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| Ezio returns for another traipse around Renaissance Italy |
Brotherhood is a direct sequel to II. So much so, in fact, that Brotherhood picks up literally the moment at which II ends. Beyond its story, though, it makes a number of drastic improvements on its predecessor. Most notably is that it runs a bit better. Assassin's Creed II has an unfortunate, persistent stutter, in addition to effects pop-in that really draws back from the experience. Brotherhood still features these issues, but they are much fewer and further between, suggesting a bit of massaging of Ubi's Anvil engine between games. This is in addition to having higher resolution textures and better lighting effects in general. It doesn't feature the abundantly thick atmosphere and filters of AC2, but I chalk that up to taste, anyway.
In addition to the graphical and stability improvements, free running animations are much more expedient, and free running in general is much more polished. I notice myself being frustrated with free running gaffes such as making the jump in a wrong direction, or getting stuck on geometry, far less frequently than I ever did with AC2, which could have me singing curses at it when a free running oddity would ruin an assassination approach. Brotherhood seems to have fixed the majority of that wonkiness.
Combat is also revamped in a huge way here. AC2's combat felt clunky, slow, too sticky, and plagued by a poor camera. Everything is streamlined here to great effect. Proper counters, a bevy of tools at Ezio's disposal, and unbelievably slick animation work leads to the new chain-killing feature being extremely satisfying to execute and really making you feel how much of a master combatant Ezio has come since his youth, running across Florence's rooftops to try and get it in with some rich noble dude's wife.
The focus on just a single city is a huge boon for this series, too. There were far too many viewpoints to hit in AC2, and they dragged the pacing out and felt like busywork. The half-dozen areas in AC2 only added to this—most people fondly remember Florence and Venice, but Romagna and San Gimignano are both forgettable at best and only serve to take the spotlight from the better areas. Brotherhood doesn't suffer from this: Rome is front-and-center, sprawling, and it feels far more realized than either Florence or Venice did in AC2, and lacks none of their incredible atmosphere. I also loved this aspect of Unity and Syndicate, and I do hope Ubisoft considers doing a single-city game again in the future. I really feel it lets them stretch their legs and add an appropriate amount of depth that a major European city like Rome, Paris, or London deserves. I don't think it's a coincidence that these three settings are my favorites in the series! But, I digress. Back to Brotherhood...
While I've never considered the stories to be the main draw in any of the AC games, Brotherhood's is easily the peak of the series. The effortless banter, great dialogue, and some of the voice performances (Nolan North as Desmond and Kristen Bell as Lucy are spectacular whenever they're quipping back-and-forth) really carry a lot of the experience here. It also starts with a bang (literally). Each time I replay this game (on console in the past) I always find it hard to put it down until I get through the beginning, because it's such a satisfying roller coaster ride and an apt love letter to Assassin's Creed II, before it moves on to become its own thing.
Combat is also revamped in a huge way here. AC2's combat felt clunky, slow, too sticky, and plagued by a poor camera. Everything is streamlined here to great effect. Proper counters, a bevy of tools at Ezio's disposal, and unbelievably slick animation work leads to the new chain-killing feature being extremely satisfying to execute and really making you feel how much of a master combatant Ezio has come since his youth, running across Florence's rooftops to try and get it in with some rich noble dude's wife.
The focus on just a single city is a huge boon for this series, too. There were far too many viewpoints to hit in AC2, and they dragged the pacing out and felt like busywork. The half-dozen areas in AC2 only added to this—most people fondly remember Florence and Venice, but Romagna and San Gimignano are both forgettable at best and only serve to take the spotlight from the better areas. Brotherhood doesn't suffer from this: Rome is front-and-center, sprawling, and it feels far more realized than either Florence or Venice did in AC2, and lacks none of their incredible atmosphere. I also loved this aspect of Unity and Syndicate, and I do hope Ubisoft considers doing a single-city game again in the future. I really feel it lets them stretch their legs and add an appropriate amount of depth that a major European city like Rome, Paris, or London deserves. I don't think it's a coincidence that these three settings are my favorites in the series! But, I digress. Back to Brotherhood...
While I've never considered the stories to be the main draw in any of the AC games, Brotherhood's is easily the peak of the series. The effortless banter, great dialogue, and some of the voice performances (Nolan North as Desmond and Kristen Bell as Lucy are spectacular whenever they're quipping back-and-forth) really carry a lot of the experience here. It also starts with a bang (literally). Each time I replay this game (on console in the past) I always find it hard to put it down until I get through the beginning, because it's such a satisfying roller coaster ride and an apt love letter to Assassin's Creed II, before it moves on to become its own thing.
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| Leading your own squad of assassins is easily the most addictive and compelling part of Brotherhood |
I'd also be remiss not to mention my favorite feature in this game—indeed, probably my favorite feature in any Assassin's Creed game! The Assassin bureau management system and all the perks that come with it are insanely addictive (I once played this game for 19 hours straight back in 2010. Don't judge me. I pay my taxes, alright?). It's so freaking cool to put it to use, too. Recruiting assassin apprentices, sending them out on missions and leveling them up, and then seeing them in action in-game when you call them in to take out a few guards or help you out in a fight is just so damned cool. You are basically summoning an Ezio from the first game to swoop in and stealthily dispatch an enemy. It's always so slick and it never gets old. You instantly feel like chief of the bad-asses each time you do it, and it makes you want to continue going back to the bureaus to level them up some more. Having a full set of master assassins on hand in the late-game to help you out at any time by silently dispatching enemies in front of you as you make your way towards your target is just the coolest thing I've ever done in an Assassin's Creed game. And engaging in an all-out street war with you, your assassins, and a dozen guards is just always so cool. Gunshots ringing, clashing steel. Man, it really never does get old. This game's almost 10 years old and it's still so much fun!
If there is something bad to say about Brotherhood, it's probably that the stupid flying machine level, which is truly awful and frustrating garbage—easily the low point of Brotherhood. The thing controls so terribly, it's just unreal that it even made it into the game. Or, a more general flaw, that this game is just too damn easy. With Ezio's new arsenal, his spectacular countering and chain-killing abilities, it's never been easier to simply carve your way through a dozen enemies with ease. Factor in being able to summon your own assassins to pick off enemies, and much of the game becomes trivial to conquer. But that's how I like my open world games, if I'm being honest; beautifully realized, fun to look at and explore, and just a pleasure to exist in. I don't really pick up open world titles for a challenge, I pick them up to veg out, hit map markers, and discover cool stuff. And in that, Brotherhood succeeds in spades.
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| Reuniting with old friends |
I love this game, man! Assassin's Creed Brotherhood kicks ass. It's the best the Assassin's Creed series has ever been. But you've definitely got to play Assassin's Creed II, first, to fully appreciate what Brotherhood does so well. Start there so you can feel the full impact of how excellent Brotherhood was when it first dropped back in 2010.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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