The Brotherhood welcomes you with open arms!
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood to most will seem like a cash-in for Ubisoft to some, a multi-player experiment to others. At the end of the day, Brotherhood offers a lengthy, quality single-player experience much like it's predecessor before it, and a unique multi-player mode with a progression system similar to systems found in "other" games.
Brotherhood starts of right after the end of Assassin's Creed II. The protagonist also returns from the second game in the franchise, Ezio Auditore. *Spoiler* The tale begins right after Ezio uncovered the vault in the Vatican church, and has players escaping from Rome seconds after the end of ACII. Events arise, forcing the player to play the majority of the game in Rome, where the story unfolds similar to the mission progression in ACII, with some slight changes and adjustments due it being just one big city this time around. The game begins slow, letting players get used the city improvement mechanics, the Borgia towers, and the faction building. Eventually, players will have to recruit, manage, and control new assassin's send them out to missions, or even have them aid them in battle. It is quite satisfying to see a fellow assassin jump from the sky, out of nowhere, to assassinate a target much like the player is encouraged to do throughout the Assassin's Creed franchise. The game also includes more collectibles such as feathers as well as Borgia flags to find throughout the city of Rome, allowing for plenty of exploration. When in Eagle Eye mode, feathers and flags can be tagged and appear on the map if players wish to revisit and find what they missed.
The story not only continues Ezio's tale, but Desmond's as well. In Brotherhood, players will get to control Desmond anytime they wish, and are allowed to leave the animus any time they want to test Desmond's parkour abilities, read e-mails (if you remember reading e-mails in the first Assassin's Creed game you'll know what to expect).
Finally, along with the quality single-player this game has to offer, a unique and addictive multi-player mode is also included in the package. The entire multi-player portion of the game is tied to the core universe, so it doesn't feel unwanted but happily welcomed to the franchise. The multi-player offers three core modes to jump in to, but they all focus around hunting for and hiding from. The whole idea of "social stealth" works great with multi-player, and the experience is something that just can't be explained but must be experienced. The three game modes include Wanted, Manhunt, and Alliance. Wanted is the game's answer to Free-for-All, every man for himself, and the world is filled with 7 other players along with hundreds of NPC's. The other modes are interesting as well, but Wanted seems like the game mode players will keep coming back to. The thrill is not knowing who is or isn't after you, and the mystery of who your real target is, all happening at the same time is an intense feeling. Throughout the multi-player, players are rewarded by leveling up and unlocking new perks, abilities, weapons, etc. allowing them an assassins suited to their strengths.
In terms of consoles, I have experienced a lot of screen tearing on the PS3 version, I can not confirm the quality of the Xbox 360 version.
For $60, people really must ask themselves if how much they enjoyed Assassin's Creed II. Most found ACII to be worth the money, and Brotherhood is essentially continuing and expanding the Assassin's Creed universe as well as bringing something new to the table with it's unique multi-player. It is definitely worth experiencing, both the single-player and the multi-player, with just enough new content added to both sides for a game released a year after it's last outing.
