A little buggy, but still a great experience
Just to start, this is my first review... So moving past that, lets get on with it shall we?
I have been a huge fan of the Assassin's creed series since AC1 was released. Even though many people were bothered to see this franchise was actually a sci-fi game, staring Desmond, I've always been intrigued by the over-arching plot line. Assassin's Creed 2 made huge, huge, huge improvements to the series, and Brotherhood only further's the improving series. There are so many little additions to the game the really make this one feel unique, even in the familiar setting.
Right off the back, Desmond has a much larger role in this game. You can actually wander around as Desmond, as utilize many of the abilities he has gained from the bleeding affect. The supporting characters: Lucy, Shaun, and Rebbecca, have significantly improved in their dialouge and ability to emote. Shaun in particular is a very enjoyable character to talk to. Of course this is all optional, as you never even have to leave the animus once you regain control of Ezio. Speaking of optional, the side quests in the game have opened up so much. From destroying all the borgia towers, to guild quests, to the temples of romulus, to finding and solving the truth puzzles. There is new implementation in the menu screen that helps the game greatly. Being able to redo specific missions and find the specific buildings is a great help. Even the map now displays the feathers and flags, which is a huge relief to all you completionists out there.
The most interesting new mechanic in the over-world however, is the meta-game for Roma. Buying every single building and shop. Doing so nets you cool reward, but the process of which is so addicting. I in fact stopped playing the main story line for hours on end trying to nickel and dime my way to buy every shop and do every main side quest. This is kinda reminiscent of fable. except fable 3 left a sour taste in my mouth, while this left me with smiles. Another inclusion to this series is items. These trade items can be sold, but their purpose is to complete these shop quests. collecting the certain items gives you access to new weapons, armors, and abilities that aren't accessible otherwise. These items can be acquired from looting, treasure, or from sending your assassin's out to collect them.
These assassins are the main tag line for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. You can train assassin's by sending them on mission to become full fledged assassins. They amount you can have is equal to the amount of borgia towers you have destroyed. They can also assist you in combat as you see needed. However they can be killed during a mission or in combat, so be careful or else you will need to replace them.
Another new mechanic of this game is the memory synchronizations. Every time you take on a quest, there are certain conditions that must be met in order to receive 100%. Otherwise, you'll receive only a 50% completion. Honestly, some of the conditions where annoying. Aside from the few that made the game play with stealth, I would have stopped caring after I got the achievement for a level with 100% sync, if it wasn't for the Christina memories. These memory sequences may not have been the most amazing side story ever, but for fans of the series and Ezio, it is definitely worth playing to see a more emotional side of Ezio.
The new combat mechanics are pretty interesting. My favorite addition is the long awaited crossbow. I used this weapon in almost every mission. Stealthily one-shoting a person from a far distance makes Ezio feel so much more bad ass then ever before. Another new mechanic, is shooting poison. If it wasn't for this addition I would never have used poison, but it does now have its uses. It's still takes too long to kill an enemy with, and I'm sure that would have been remedied with unlocking fast poison, but I couldn't be bothered to do so.
Generally the sword and dagger combat are still the same, leaving me to fight with my hidden blades. The one improvement to the combat system is quick killing. during combat if you kill an enemy, you can highlight the next enemy and tap x to attack the next one. This provides a way to instant kill each enemy in a row. This does not feel cheap to me at all, because it helps move the combat along, and add to the generally vibe of the game that Ezio is bad ass. Adding to that is the addition of the assassin recruits. You can call in an assassin to help fight with you, but if you let your bar charge up, you can summon a rain of arrows to kill multiple enemies. I found my self defending my assassin's a lot after one was killed in battle.
Ezio has never looked cooler
There are some problems with this game however. It is very buggy. My biggest problem with the game is the parachutes. When they work, it is an awesome addition to the game. Being able to jump off any building and fly down safely, is great. It can even be used to air assassinate enemies. However, it almost never works. Even though I had the max amount of parachutes, the game wouldn't register that I had any, causing many frustrating deaths. Another problem I have is when the arrow is telling me to go underground. Sometimes it seems to have trouble with the height you are at. There are still the occasionally questionable behavior to enemies and npcs when they are climbing walls to go back to their "posts". However, if you can look past these faults, it's still a great game.
The story is very interesting and actually fills in several plot holes within the story. The most significant in my opinion are the parts with Desmond and the truth memory. They solve so many questions about the over-arching storyline, and I have formed several theories about where the series is going. I won't discuss this here though, because spoiling that would be very frowned upon.
...Now for the multi-player....
It's good. You've probably seen some quick looks already, but it's really good. I see it as almost the anti call of duty. Its a slow and methodically paced game rather then a twitch based shooter. The level progression is cool, and keeps you playing. There are a few different game modes, but the one most people will play, myself included, is wanted. In this game type you are after an assigned target while you yourself are being hunted. You have no knowledge about the other players, and can't tell if a character is a npc or the target. Its quite compelling because, if you lack patience and run around, you will be found very often. I find assuming that everyone is after you helps keep you on a proper edge. My only problem with the multi-player is that more often then not, the servers don't work. There seem to be not many people are playing this game, and it's a shame to because its quite a unique little gem.
Overall, I think it's an amazing game. the story, the characters, the setting, all of it comes together wonderfully. I would highly recommend this game to anyone looking for a fun open world game, or anyone looking to get entangled with a very interesting over-arching story.
