Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
I was somewhat disappointed after finishing AC II how little the city of Rome was included in the game. The bulk of the game took place in the maps of Florence and Venice and did not include Rome until a final mission sequence on the rooftops of Vatican City. However after I found out that AC Brotherhood was entirely set in the city of Rome I was very excited to start this next chapter in the Ezio Trilogy. I was able to beat the main story in a week and took on other side quests and objectives for another week. I finished about 80% of the game's content and after 2 weeks can say I found it very enjoyable on par with the AC franchise.
What I loved most about the game is the ability to explore the city of Rome set in 1500. All the historical landmarks are in the map including the Colosseum, the Castel S'Angelo, and the old Pantheon to name a few. The story is also quite intriguing bringing the Borgia's back once again as the primary antagonists. For some reason the assassin Ezio chose to leave Pope Alexander VI alive at the end of AC II, and he returns in this game with the help of his cruel son Cesare Borgia. It's fair to say in this game Cesare is the main antagonist while his father takes the backseat in the story.
Another thing I really enjoyed about this game was the business aspect of it. This game basically expanded on the concept of renovating the villa of Monteriggioni in AC II, and gives Ezio the ability to renovate shops in Rome that are under the influence of the Borgias. From blacksmiths, doctors, banks, art merchants, to fabric stores each business Ezio renovates adds to his wealth income. He can also buy back historic landmarks, repair ancient aqueducts, and establish guilds of courtesans, mercenaries, and theives. The main concept here is to take the city of Rome back from the Borgia control and return it to it's citizens.
The gameplay was fairly similar to it's predecessor with the same style of assassinations, counter-attacks, and controls. One nice addition to Ezio's arsenal however was the crossbow, which brought an easy instant death to enemies. Also I found there to be many more soldiers/guards in this game compared to AC II. I believe that is because of the new feature of which Ezio can recruit and call upon other assassin's to help him. This was another part of the game I really enjoyed from recruiting assassins, sending them on missions across Europe, and upgrading their levels. This is where the game get's its title "Brotherhood".
The viewpoints in this game were also quite unique, and nowhere near as easy as in other games. Most of the viewpoints were under the control of Borgia fortifications, by which in order to climb the tower you had to kill it's captain. These Borgia Towers were a big part of the game, that unlocked regions of the map, allowed you to buy back stores, and allowed you to recruit new assassins. Some were easy while others were quite difficult to assassinate a heavily guarded captain, and furthermore the climbing of the towers was more difficult than before. Especially when soldiers are throwing rocks and shooting arrows at you.
Just like in AC II there was a tomb objective to explore 6 underground tombs and retrieve the armor of Brutus. These tombs were known as the Lairs of Romulus, occupied by cultist followers who were allied with the Borgias. Just like exploring the tombs of AC II, they were usually located at an underground historical location or up high in the rafters of a church. And just like in AC II they were all quite challenging puzzles, mixing some reactionary skills with problem solving skills. I found some of these to be a little frustrating however was a nice change of the open-map gameplay.
Other side quests and objectives in this game include helping Ezio's friend Leonardo da Vinci find and destroy military weapons that he has built. And also a restored memory by which he must recover stolen paintings of da Vinci. There is also a side story regarding the scientist Copernicus whom Ezio must help from being hunted by the church for his revolutionary ideals. Finally there is a brief story of Ezio's love affair with Cristina that offers flashbacks to his life in Florence. These quests all offer a good change of pace and scenery from the main storyline.
My first impression of the game was that it is was flawed and far more difficult than AC II. However I quickly got the hang of it and was suddenly enthralled by the ability to explore the map of Rome. I just loved the quests involving the Castel S'Angelo and consider this to be a very impressive landmark. However the quests exploring the Colosseum while impressive were also quite frustrating. Nonetheless I still was awe-inspired by the detail inside and outside of the landmark.
