Here I'm gonna show you my score in playing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Map: Crossfire
Map: Overgrown
Map: Pipeline
Map: Showdown
Map: Downpour
Map: Crossfire
Map: Pipeline
Map: District
Map: Countdown
Map: Ambush
Map: Showdown
Map: Ambush
Map: Countdown
Here's a video of our friend in COD, who made a montage of his sniping skills and the greatest part of his montage is . . . How he killed me. Watch it and Enjoy!
Like many, I fell hook, line, and sinker for Assassin’s Creed III’s refreshing Revolutionary War-era setting, only to be turned off by the Haytham switcheroo during the game’s opening hours. Thus, I should be wary of the next installment, but then dammit, pirates happened.
Edward talking to "Black beard".
Eye candy aside, what about the gameplay? After all, as Assassin’s Creed III proved, place does not a great game make. Here, the team at Ubisoft wants to break away from the hollow AC3 feeling that you weren’t really playing but instead a participant in a semi-interactive production.
To do that, lead writer Darby McDevitt says the team sought to return the game to its multiple-choice origins: “We went back to Assassin’s Creed 1 to see those [open-ended] setups.”
Daaarrr she blowws!! Stunning visual graphics!
To demonstrate, Ubi fired up a mission in which Assassin member Edward Kenway – first mentioned in a journal entry in AC3 – is tasked with hunting down a pair of brothers who are Templar associates. Kenway wanders through a seaside city plaza, finds the first target, and takes him out in full view of everyone. People scream, panic, and scatter – including the other brother, who runs away. Edward pursues him to the dock. The surviving sibling leaps aboard his boat as it leaves port.
Undeterred, Kenway dances across a rope line above the water to his ship, the Jackdaw, and takes the wheel. You can steer your vessel yourself and command attacks as well – which I saw firsthand as the Jackdaw caught up and ran parallel to the brother’s boat. Cannon fire is exchanged, sending up a cloud of volumetric fog that obscures your vision temporarily. Be careful, though: you can simply sink the ship if you want, but seeing how Edward is a loot-hungry pirate and putting it on the bottom of the ocean would negate any potential salvage or cargo value it has. And so Edward takes his foot off the gas, to use a thoroughly anachronistic term, and boards the ship.
Naval battles are now intense!
His crew joins him and suddenly an equally massive and impressive fight is waged on the deck of the burning, battered vessel. Your goal is still to kill the remaining brother, but you’ll be assigned random objectives when you board ships, too – in this case, killing 15 crew members.
The alpha target is terminated after Edward takes out a few snipers in the crow’s nest, then walk along suspended ropes and leap down onto him from above, using his body like an emergency brake as you plunge your blade into it.
With the battle won, you’ll have the option of sending the wounded ship to your fleet, or salvage it for materials in order to repair your boats.
Edward Kenway and his "Crew".
Meanwhile, myriad sunken ships mean you can swim around searching for underwater treasure, and you might find loot on the corpse of a half-crab-eaten sailor on a random sandbar. Plus, appreciated tweaks like no more hard desynching from the Animus if you’re spotted and a renewed emphasis on stealth (“Stealth is a major part of this game,” McDevitt says. “We really want to encourage infiltration and using your tools.”) should help Black Flag get Assassin’s Creed back to realizing its full potential.
Black Flag is an especially exciting proposition for pirate fans that were let down by the unfulfilled potential of 2012’s Risen 2: Dark Waters and the cancellation of Propaganda Games’ similarly open-world Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned in 2010. If Assassin’s Creed IV can put the “open” back in “open-world,” then the venerable memory-plumbing franchise might just reach its tallest heights yet.
