WeView Verdict: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

It seems there’s quite a few of you who enjoy stabbing people in Renaissance Italy. There wasn’t a single review this week that rated the game below Rent It. Of course, that’s getting ahead of ourselves a little bit. As is our tradition now, let’s get things off to a start with some of your opinions of the game.

As some of you may have noticed, I wasn’t the one who started last week’s thread in the forums, sadly it seems I’m an idiot. Instead, the very kind kjkg went and got things off to a start for me. However, whilst they were on the ball when it comes to posting in the forums, kjkg just couldn’t get a grip on the game they were posting about.

AC: Brotherhood was a strange title for me. The story is so moreish yet I usually don’t want to continue it for the sake of making it last. The game is great but at the same time, horribly repetitive. It caused/causes me mass confusion as I just don’t know what to think about it.

I’d disagree that the game is that repetitive, there’s just so much to do on the map that I always found myself doing something new in between finishing off the storyline missions. Of course, I suppose that depends on your playing style and I can see how it could get repetitive if you didn’t make the choice to vary things for yourself.

Whilst I may not agree entirely with kjkg I think I’ve found a kindred spirit in XisTG. I’m not quite in agreement with their opinions on the story, but when it comes exploration… well you’ll see.

Sure, killing is fun and the story is not uninteresting, but believe me, it’s the exploring that will give you the most satisfaction. You may even find yourself, wherever you live, looking at a balcony while you smoke a cigarette and thinking “I could climb from there to the roof”. But don’t.

That is pretty much exactly what happens to me after a few hours with Assassin’s Creed. I often find myself looking at rooftops longingly, or keeping an eye out for a convenient stack of boxes. So far, I’ve managed to resist the temptation though.

The big change for me from the second game in the series into Brotherhood was the addition of the Brotherhood itself, they’re just so much fun to play with. Again it seems I’m not alone in my opinion on this, MrSpeedyGonzales chipped in on exactly that issue.

The newest addition to the singleplayer is the Assassins Brotherhood. It’s a great new addition and one I was very sceptical about. However, by the end of the game I wanted more. I wanted the assassins to be more useful, because of how much fun the new combat system is I never actually used the assassins much. I also would like to see the missions that the assassins go on to be more related to the plot of the game.

Finally, I think we’ve been a bit too positive this week. No game is perfect, and luckily Baxteros popped in to bring to light some of the game’s flaws.

As the series evolves there seems to be less and less need for stealth, admittedly a few missions require it or they’re an instant fail if detected but it seems you go about your Assassin’s business quite blazenly – those robes adorned with knives and a crossbow on Ezio’s back would fool no one, he’s clearly Assassino. It now seems easier than ever to evade the enemies whilst being chased, as you usually just keep running with no real need to find a hiding spot as you had to in the first AC.

So with your opinions nicely covered let’s take a look at the verdict. Twelve of you shared your opinions with us this week, although as I said there wasn’t a single Avoid It this week. However, you seemed unable to reach an overall verdict with six of you giving the game a rating of Rent It and six giving it a Buy It.

Before you vanish, remember we’ve got a new WeView game tomorrow. If there’s anything you’d particularly like to see us cover then leave a comment letting us know.