even people on the news and stuff have heard of it. Unfortunately this frequency of release can hamstring the creativity of designers simultaneously saturating and stultifying the market. Call of Duty Black Ops may have broken records, but it’s quickly becoming a broken record. So all things considered I was very wary when I heard Ubisoft had another Assassin’s Creed ready for release so soon. Fortunately the game serves more as an Assassin’s Creed 2 ½ or elaborate expansion pack rather than acting as a fully fledged sequel. On the downside this also means that the game is a little lacking in narrative meat, instead acting as a showcase for an impressive graphics engine, some new gimmicks and most peculiarly of all a multiplayer.

Picking up literally right after the conclusion of AC2, Brotherhood continues the story of Desmond Miles delving into the memories of his Renaissance ancestor Ezio Auditore. While AC2 was a fantastic boy-to man tale, the titular hero’s journey that normally spans whole trilogies in film-world, (see Star Wars, Lord of the Rings et al) we rejoin him as an eency bit more grizzled fortysomething looking for a peaceful retirement. Before you can say “Fat-chance Ezio!” his morning tryst with the sultry Caterina Sforza is being interrupted by a bombardment. Prima di poter dire, “Guess I’ll need to level up again” the town of Monteriggioni I worked so hard to renovate has been blown to bits, and Uncle Mario bites a bullet. Courtesy of your new nemesis, Cesare Borgia, son of the papal evil-genius of AC2. Without a pot to piss in Ezio is shepherded to Rome where he and Machiavelli, that’s right the actual Machiavelli, hatch a plan to take out the Borgias he so unwisely left standing at the end of the last game. This plan simply entails eliminating the Borgia presence in Rome and then working yourself up to the father and son duo Cesare and Roderigo. Whereas the first game was rife with twists and turns and exciting set-pieces the narrative of Brotherhood is distinctly pedestrian. However the cinematics show a marked improvement in graphics, while the dialogue, smattered as it is with Italian colloquialisms, (I have since learnt fuck, piece of shit, and my master) is both compelling and possessed of a distinctly authentic Italian-historical flavour. Perhaps the greatest plaudits go to Ubisoft for their portrayal of women in their games. So often a source of embarrassment for the industry, the ladies of Brotherhood are a well-rounded and hard as nails, Caterina Sforza and Lucretia Borgia being particular standouts.

Perhaps to compensate for the absence of a dynamic story Ubisoft created a vast sand-box Rome to explore, full of little side-missions and quests. Unfortunately Rome is well and truly within the Borgias grip, the people destitute, the shops unopened and the weather permanently overcast. As an environment Rome is vast, and a little intimidating at first, three times the size of AC2’s Florence. However to help you compartmentalise it all the city has been broken up into districts, overseen by fortified Borgia towers, whose castellans must be removed and fortifications destroyed if you are to begin breathing new life into the city.

The Guilds encountered in the second game, thieves, courtesans and mercenaries now provide a little checklist of tasks to pad out the experience, while the story missions or “memories” now contain challenging caveats that offer the chance to test your Assassination skills and achieve “full-synchronisation.” Though this certainly offers replay value, failing to meet the challenge at the last moment can be quite frustrating. These new quests are complimented by the return of Assassination contracts, tombs to exercise your inner parkour expert and, for reasons unbeknownst to God or man, collecting flags and feathers. These tombs no longer contain the crypts of old assassin’s, instead they are hide-outs for the mysterious Son’s of Romulus, a peculiar cult who cavort around in wolf-skins ala 13^th warrior. Unfortunately their existence is explained away as a Borgia plot to scare people back to church, which seems a little lazy given their potential to operate as a new and unrelated threat in the war between Assassins and Templars. However not all your time will be spent within Rome’s hallowed walls buying up property and assassinating x number of guards in y fashion, as relief is provided by the maestro himself, Leonardo Da Vinci. Our old friend has been press-ganged into creating fantastical weapons for the Borgia and it’s up to you to destroy them. These machines include a rocket-firing catamaran, a tank and a repeater canon; all based on actual Da Vinci designs. The missions provide a fun and tongue in cheek distraction from a Rome that can feel a little oversized for Ezio, despite the inclusion of an on-demand horse, and fast-travel sewers.

Gameplay and presentation remain very familiar to anyone who’s had experience with the franchise save for two new additions in particular. The first is the eponymous Brotherhood. Some of you may remember rescuing civilians from the ne’er do well guards in the first AC, well now these guys and gals rather than running off to leave you in the proverbial, now pledge to join the Assassins and fight for you. Your new disciples can be sent off across Europe through a system of pigeon coops, each successful mission resulting in a fiscal reward and experience to arm and armour that Assassin. These new bffs can be called upon in battle to provide assistance in combat, or if your feeling lazy, to take out a target for you. Though they come in extremely handy, and are a requirement for some missions they certainly don’t help out in terms of balancing difficulty. This easiness is exacerbated by a revised combat system that seems to have been modelled on Batman Arkham Asylum’s system. Now you get a warning whenever you’re about to be struck and you can string together insta-kills in one long combo. All of which leaves you feeling like there’s no threat from the Borgias goons as they pile in from everywhere hoping to put an end to your shenanigans.

But what about Desmond, Lucy and Shaun Hastings!? I hear you scream. Ah yes Desmond Miles, or simply Dickhead and the Gang if you’re me. Well strangely enough the modern day Assassins with their dialogue that veers between sickeningly earnest and face-punchingly sarcastic (a situation not improved by Danny Wallace’s “acting-talent”) are much improved. Desmond finally has something to do, and you can leave the animus to wag chins with the mystery team at your own leisure. This is a far more agreeable situation than being pulled out of the action just when things are getting interesting. Also, as a sideline, you can snoop on their emails revealing that maybe Shaun isn’t quite the dicksplash he comes across as and Lucy definitely is the humourless jobs-worth that she so fantastically embodies.

                                                                                                                                                                       

If I’ve forgotten anything at this point then it probably wasn’t worth mentioning, something I can’t quite say the same of for the multiplayer. Oh it has all the usual trappings, un-lockable perks, characters, etc but it is a refreshing change of pace from the Ritalin and Coke fuelled reflex twitches of Halo and COD. Multiplayer maps like the single player are populated NPCS. These NPCS exist as myriad clones of the various character avatars, providing you with cover in more ways than one. Stroll amongst them and you’re indistinguishable, but run around or leap wildly from rooftops and you risk tipping off your human-target and whoever might be after you. Points are awarded for stealthily executed kills and successful escapes, learning to get good at both providing an enjoyable, rather than punishing learning curve. All in all, the multiplayer is one of the more successful additions to the franchise and I hope it comes back for the next instalment. The Brotherhood and easier combat I’m not quite sold on yet as it imbalances the game somewhat unfairly in your favour. On the whole I can only recommend this game to fans, as it appears too late in the story to really hook in Assassin Creed virgins. In the end this game serves merely as a fluffer, a way to keep everyone ticking over till the next release and though solid not something you should feel compelled to own.