"Ready the cannons!!" - Edward Kenway
The game will feature three main cities; Havana, Kingston, and Nassau, which reside under Spanish, British and pirate influence, respectively.The game will also feature 50 other 'unique' locations to explore, with a 60/40 balance between land and naval exploration.Assassin's Creed IV will have a more open world feel, with missions similar to those found in Assassin's Creed, as well as fewer restrictions for the player. The world opens up sooner in the game, as opposed to Assassin's Creed III, which had very scripted missions and did not give players freedom to explore until the game was well into its first act.The player will encounter jungles, forts, ruins and small villages and the world is being built to allow players much more freedom, such as allowing players to engage, board, and capture passing ships and swimming to nearby beaches in a seamless fashion.In addition, the hunting system has been retained from Assassin's Creed III, allowing the player to hunt on land, and harpoon in the water.
A new aspect in the game is the ship the player will captain, Jackdaw. The Jackdaw will be upgradeable throughout the game, as well as having easy access to the ship when needed.In addition, a new underwater component is being added. The player will also have access to a spyglass, allowing the examination of distant ships, along with their cargo and strength. It can also help determine if an island still has animals to hunt, treasures to find or high points to reach for synchronization. An updated form of the recruit system introduced in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood will also return, allowing Edward to recruit crew members. While Kenway's crew will remain loyal to him, and can be promoted to captain acquired ships, they cannot assist you in combat or perform long-range assassinations, as in previous games. Ubisoft removed this aspect of the brotherhood system, believing it allowed players to bypass tense and challenging scenarios too easily.
In the present day, at the Abstergo Entertainment — a subsidiary of Abstergo Industries — offices in Montreal, Quebec, players will engage in modern day pirating through the exploring of Abstergo's offices, eavesdropping and hacking, all without combat. As well, various "hacking" games, similar to previous cluster and glyph puzzles, will be present, that will uncover secrets about Abstergo.
Multiplayer has been confirmed to return, with new settings and game modes, though it will only be land-based.
Edward Kenway!
The Plot:
As is the case in previous games in the Assassin's Creed series, the story is divided into two intertwined halves, with one in the present day, one in a historical setting, and the events of each influencing the other. Although the present-day story had previously established that an Animus was required to view one's ancestors memories, the ending of Assassin's Creed IIIimplies that Desmond's genetic memories have now been uploaded on to 'the cloud'.As such, the player's character is hired by Abstergo Entertainment to investigate a pivotal movement in Desmond's ancestry, the Assassin Edward Kenway.A notorious pirate and privateer operating during the Golden Age of Piracy, Kenway's story is set in the Caribbean, and mixes open-ended ship-based exploration with combat and land-based adventures on a number of Caribbean islands, as well as parts of southern Florida.
Edward Kenway doing the "leap of Faith".
THE VERDICT
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is a must anticipated game! The stunning visuals, gameplay and a new story arc for the Assassin's Creed Saga! This game is gonna rock the world!! Here's a Trailer for Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
If there’s one image that encapsulates the Assassin’s Creed series, it’s that of a hooded figure balancing atop some skyscraping parapet, looking down into the city below. It’s a snapshot that shows off a lot of what makes these games special – their incredible attention to detail, breath-taking verticality, fascinating architecture, unique historical settings - but it also represents their limitations. Assassin’s Creed games are easy to admire, but you often feel a bit distanced from them, too, held back from inhabiting these worlds as fully as you’d like to. You’ve always been on the outside looking in.
Not so with Assassin’s Creed III, which hauls the series across the ocean into a new setting that’s absolutely bursting with things to do. It turns a fascinating section of history into a vast open-world playground, letting you conquer the rooftops, stalk the forests and sail the seas of revolutionary America and authoring a main storyline that puts you in the middle of some of the most important events of the period, like a fly on the wall of history. It’s all about enjoying the freedom of movement the game affords you and immersing yourself in its world, as well as setting up the set-piece assassinations that form the climax of each chapter.
New Protagonist Ratonhnhaketon (Native American name) a.k.a Connor Kenway
Where the storyline missions usually follow a pattern of gathering information, stalking and eventually killing a high-profile target (with the odd naval mission or large-scale battle thrown in for variety), outside of that you're free to do whatever you want: hunt for trinkets, clamber over the rooftops of New York in search of almanac pages, or pick fights with the Redcoats on behalf of the populace. There is a vast amount of content in this game, from liberating Boston and New York to building up a homestead on the frontier to sailing the high seas to just enjoying the outdoors and hunting wildlife. But perhaps because Assassin's Creed III is so huge, it can be pretty inconsistent. It attempts an astonishing amount, and doesn’t always succeed.
