Assassin's Creed Brotherhood Review
Though a must-play for fans, this entry advances the franchise with uneven results
Outside of the series’ well-known singleplayer, Brotherhood also contains a much talked about multiplayer suite. Taking a lot of obvious cues from a tiny PC game from a few years back called The Ship, Brotherhood’s multiplayer places you in an arena full of NPC characters as well as your fellow players and tasks you with finding and killing your mark while also being targeted yourself. A small number of character models are repeated throughout the arena which keeps the player always on the hunt as even finding a look-alike for your target, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s him. It’s not as hard as it sounds, and although it may take a game or two to get the hang of it, it becomes a rather exhilarating experience. Multiplayer with so little action makes what action is present, a subtle slashing of the throat or powerful jab to the spine, all the more exciting. My first kill had me cackling with glee as it felt as if I had accomplished a very difficult task, truly assassinated another human player without ever blowing my cover.
The most problematic aspect of the multiplayer isn’t any of the game’s mechanics or modes but the simple fact that people don’t buy Assassin’s Creed games for the multiplayer. You know with a Call of Duty game that you’ll always be able to find a multiplayer match to join, but the same can’t be said with Brotherhood’s multiplayer. On more than one occasion, I found myself waiting a ridiculous amount of time to find or put together a game. Will it stand the test of time and become a new standard for the series or will it fail to resonate properly with the masses and die off as quickly as it came to be? Only time will tell.
In the end, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood comes off a little half-baked. Despite the fact that it is absolutely overflowing with content, contains a new and interesting multiplayer component, has perfected some of the series most problematic aspects, and grants new and interesting looks into the world of Assassin’s Creed, the singleplayer storyline lacks almost all of the urgency, excitement, and intrigue that made Assassin’s Creed II so enticing. Immediately, you’ll find Ezio losing everything that he gained in the end of the last game and being tasked to regain it, but to what end? Desmond already received the information he was looking for. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is still a good game overall and a must-play for any diehard Assassin’s Creed fans, but for those previously unsure of the series or looking to jump in now, do yourself a favor and go with Assassin’s Creed II instead.
Our ratings for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood on Xbox 360 out of 100 (Ratings FAQ)
Share:
Comments
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Jan 4, 2011 12:44:59 (Jan 4, 2011 12:44)
