Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (Xbox 360)

Assassins Creed Brother Hood
 Ubisoft
 Xbox 360, PS3, PC

It’s a little bit historical, a little bit fantasy, and a whole lot of death.

 The story of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood picks up where the last one left off. Once again you’re the same guy plugging into the Matrix to see what his ancestors were doing years ago.
  And here is what I got from it: Ezio, after his home gets destroyed, goes to Rome to be an assassin ring leader, big shot and restore balance to the newly found, falling apart Rome. I find that, while I am playing the game at times, I feel more like a pimp, and not so much a hardcore stealthy assassin. The main reason is because one of the first major missions and a lot of the side quests have to do with helping out women from a brothel (and giving them money). If you can get past the whole brothel thing, playing out the storyline is actually pretty rewarding.

 Game Play

 The Mechanics of the game are pretty much identical to the past games.  If your new to the game or haven’t played for a while, don’t beat yourself up over the controls, they take some getting used to. The movement is what you would expect of a assassins creed game. The fighting engine in the new game is less methodical and is more freeing then past games. Though you can use a lot more techniques, it has a pretty steep learning curve. Don’t expect to be killing the Vatican any time soon.

Here are some things I didn’t like about the gameplay.  Though the map is huge and offers a lot of different opportunity, it’s a pain to travel, and when you’re in the city, things tend to look the same. So getting lost is easy and finding shops is very hard. You will spend a decent amount of time just walking from mission to mission and you’re lucky if your task is as simple as killing someone or collecting something. But following people around is one of the most provoking things you will have to do in the game. Normally, being faster than everyone is a good thing, but when you’re following people that move just faster than a snail dragging its feet, things can get a little annoying. The only thing worse, is having to climb some really tall building after following them.

But,  unlike the first game you can loot pretty much anything that’s dead, which I recommend because not only do you get money for doing this but you can restock on things like throwing daggers, medicine, and all those little things that keep you alive and your enemies dead. One of my personal favorite things about Brotherhood is that you can call in assassins to help you fight off guards or even take down some targets for you. You can even dispatch them to do certain jobs, and upgrade their equipment when they level up.

 Graphics and Sounds

 They didn’t really change anything much, so if you liked the graphics and sounds in the first game you wont really have any complaint about this one. Series should naturally get better with graphics.  Even still, the graphics in Assassins Creed are quite pleasing. They are like Prince of Persia, but just a bit more realistic. The setting reminds me of the BBC series of Robin Hood.

 Final Thoughts

 Despite the huge map and difficult climbing, I feel the game really grows on you.  It gives a very independent feeling as you play.  It’s not pushing you through the storyline or timing your every move, which results in a laid back style of playing.

 Content: PG 18
 Lots of adult themes
 Blood and violence

 Spiritual Meaning.

Just like Ezio’s brotherhood of assassins is redeeming and restoring Rome, So God does a similar act in our lives. God wants to restore the balance in our lives, and his methods are pure, He teaches us in our experiences that we may be more mature.
 

      Pros

• Very Independent
• Improved fighting engine
• Lots of space

Cons

• Mature content
• Some annoying missions and side quests

Editor’s note—It’s noteworthy to add that the AI in this game is amazing.  In one scene Ezio kills four guards and chases one down.  The other guard tries to escape, but you can chase him down.  If you do chase him down he starts begging for mercy.  Simply amazing character interaction

B-

Nayt