Assassin's Creed III follows hot-tempered Native American assassin Connor for almost his entire life, starting as a tree-climbing kid and growing from troubled young man to vengeful adult – but
without wanting to spoil anything, he's not the only character you'll play. Connor's path often intersects with key moments in the American Revolution, putting him in the middle of the Battle of Bunker Hill for one spectacular mission. He finds himself fighting on the side of the Patriots for most of the game, but because he has enemies on both sides, his motivations for doing so has little to do with their battle for independence from the British crown.
Connor spying on the British Army.
Connor isn't as straightforwardly charming as Assassin's Creed II's Ezio, and although writing is excellent for the most part, you never warm to Assassin’s Creed III’s heroes nor grow to resent its villains in quite the same way. It’s impossible to discuss exactly why this is without spoiling something of the game’s plot - which you definitely don’t want, as there are some great moments here. There will doubtless be a lot of discussion around this after the game makes its way into players’ hands, but what it really comes down to is that Connor often feels more like an errand boy than a freedom fighter; within the missions, Assassin’s Creed III can feel very scripted and dictatorial, fettering you with rigid objectives and punishing you harshly when you step outside their boundaries – chase sequences are particularly infuriating on this front. The game is often at its best outside of the story, when it leaves you to enjoy and inhabit its world.
As a technological achievement, Assassin’s Creed III is astounding. Its excellent opening in a London opera house is a showcase for the new and improved animation, crowd physics and freedom of movement, but as soon as you hit the New World it is all about the great outdoors.Assassin's Creed III's story spans decades and over that time you get to see the gorgeous forests and nascent cities of Connor's homeland covered in heavy snow, gleaming in autumnal morning mists, and blooming in the summer. It can be stunning. Walking the streets of bustling Boston, full of people and noise and activity, you can't help but be in awe.
However, Assassin’s Creed III is often the victim of its own technological ambition. Pop-in, frame-rate drops and occasional graphical glitches are definitely a part of the experience, and you do wonder whether the omnipresent fog in New York City has more to do with technical limitations than the weather. The loading times are also hefty and I encountered some significant bugs during my review playthrough, though the developer claims that these will be fixed with a day-one patch. But it feels petty to begrudge the game for these hiccups when it pushes the boundaries of this generation so far.
Connor again spying on the "Red" Army.
The basics of Assassin’s Creed – free-running and combat – have been honed to near-perfection here. Free-running has been simplified and improved, and scaling the rock faces and branches of the frontier is no more difficult or confusing than climbing the ornate architecture of European cities. The Animus interface is clearer and less intrusive then before – spiderweb-like vectors highlight things that Connor can interact with and show when he’s hidden from view in the undergrowth or in a crowd. Every element of the HUD is customisable, letting you determine exactly how much visual help you want.
Combat is still a fairly simplistic parry-and-counter system, but it's made much more exciting by some excellently gruesome kill animations and a big selection of weapons – although, weirdly, you have to visit a shop or the homestead mansion to swap out your swords, axes, tomahawks or clubs. But trying to remain hidden is much more satisfying than just causing a giant brawl – staying incognito during assassination missions is extremely challenging, usually for the right reasons. Assassin's Creed III is more combat-focussed than previous games in the series; there's a lot less leaping around ruined buildings and much more stalking and killing, of man and beast both.
Connor engaging some men of the British army.
Assassin’s Creed III’s pacing is a source of frustration for the first third or so of the story – it takes too long to open up and show its hand. Right at the beginning of Connor's story you're kept on a short leash; your movements are wholly dictated by the plot for a good three hours or so, which is disappointing when you've had a taste of how open the world can be. It's a definite low point that lasts too long, and the game only really recovers when it sets you free again to explore at your own pace.
