Game rating: Assassins Creed: Brotherhood

[JRD]

Game title
Assassins Creed: Brotherhood

Category            Rating            Comments Story line 9 Anything in this series has a deep storyline so rating it less than 9 would be an insult! It's a great sequel to AC2 again mixing events and characters from History books with fiction on an amazing thread. You can spend days and days just reading the content of all background story and data available so yes, storyline is great! Graphics 9 The whole game is beautiful with amazing details and very life like. Some elements like hair and pieces of clothes looks a bit stiff though but nothing that bothers too much. The side characters are so diverse I barely remember seeing the same guy twice... well, maybe the bard or those lady beggars... oh and that soldier... ok, ok, I saw the same guy a few times but still, there are so many characters you won't mind seeing the same face twice! Standing on the top of a tower and seeing all Rome at your feet or going through the Coliseum just for fun is breath taking... the game looks amazing! Sound 9 Musinc is beautiful, not as beautiful as in the previous game but still fantastic! Voice acting is also very well done and all characters are well played. I connected to most of them during the game and after being away from the game for a while the voices made me remember all the backstory associated to that character! Game play 9 I still think it was overcomplicated at times. All those shop quests were a bit dull... By the time I managed to collect what was necessary to unlock the Capitain's Sword it was no longer a good weapon to purchase and I actually had something much better. The other sword, Spada Lunga I think, I never managed to unlock since I lack the stuff to do so, neither could I ever use some armor locked too.... to be honest I only unlocked one of those quests and it was quite useless to me! And for the love of God, why do I need so many tomatoes to unlock the fast poison at the Doctor stand!?!?!?!?! There are so many stuff to do besides the main storyline that one can be sidetracked for months before going on to finish the game... I've been sidetracked a lot!! Recruiting assassins and training them was fun and unfortunately I only started to use them a lot near the end! Replay value 10 Lots of things to do even after the end, loads of collectables and a game you never get tired of playing! I'm making my way through Assassins Creed Revelations as I type and as soon as I'm through I'll start another playthough ever since Assassins Creed 2 to the end of Revelations, that's for sure! Looking forward to the new Assassins Creed game to come! Final thoughts Assassins Creed 2 is probably the best game I ever played and the game against which I measure all games, so AC2 is a complete, flawless 10. Having said that, ACB is probably a 9.5 with minor flaws that doesn't break the fun of the game at all. It's part of one of the most original and innovative game franchise ever and must be tackled as such: a part of a whole. Playing ACB out of it's context as a standalone game would be a crime!!! You can skip the first game but all titles with Ezio should be savoured!!!!!

[fragger]

Wow, what a glowing report card! Excellent review JRD :-X

Now I'm thinking I want to get into it... The only, only thing that has ever stopped me is the idea of having to be online to play. I love the history of those times and locations, but I get so many dropouts and access lags that I'm paranoid about it screwing up the experience for me. I guess I should just stop procrastinating, get the game and try it out, huh?

Which should I start with though, AC1 or 2? Would there be any advantage at all in starting with the original game? From what I can gather, the first one is a bit clunky and limited compared to the later titles and I wouldn't want it to possibly put me off. But with a series like this, I certainly wouldn't want to jump straight into the latest installments - since it's an ongoing tale, that seems certain to be a bad move.

[Art Blade]

very nice, JRD :) I might consider it in the future :)

[PZ]

Spot on, JRD, especially now that I've completed ACR   :-X

In fact, because the replay value is so great, I now plan to start AC2 again., then progress to ACB, then ACR

Fragger, although this is only my personal preference, I would start with AC2, then ACB, then ACR because they are truly sequels to their predecessors.  However, with that said, there are many scenes, references and even game play that references AC1, so for the complete immersion, I would probably play AC1 just before ACR if I played it at all.

The advantage of playing AC2 --> ACB --> ACR is that you know Ezio (your character)  from the time he is born in AC2 until his old age in ACR, for a continuum of time line.

AC1 features Altair (your character), which is an assassin from long ago, one that Ezio is trying to understand.

[fragger]

Thanks for the advice PZ, much appreciated :)

I've got Tomb Raider Anniversary on the way, Duke Nukem is still waiting in the wings and I've got a good game of Civ V going, so my gaming schedule is pretty full at the moment :-() I'm spoiled for choice... After those I think I'll give the AC series a go, and I think I'll take the advice and start with AC2. From what I've read in the AC topics it sounds like a good one to start with. Funny thing - I was dreaming about it last night and I've never even played it. Must be a sign...

[JRD]

I second PZ's advice, fragger... go with AC2 first then ACB then maybe the original AC1 (if at all) to get you into the story for ACR. It should take months of an amazing experience!  8)

The issue with the original AC1 is that it was just the first game and devs learned a lot from their mistakes. I guess they did a lot of market research with the huge fan base before doing AC2 in order to know what could be improved for the sequel. Although AC1 looks just beautiful and was ground breaking at release, the fighting mechanics, lack of an economic system and silly side missions put the game well below the following titles... Altair couldn't even swim!!

You can buy AC1 for a cheap price today and have it installed if you want to have some fun anyway. You won't regret running through rooftops in Jerusalem, Damascus and Acre during the 3rd crusade, that's for sure! After finishing the game I used to go back just for the view!  ;D

[PZ]

... Altair couldn't even swim!!

You can buy AC1 for a cheap price today and have it installed if you want to have some fun anyway. You won't regret running through rooftops in Jerusalem, Damascus and Acre during the 3rd crusade, that's for sure! After finishing the game I used to go back just for the view!  ;D

I remember how shocked I was the first time Altair fell into the water!  :-()

I was able t get some kind of special edition of ACR that included AC1 in the bundle, but I don't know if that is available on the PC.  mandru did not have that on his disc.  However, with your busy gaming schedule, the titles might be heading toward the bargain bin when you get a chance to try them.  ;)

[Fiach]

Nice review mate, clearly you had a ball with the game!  :-X