Nukezilla Review: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (PS3)

[This is the review for the single player portion of the game. Check the site in a few days for the multiplayer review]

I’ve had a bit of a hard time with Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood; namely, what to call it? It’s not Assassin’s Creed III, it’s the sequel to Assassin’s Creed II, kind of the way Final Fantasy X-2 was a sequel to Final Fantasy X but not actually Final Fantasy XI; eventually, I gave up and called it Assassin’s Creed II.5. What I call Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood isn’t really that important; what you should care about is that Brotherhood plays almost identically to Assassin’s Creed II (which should make the hardcore fans happy) with enough changes to keep it fresh and interesting.

Brotherhood takes place almost immediately after Assassin’s Creed II, following Ezio to Rome as he takes on the Borgia influence there once and for all. The story’s villain comes in the form of Cesare Borgia: sister-kisser, commander of the corrupted Papal army and son of Roderigo Borgia, villain of the previous game.

Cesare steals the Apple of Eden from Ezio, who is tasked to recover it and simultaneously save Rome from its militant Papal influence and restore it to its former glory. Ezio must (or not) destroy the Borgia towers scattered throughout Rome and assassinate the ruling Captains within while simultaneously weakening Cesare’s military forces and recapturing the Apple of Eden from the Templars.

As mentioned before, not much has changed in terms of gameplay, but there are a few changes worth mentioning. The highest profile change is, of course, the addition of the “Brotherhood” — Assassins who can be recruited and leveled up during the course of the game — who can either act as a personal stealth strike team or provide much-needed help in combat. These Assassins can also be sent out on timed missions in order to gain money and rare items (which are used to unlock Ezio’s strongest armor/weapons) in order to level up and become stronger in combat.

Another noteworthy change is the fact that Ezio can actually use the Apple of Eden as a weapon at certain points in the game — although he cannot switch back to his sword or use any other items, which is annoying — in order to either melt his opponents Raiders of the Lost Ark-style (I may be embellishing a bit) or force them to fight each other to the death.

The final — and perhaps most appreciated — change is that Desmond Miles returns with a more substantial playable part (actual platforming!).

Unfortunately, I have a few beefs with Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. While the series has always emphasized sandbox-style gameplay, Ubisoft apparently lost their minds in the last act of the game, forcing players to accept story mission after story mission without any opportunity to change equipment or stock up on any needed secondary weapons/potions — and many of these missions are combat heavy in the end, without much chance to loot bodies to recover necessary items.

Additionally, more of an emphasis has been put on horseback riding than in previous incarnations of the series (some missions require it), yet I found the horses to be incredibly difficult to control when not in an open field and, indeed, mostly useless — especially when I’d activated all of the warp points around Rome.

Finally, and perhaps the biggest problem, was that the story didn’t seem to have been constructed with as much care as in previous entries in the series; it all felt a little slapped together, and while the Templar conspiracy intrigue was still present, it seemed to have lost the immediacy and spooky mojo that kept it so fascinating in Assassin’s Creed II.

I am aware of Gavin’s attitude towards rubbish endings, and yes, unfortunately, this is a tradition which has carried on in this installment of the Assassin’s Creed series: the ending comes quite abruptly (again with the slapdash storytelling, perhaps), and foreshadows what I can only assume will be the third (fourth?) game, which I will welcome with open arms. I am a little sad to see Ezio go, but his story has played out, and I eagerly anticipate what Ubisoft will throw at us next. Hopefully, the story will be a little better crafted than Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.

This review is Day 19 of the December Review Nukestravaganza.