After that point, the minimap bristles with enticing icons, inviting you to join hunting clubs, explore with frontiersmen, recruit your own assassin underlings in New York and Boston by loosening the Templars’ grip on the cities, or take part in hours’ worth of optional naval missions that put you behind a ship’s wheel. How much you engage with all of this optional fun will determine how much you enjoy Assassin’s Creed 3 as a whole; stick to the story missions and you’ll quickly become frustrated with their strictures (and frequent cut-scenes), but allow yourself an hour or two of exploration between each of them and the game’s rhythm is much better. The naval missions, particularly, are a real highlight: they’re dramatic and novel, and the feeling of steering the ship against the ocean’s swell and battling through unfavourable winds is really convincing.
New gameplay! Naval Battles!! Ahoy!
But although Assassin’s Creed III’s variety and freedom is in many respects a saving grace, it’s also problematic: there’s a vast amount to do, but not all of it is integrated well. Where some optional stuff like the naval adventures, fort assaults and the Homestead side-story missions are great, other things feel unfinished, tacked-on or queerly pointless, like the Boston and New York underground tunnels, trading and crafting, and training your assassins once you’ve recruited them. These features aren’t fully realised and feel like wasted ideas. How much you enjoy the game will depend heavily on how willing you are to figure out and engage with these optional activities on your own, because the game won’t guide you towards them.
Connor's preparing into the maelstorm of battle!
THE VERDICT
Assassin's Creed III is very enjoyable overall, but it’s not consistently brilliant. Not everything about the game gels together convincingly and the missions’ unnecessary prescriptiveness sometimes undermines the sense of freedom that the rest of the game works so hard to create. But it achieves so much that you can’t help but respect it; no other open-world game has ever given us a setting that's as impressive to observe or as full of things to do as this. Connor’s story has its lulls but it still tells a tale much richer and more compelling than most other games manage, set in a fascinating period of history. Assassin’s Creed III isn’t as huge an improvement upon its predecessors’ achievements as many players will be hoping for, but it’s still up there with the best that the series has achieved - even if it isn't quite the best.
Here's a Trailer for Assassinn's Creed III. Enjoy!!
Assassin's Creed Revelations marks the end of two eras as it explores the final adventures of Ezio Auditore and Altair Ibn-La'Ahad. Ubisoft's ambitious conclusion to a four game narrative manages to be the best chapter in the Assassin's Creed franchise despite suffering from some familiar problems. Witnessing Ezio and Altair come to grips with the lives they've lived is a remarkable sight, easily worth one more trip to a world we've experienced for several years.
Ubisoft's ambitious undertaking with Revelations, which spanned a half dozen studios across the globe, follows no less than three lead characters, which would be downright catastrophic in the hands of lesser developers. The game's story not only involves Ezio's quest to uncover the secrets of his order, but his budding romance and entanglement in a complex political situation as well. Add in flashbacks to key moments in Altair's life and brief, optional excursions to Desmond's mind in the Animus and this plot is packed to the limit.
Altair and Ezio.
Somehow it all works. The most compelling material by far involves Ezio, as his storyline is the most complicated. His quest to discover more information about Altair ties itself to the political and social turmoil in Constantinople. That in turn makes its way to Sophia, who quickly becomes a romantic interest despite the fact that Ezio pardons himself every five seconds to stab someone in the chest. The sequences between Sophia and Ezio flourish emotionally despite their brevity. You believe these two characters are slowly falling in love despite the chaos around them. It's impressive how convincing these moments can be.
Ubisoft's overall storytelling has reached new heights. Previous games seemed to get some cinematic sequences exactly right while others completely missed the mark. Those awkward, jolting moments are completely gone, replaced instead by very real, fully developed characters in strongly-scripted scenes. That leap alone helps elevate Revelations above some of its predecessors. The game's visuals have likewise taken a step up, with characters and their expressions looking better than ever. Voice acting is fantastic and the soundtrack is incredibly solid. All of these improvements, combined with a franchise-best city design, add to the larger narrative experience of the game.