I was very surprised with the amount of content in this game, thinking it was going to be merely an extension of AC II. This game is a game in it's own right with a map much larger than AC II's Florence and Venice. I was very satisfied with it overall and look forward to begin the final chapter of the Ezio Trilogy, Revelations. This next game finally moves away from Italy and is set in the capital city of the Ottoman Empire, Constantinople.
I was somewhat disappointed after finishing AC II how little the city of Rome was included in the game. The bulk of the game took place in the maps of Florence and Venice and did not include Rome until a final mission sequence on the rooftops of Vatican City. However after I found out that AC Brotherhood was entirely set in the city of Rome I was very excited to start this next chapter in the Ezio Trilogy. I was able to beat the main story in a week and took on other side quests and objectives for another week. I finished about 80% of the game's content and after 2 weeks can say I found it very enjoyable on par with the AC franchise.What I loved most about the game is the ability to explore the city of Rome set in 1500. All the historical landmarks are in the map including the Colosseum, the Castel S'Angelo, and the old Pantheon to name a few. The story is also quite intriguing bringing the Borgia's back once again as the primary antagonists. For some reason the assassin Ezio chose to leave Pope Alexander VI alive at the end of AC II, and he returns in this game with the help of his cruel son Cesare Borgia. It's fair to say in this game Cesare is the main antagonist while his father takes the backseat in the story.
Another thing I really enjoyed about this game was the business aspect of it. This game basically expanded on the concept of renovating the villa of Monteriggioni in AC II, and gives Ezio the ability to renovate shops in Rome that are under the influence of the Borgias. From blacksmiths, doctors, banks, art merchants, to fabric stores each business Ezio renovates adds to his wealth income. He can also buy back historic landmarks, repair ancient aqueducts, and establish guilds of courtesans, mercenaries, and theives. The main concept here is to take the city of Rome back from the Borgia control and return it to it's citizens.
The gameplay was fairly similar to it's predecessor with the same style of assassinations, counter-attacks, and controls. One nice addition to Ezio's arsenal however was the crossbow, which brought an easy instant death to enemies. Also I found there to be many more soldiers/guards in this game compared to AC II. I believe that is because of the new feature of which Ezio can recruit and call upon other assassin's to help him. This was another part of the game I really enjoyed from recruiting assassins, sending them on missions across Europe, and upgrading their levels. This is where the game get's its title "Brotherhood".The viewpoints in this game were also quite unique, and nowhere near as easy as in other games. Most of the viewpoints were under the control of Borgia fortifications, by which in order to climb the tower you had to kill it's captain. These Borgia Towers were a big part of the game, that unlocked regions of the map, allowed you to buy back stores, and allowed you to recruit new assassins. Some were easy while others were quite difficult to assassinate a heavily guarded captain, and furthermore the climbing of the towers was more difficult than before. Especially when soldiers are throwing rocks and shooting arrows at you.
Other side quests and objectives in this game include helping Ezio's friend Leonardo da Vinci find and destroy military weapons that he has built. And also a restored memory by which he must recover stolen paintings of da Vinci. There is also a side story regarding the scientist Copernicus whom Ezio must help from being hunted by the church for his revolutionary ideals. Finally there is a brief story of Ezio's love affair with Cristina that offers flashbacks to his life in Florence. These quests all offer a good change of pace and scenery from the main storyline.
My first impression of the game was that it is was flawed and far more difficult than AC II. However I quickly got the hang of it and was suddenly enthralled by the ability to explore the map of Rome. I just loved the quests involving the Castel S'Angelo and consider this to be a very impressive landmark. However the quests exploring the Colosseum while impressive were also quite frustrating. Nonetheless I still was awe-inspired by the detail inside and outside of the landmark.I was very surprised with the amount of content in this game, thinking it was going to be merely an extension of AC II. This game is a game in it's own right with a map much larger than AC II's Florence and Venice. I was very satisfied with it overall and look forward to begin the final chapter of the Ezio Trilogy, Revelations. This next game finally moves away from Italy and is set in the capital city of the Ottoman Empire, Constantinople.
No comments:
Post a Comment