Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Review for the Xbox 360 and PS3

     Assassin's Creed 2 (AC2) saved the series for me. It updated the game in just the right way so that everything worked mostly the way it was supposed to the first time around. The story was also very character-driven and delivered several hours worth of varying gameplay. But then, it was given plenty of time to change for the better.
     What's going on with the series now is that Ubisoft wants their AC team to produce a game every year. Most games take several years to make from scratch with some series being able to pump out a sequel in about 2 years using the same, updated engine. But what you get with those sequels are improvements for the series, worthy additions that create new, staple mechanics or features for that game. With that in mind, when Ubisoft touted releasing this game only a year after AC2 and all they wanted to talk about was the new multiplayer mode, I was completely put off and I never picked it up. My thoughts were that AC shouldn't be about multiplayer and I didn't believe Ubisoft was a capable enough developer to pull off a complete, hazard-free game in one year.
     Now, Revelations is on it's way out and I've heard very mixed things from longtime fans of the series saying that Brotherhood was either very decent or a letdown so I thought it would be time to play the game for myself and draw my own conclusions. Allow me to shed some light on the release. Also, in this review I'm going to assume you've played the previous Assassin's Creed games or at least know a fair bit about them. This sequel isn't exactly a departure from what the series has been doing thus far.

Assassin's Creed for Parents

For The Parents

     The ESRB is lacking a description entailing specifics of what occurs in Assassin's Creed but let's see if I can help sort out what they refer to.

Assassin's Creed is Rated M for Mature, ages +17 for Blood, Strong Language, and Violence.

     Blood is in this game but there is an option to tone down the blood and it actually makes the game a bit more appropriate. If the blood is turned on, there'll be a sort of red mist that appears when you wound an enemy. Violence kind of goes hand in hand with blood since there is no blood without violence, right? There are depictions of violence that I'm not sure I'd ever let my kids see unless I thought they were mature enough for it. There are instances, just to name a few, where throats are slashed, torsos are stabbed multiple times, heads are jammed with blades, and much more. And as for strong language, it's just standard fare. You got your fucks, shits, and damns. Here's a clip that gives a pretty good idea of what to expect when it comes to the violence that occurs in the game:

Assassin's Creed for Xbox 360, PS3

     I remember when Assassin's Creed came out. I was really excited to play it since it was done by the same team who worked on Prince Of Persia. I pictured it to be this really slick looking game with the great gameplay Prince delivers in all of his games. I was so wrong. You held two buttons down, pushed forward and there he went, climbing, jumping, doing everything for you. Then there were the guards who would hunt you down for going faster than an old man on a dialysis machine and the fact that you could block indefinitely in battle and just counter any attacks coming your way. Not only were you essentially immortal, Altair would do everything for you. If the game just essentially plays itself, why sit through it?
     I sat through it for a couple reasons. I wanted to play Assassin's Creed 2 so I figured I should know the story since this game series is supposed to play out in a trilogy and I wanted something monotonous to do while I listened to music. Life has been a bit stressful for me and nothing heals me more than a romp through a game while I blast my music as loud as I can. AC delivered on what I needed from it and then it gave back a bit more. Because I didn't truly expect something specific from it, I couldn't be disappointed by it. Take note that this is the third time I've tried to go through this experience and it's the first time I didn't hate it's guts. The first assassinations were a tad on the boring side; This is a bad guy, kill him, I killed him, now kill this guy. There wasn't too much motivation to go do these killings and it didn't help that Altair came off as such a conceited A-hole. And look, I normally like those kind of characters but this is the first time I hated one because of it. Then the game starts rolling with the plot.
     Mysteries occur that are left for you to decipher, the assassinations gain greater meaning, Altair changes into a humble person and then the obligatory plot twist occurs. While the story is on the predictable side, I always wanted to get to the next assassination to progress the story and learn more about this world. Why do I feel like I'm talking about No More Heroes? Anyway, In the end, I felt rather rewarded for all the work I did and I'm anticipating the second in the series just that much more.

Is It Fun?

     It depends. If you want something structured and the feeling that the game is really doing it's best to convince you that it's worth it to play it to the end, this is not that game. Assassin's Creed is one of those games where it doesn't seem to care much about you. It is what it is and it knows what it has to offer, and if you don't like it, then it doesn't care if you play. You get back what you put into it. It never tells you to toss fifteen guards off of a three story building or to assassinate every annoying little beggar that comes your way. You do it because it entertains you and you thought about how the game would be more fun for you. I could block and parry all day during a battle or I could make it interesting and actually go on the offensive just to see if I can, even when there's no incentive to.
     It should also be noted that the climbing, jumping and scaling in the game was a great idea but it needed A LOT more work. I can't count the number of times where I'd reach the top of the roof or needed to scale to the next object and Altair would just sit there as if he had instantly become an invalid. It's not like he couldn't do what I wanted him to, because he certainly was capable of the task. He just wouldn't do it. And that happened through the whole game.

Do I Get My Money's Worth?

     The game is a one-shot kind of experience. Once you beat it, it's likely you won't touch it again unless it's to refresh yourself with the story. Should you decide to do everything in the game (collect flags, kill templars), it could last you a bit. It took me 4-5 straight days to beat it entirely. I'd say Assassin's Creed is worth $10-$15 but I don't know if I could justify a higher price than that.