On a basic level, Revelations functions much like the Assassin's Creed games that came before. You're still accepting various missions that task you with chasing, stalking, meeting or killing certain targets. The curse of the franchise has always been that it seems to fill your time with missions that are completely irrelevant to the larger story. Ubisoft more or less avoids that trap this time, mostly because its plot has so many layers. Still, expect a handful of quests that feel a bit too superfluous or are poorly constructed. The game's introduction suffers particularly from some very awkward parameters, setting an odd tone for its opening hours.
The city called "Constantinople".
The most thrilling moments of the game come when Ezio discovers clues about the keys to Altair's library. It's here where the series' infamous "dungeon" sequences come into play. Much like the Lairs of Romulus or Assassin's Tombs, these epic excavations take you on wild rides that would feel perfectly at home in Uncharted. At times a journey through damp caves and at other times epic chases alongside rivers, each of these segments are simply fantastic, and are the highlights of the entire game.
Almost equal to finding Altair's keys are the chapters that feature Altair himself. Each major portion of the game includes a segment with Ubisoft's original assassin, and players will relive specific moments throughout his life, ranging from a very young age to much older. Some of these missions feel very similar to Ezio's, while others are decidedly different. The variety helps keep things fresh, as does the fact that they're very story-driven and help bring a certain amount of meaning and weight to what Ezio is doing. By the end of the game, you'll see similarities between the two men - as well as differences - which help form one of the key emotional cores of the entire experience.
A new blade on Ezio's right hand??
Ubisoft made a number of additions to Revelations in terms of control, weaponry and gameplay. The most critical alteration is simply a button layout change. Players will now directly access a secondary weapon (throwing knives, a concealed gun, bombs) in addition to a primary one (hidden blade, sword, axe). This helps give players more options, allowing for quick reactions for stealth missions as well as challenging combat scenarios. This alteration affects combat mechanics the most because it changes how you're able to operate within hostile situations.
Bombs serve as an extension of your more flexible combat options. Throughout Ezio's time in Constantinople, he'll acquire a wide range of ingredients that can be assembled into three different categories of bombs. The functionality proves diverse as you'll make everything from a standard smoke bomb to something that shoots out coins to lure dozens of peasants. Whether you distract your opponents or outright kill them, the choice is yours. Generally I didn't find bombs to drastically change my approach to a situation. Countering and chaining kills, combined with summoning my brotherhood for remote attacks, is still by far the most effective way to dispatch foes. Revelations suffers for that inability to break away from its own mold, and as a result, this game continues to feel very similar to its predecessors.
Bombs are now available! Either use it steathly, lethally or distractlly! XD
Though missions and core combat mechanics remain very familiar, Ubisoft did add a new dynamic to the territorial control element of Revelations. In previous games, Ezio would not only buy shops around a city, he'd take control of enemy camps by assassinating their leaders. Now the enemies will attempt to take these headquarters back through somewhat-optional Den Defense segments, which are basically a fancy version of a typical Tower Defense game.
Den Defense adds little to Revelations. In fact, it actually detracts from the experience. As Ezio stands on the rooftops near his headquarters, enemy troops march down a street to damage the building enough to take it over. Players must install, through a menu and cursor system, various types of assassins along the rooftops to fend off that attack. Controlling the deployment is rather clunky, as is the way the mode meshes with the overall direction of the game. Assassin's Creed focuses on direct combat, not real-time strategy. Straying too far from that feels like a distraction, a nuisance that undoes your progress just for the sake of doing so. Frequently the game throws overwhelming odds against you, making the entire affair an irritating, extraneous mess. Even more irritating - if you lose, you can immediately climb a wall and assassinate the enemy leader again, rendering your previous 10-minute chore almost pointless. I'd rather see Den Defense completely disappear, but if returns, it needs drastic revision.
New gameplay! Seems like Ezio giving commands to defend a certain area!
