Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood Review

Ezio Auditore da Firenze and Desmond Miles return as the protagonists of the third chapter of the Assassin’s Creed series, ‘Brotherhood’. Set in 2012 and picking up exactly where the second chapter concluded just after the Templars’ attack, Miles and the other contemporary assassins travel to Monteriggioni to set up a new hideout in the ruins of Villa Auditore. Meanwhile, Ezio’s tale starts back in 1499, with him exiting the vault escaping Rome and travelling to Monteriggioni with his uncle, Mario Auditore. Ezio finds his town besieged by Cesare Borgia, who overpowers the assassins, leaving the town in ruins. Ezio escapes with his family, although his uncle is killed, travelling back to Rome, where Ezio resolves to establish a new Assassin brotherhood in Rome, destroying the Templars and his enemy Borgia. After Ezio destroys Rodigrio and Cesera along with the rest of the Templars, Miles discovers the Apple of Eden, hidden by Ezio in a vault in the Santa maria Aracoeli, within the ruined Temple of Juno. Miles activates the apple and is forced by its powers to stab Lucy Stillman, on the orders of one of the Ancestors, in order to even the scores. At this point we are left to wonder what happens next as Miles passes out and it’s captured.
The title boasts some new features particularly in the area of multiplayer, a first for the Assassin’s Creed series, and these keep the title fresh, following on from the excellent second instalment. Continuing with the third person open world format of previous titles, the controls and feel of the gameplay remain intrinsically the same. There is a new management systems where Ezio can recruit new soldiers to send out on tasks or call to for aid during battles, and you are able to train and customise your recruits, giving them more experiences throughout the game. The multiplayer mode is similar in core gameplay to that of the single player mode – players earn points for their skill and stealth in assassinations, the winner being the player with the most points. There are modes within the multiplayer game such as Wanted being a free-for-all, and Advance being much the same with a few added options for customising the gameplay. Alliance sees the players battling together as pairs, whilst manhunt again pairs the players, this time to hunt down or evade the opposing team.
The new features are no great leap, but when a game is at such a high standard already, wholesale changes to the gameplay would be foolish. This is really for fans of Assassin’s Creed II, those looking for any dramatic departures will be disappointed, but for a slight improvement on the original, this game ticks all the boxes, especially visually, as the graphics are truly impressive.