The other major addition to Revelations deals with Desmond. Ubisoft chose to make the modern day assassin's sequences completely optional this time, almost anticipating a sharply divided reception to the bold departure in game design. Desmond, who is comatose and attempting to reclaim his mind within primitive Animus architecture, must navigate Tron-like worlds in first person perspective. He maneuvers through these abstract oddities by using two shapes of blocks that he can create and place in the world. The shocking concept is immediately jarring, yet somehow it works, largely because its puzzle-like nature actually plays well and ties to the overall story. Unlike Den Defense, which feels more like an awkward and deliberate attempt to harass you, these Desmond moments are a curious respite from Ezio and Altair's more intense, combat-driven missions. It seems obvious that not everyone will love this concept, but despite their simplicity, the sequences are well done and thought-provoking.
Ezio seeing Altair's spirit.
THE VERDICT
Despite adding a number of features, Assassin's Creed Revelations is very similar to its predecessors, and that's both its biggest strength and weakness. There's nothing wrong with Assassin's Creed. It's a great franchise with unique, compelling and well-designed gameplay. The catch is that we've effectively been doing similar things for the last several years now. Incremental upgrades are more than welcome, but at some point players need a new experience.
That said, Revelations serves its lead characters well and is a very effective bookend. The improvements in graphics and storytelling, combined with already-great voice acting and music, help make this a memorable finale for some of the most interesting video game characters we've seen in this generation. Not even the weak new Den Defense mechanic or Desmond’s insane side mission system can change that fact. And multiplayer will certainly reward those looking for a break from first-person shooting. The gameplay there continues to improve on an already-addicting formula, and learning more about the Templars proves rather fascinating.
This is the best Assassin's Creed yet, even if that victory is claimed by an inch and not a mile. If you've been following the lives of Altair and Ezio this long, you owe it to yourself to see their last adventure.
Here's a Trailer of Assassin's Creed: Revelation. Enjoy!
Assassin's Creed II is definitely one of my favourite games of the last 12 months. It was a meaty gaming meal that took several steps towards fulfilling the promise of the original, with new mechanics, more variety in gameplay, and an alluring new setting: renaissance Italy. It was a big leap, in other words: a worthy sequel in all regards.
Brotherhood, on the other hand, will have a slightly harder time proving its worth. Rather than moving to a new time period, it continues directly on from the events of Assassin's Creed II, only with the action shifting almost entirely to Rome. Like previous titles, there's also a modern-day component. The game is once again framed by the on-going battle between the Templars and Assassins, and players are actually assuming the role of Desmond, who lives in the present day and is able to experience the memories of his ancestor Ezio using a device called the animus. The game cuts between the two time periods but the bulk of the gameplay occurs in renaissance Rome.
Ezio Auditore returns! and his not alone.
Ubisoft Montreal has stressed that Brotherhood has a number of innovations and evolutions designed to keep the experience fresh, and we can certainly tell you that there's easily as much content here as in Assassin's Creed II, but will it be enough to really help this title distinguish itself from last year's stellar outing? Let's find out.
After confronting Rodrigo Borgia and having his mind blown far beneath the Vatican at the end of Assassin's Creed II (and no, that's not a euphemism), the story picks up with Ezio ready for some well-earned R&R. It's not to be. Cesare Borgia – Rodrigo Borgia's son – is ticked off, and mounts a full scale attack on the assassins. The villa in Monteriggioni is destroyed and Ezio loses everything. Yes, after 20+ hours working towards all that bad-ass armour and weaponry, it's lost in a moment and players must begin again. Such is the fickle nature of videogames.
Ezio calling in the "Brotherhood" of "Assassins".
It's important to note that while the Borgia towers are a key element of the game's structure, they're not actually central to taking down Cesare. You can actually finish Brotherhood without destroying all the towers. Instead, they're about earning income, unlocking items, gaining apprentice assassins and reducing the presence of Borgia guards across the city. By destroying a tower, players can make missions in that region easier for themselves by ensuring there'll be less guards around. How to get to each Captain? Well, that's up to you. Each tower is surrounded by a compound where the guards are on high alert, so it's up to players to work out the best path to the Captain. Easier compounds allow astute players to clinically execute the Captain with little-to-no danger, while more difficult ones will inevitably result in a huge confrontation, or have a more difficult path to the end goal.
As fans of open-world games would expect, a lot of the player's time will be occupied with missions and activities that don't necessarily advance the plot. It's easy to get sidetracked for hours finding treasure chests, taking on assassination contracts, doing missions for the various guilds or trying to level up your relationship with them, exploring the world or climbing landmarks like the Coliseum. Subterranean environments return too, in the guise of Sons of Romulus missions. These make for a nice change of pace, as the focus is very much on movement puzzles over combat.
Leonardo da Vinci is back as an ally too, and once again provides weapons for Ezio. Turns out he's also been pressured into creating war machines for Cesare, so it's up to Ezio to destroy the plans and prototypes. These see you wielding a chain gun mounted to a horse and cart, piloting a boat with a naval cannon, gliding about in Leo's paraglider – modified to fire bombs, and manning a renaissance-era tank. They're not actually that exciting, but at least inject a little variety into the gameplay.
And honestly? That's something Brotherhood needs. The gameplay on offer here is solid, but by and large the bulk of the missions are pretty similar in nature to those we've already experienced in depth in Assassin's Creed II. It really feels like treading the same old ground, without great improvements. The missions where Ezio must tail a target are still frustrating, for instance, thanks to the small sweet spot at which the player must stay away in order to follow - but not alert – his target.
Ah! the beautiful city of Rome and Don't mind Ezio. ;)
There are three major changes that try to switch things up: the assassins' guild, the tweaks to combat and the ability to ride your horse anywhere. Recruiting assassins who can be called upon with the press of a button is obviously the big one, and it works very much as advertised. With each Borgia tower destroyed a new slot opens up, allowing Ezio to rescue and recruit an ordinary citizen of Rome. Calling on an assassin is as simple as targeting an enemy and hitting L1/Left trigger on PS3/360 respectively. Depending on the location and the level of your assassin, he or she might run or ride up to the target, or drop down from above. It's cool to watch, and once you have six assassins you have three groups that can be called, with a cool-down time of a few minutes for each.
Assassins gain experience through combat, but they can also be sent off to complete contracts around Europe. The greater the difficulty of a mission, the higher the XP and cash reward, and players prepared to gamble can quickly level up their assassins by assigning them difficult contracts with a lower chance of success. These missions only take five to ten minutes each and the interface is easy to use. With each level gained, you can boost either armour or weaponry, and as assassins rise through the ranks, they'll also unlock more advanced options, such as the ability to use smoke bombs. As a side note, your assassin recruits can die, but you'll likely only lose a couple in the entirety of the game.
Ezio in ACTION!
The point of the assassin recruits is that Ezio is now a leader of men. The scale of the fight has changed – it's no longer just one man against his enemies; it's now one man trying to rally the support of a city against a tyrant. The assassins work in that sense, but when it comes to gameplay they actually just serve to make the game less challenging. Assassin's Creed II was far from hard, but at least in that game players had to work for their kills. Here it's a simple matter of directing the Death From Above. With a single button press you'll unleash a kill which, while cool, is also a little hollow.
It's not like utilizing the assassins is a genuinely new mechanic either. Ezio can already hire thieves, mercenaries or courtesans to distract or kill targets, and this is just an evolution of that concept. Whereas players couldn't rely on the guilds in ACII, however, the assassins in this game can easily become a crutch – a get-out-of-jail-free card.
Ezio and the "Brotherhood" of Assassins.
It's not the only aspect that makes Brotherhood less challenging – and ultimately less enjoyable – than it should be. The inclusion of the crossbow, while fun, means that you no longer have to watch your step on rooftops. Once upon a time, the best tactic was to sneak up on guards for a blade kill or hang from the edge of the building and pull them off. No more. Just target them from the next rooftop over with the crossbow and they're dead. No fuss, and no real skill required.
It's also worth mentioning that looting dead guards' bodies now yields far more valuable items than it did in ACII. You can top up on smoke bombs, crossbow bolts, poison, bullets and medicine with relative ease. Compare this to the significant financial investment and effort required to stay topped up in the first game, and the balance of gameplay shifts even further towards being too easy.
Hand to hand combat is undeniably entertaining, however. In addition to dodging and countering, Ezio can now kick an enemy to open him up for a hit, while stringing together successive attacks allows him to dispatch enemies even more efficiently than before. The highlight, however, would have to be the sub-weapon system. Why just run a guy through with a sword when you can slash him then shoot him in the face? These new combo kills are brutal and satisfying, and you won't tire of seeing the many and varied animations on offer.
"So many. Time for my escape, excuse me!" - Ezio Auditore
Combat's not without its issues, however. I still found the lock-on finicky, while there are still glitches, such as Ezio's unfortunate habit of occasionally leaping from on high for a kill, only to bump a pole or something similar on the way down and land flat on his face in front of the guards he's meant to be skewering. Surely if there's an obstruction the player shouldn't be given the option to choose "assassinate"?
Ezio's abilities on horseback have also been expanded for Brotherhood. Not only can he take a horse almost anywhere in the city (and summon one with a press of the Y/triangle button), but he can leap from one horse to another for a kill, and he can stand on horseback and use it as a jumping off point for free running. It's a neat inclusion but I didn't really find myself using the horses in that way much – it's a little fiddlier than simply attacking. In fact, I mostly used horses for getting around, so it's a shame that the gallop button has been lost to make room for the ability to stand on horseback. Trying to get from point A to point B now feels more like a leisurely Sunday afternoon trot than a mad dash.
Rome is a dynamic and interesting world, with all sorts of systems that can impact upon Ezio and be used by players. Run around killing fools in public, for instance, and your notoriety goes up. Guards will instantly pay closer attention to you. Want to lower it? You can do that by ripping down wanted posters, bribing heralds or killing witnesses. Mind you, you could always avoid attention altogether by disappearing into crowds. While it's still a little less seamless than I'd like, Ezio can blend in with groups walking through Rome, plus he can hide in plain sight by sitting on a bench or standing with a group. These elements are an integral part of the game's rich playground, and will be a source of delight for new players, but anyone who played Assassin's Creed II will know all about them.
"I'm surrounded! Good now I can do my moves!"
One element that is new, however, is the fact that Ezio now has an additional objective or challenge in order to achieve full synchronisation in a mission. These range from time-based challenges: complete this mission in under 8 minutes, to combat-related challenges: don't take damage, only kill your target, and beyond. They're a good inclusion for the hardcore fans as they'll be the ones replaying missions in order to get 100% sync. For the more casual players, however, it's actually a little disheartening to beat a mission only to be told you only achieved 50% synchronisation.
Overall, this is excellent stuff, and turns the usual adversarial frag-fest on its head. Forget being the guy who runs the fastest and racks up the most kills – Brotherhood rewards being a true assassin. Players are awarded points on a sliding scale, so an overt kill will net a whole lot less than a stealthy assassination while hidden. In this multiplayer contest it's the gamers who learn to be patient that will ultimately prevail. Plus, the ranking system means that the contests continue to evolve as you play, with tactical depth increasing the more abilities are unlocked.
Ezio doing the "Leap of Faith"
THE VERDICT
Brotherhood is a great game, but it’s hard to wholeheartedly recommend. This is really a title designed for fans of Assassin’s Creed II, as it’s a continuation of that story, but the reality is that people who finished that game want something new – or that at least represents a clear step forward. Brotherhood doesn’t deliver that. The game doesn’t advance the wider narrative very far, the new mechanics don’t really add a great deal and the mission designs rarely explore new gameplay possibilities.
That said, Brotherhood really looks the part, with a step up in the graphics department – particularly on PS3, and a massive and varied city to explore. It also introduces an innovative multiplayer suite, for which the team(s) should be applauded. At the end of the day, it depends what you’re looking for. If you’re new to Assassin’s Creed, this is a solid entry, but picking up the threads of the convoluted story may be a challenge. If you’re an experienced assassin, on the other hand, expect to tread pretty similar ground to the last title.
Here's a Trailer for Assassin's Creed II: Brotherhood. Enjoy!
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