From my video game review blog: http://buckeye829videogamereviews.blogspot.com/2011/06/assassins-creed-brotherhood-ps3.html

Ezio Auditore di Firenze is back for his second adventure, and the third Assassin's Creed game from Ubisoft. While his mission was complete in his mind at the end of Assassin's Creed II, a few of his confidantes didn't think so. The additon of a few new Borgia members, most notably Cesare, become the main villians. I actually purchased this game first, before the first two games in the series, but waited a few months to try out the single player as I had never played an Assassin's Creed game before. It always seemed so daunting and seemed like there were too many actions to perform and not enough buttons and the game too vast. Once I got the hang of the multiplayer, I gave the single player a try.

After debating a while, even though I had heard you didn't need to play the previous iterations, I purchased and completed the first two games, aptly titled: Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed II. I'm really glad I did, as it added more to the whole experience of Brotherhood through some inside jokes and older characters returning. I would recommend at least playing ACII, before Brotherhood.

I was a big Altair fan from the beginning, so I was a bit disappointed when Ezio was introduced. In fact, even after completing Assassin's Creed II (platinum trophy!) he still hadn't won me over. So when I popped in my Brotherhood disc, I was expecting to be a little disappointed. Needless to say, Ezio really won me over with this game (the Assasssin's Creed: Revelations E3 trailer helped a bit too).

Gameplay
After being dropped in a battle scene where you need to just press buttons, Brotherhood opens with you replaying the final moments from Assassin's Creed II, in which Ezio must escape with his Uncle Mario. The game quickly returns to Monteriggioni, which had changed a bit, however, with a few simple memories to make sure you still remember how to control Ezio, the main game begins. The quaint town is quickly under attack, so Ezio and friends need to escape.

After a brief interlude with Desmond, Lucy and the 2012 crew, the game, then turns its sights to Rome. After AC II, with all of the different towns to visit, I was a bit surprised to see Brotherhood only featuring one city. This is definitely the Liberty City version of Rome, which seems absolutely huge (makes Florence seem like Forli). Within Rome, however, there are nicer parts, poorer parts, and even countryside settings, which reminded me of the original Assassin's Creed game, with the variations.

The missions are what you'd expect, however I loved the variety in Brotherhood. It wasn't all about the killing. Two words sum up why this game is the best in the series: Full Synchronization. Someone not as enamored with the AC series could still enjoy this game, but potential "couch assassin's" get so much more out of it. Each mission could be completed how the user preferred and still progress through the story, but those who take their games seriously could opt to carry out the mission the way Ezio would, and achieve Memory Full Synchronization. This could mean do the mission in a certain time limit, use a particular weapon, don't be detected, don't use the roof, don't kill anyone, etc. The first time I only achieved 50% synchronization on a memory sequence, I immediately paused and restarted the mission, sometimes multiple times (you know who you are "Hell on Wheels").

This game is loaded with optional side missions, as well. There are still the Tomb Raideresque missions (this time called Follower's of Romulus Lairs - which are worth it for the bonus after they are all completed), the search for Subject 16's video, feathers to collect (only 10 this time), Borgia flags (101, but you can purchase maps), the usual contracts (Assassination, Courtesan, Thieves), Guild Challenges (Assassination, Courtesan, Thieves), and the capturing of Borgia Towers under command from a Borgia leader (Some fight, others run and hide, leaving you to wait until a guard shift change to challenge them again) . The addition of the crossbow, throwing multiple knives at a time, Leonardo missions (where you try out some of his inventions - Renaissance tanks!), and horseback riding as it should be, make things even more interesting and enjoyable.

But, what would the game be without a Brotherhood of assassins? For every Borgia Tower toppled, you can recruit one assassin (male or female, even). These can then be trained (by being sent on missions in other places) and upgraded with better armor and weapons until they reach the ultimate ranking of assassin. When the assassins are needed, they can be called upon to help you battle forces or dispose of foes without you being spotted or bothered. They also have a power called arrow storm, which releases a flurry of arrows out of nowhere into multiple targets in your vicinity. While the training of recruits was quite basic, as you had to pick proper missions to send them, resulting in experience points and subsequent leveling up, they certainly come in handy.

The story progresses nicely, with even a few surprises thrown in. Ezio is one determined dude, but you do get to see a softer side of him as he matures, especially when it's not all about the assassinations. Where it does seem to lag, is unfortunately in the 2012 sections. The interactions between Desmond and Lucy seemed forced, while Shaun is even more irritating than before. Plus, guiding Desmond around, seems to lack much of the fluidity that Ezio posesses. At least those sections are few and far between. Yes, I did achieve 100% Synchronization in all missions, including every side mission, and often liked just roaming around finding treasures, flags, etc, so that my 55 hours invested in the game, really felt like around half of that.

The fact that this game finally has multiplayer, has to be mentioned. The fact that it is actually very good definitely deserves higher praise. Multiplayer in Brotherhood is a totally different experience than I'm used to. There are a variety of modes, some where you're on your own (Wanted), and some where you're part of a small team (Alliance, Manhunt). Anyone looking for a run and stab kind of game should look elsewhere. The mulitplayer modes do a great job of mirroring the single player experience, but kicked up a few notches. It's all about blending in and sneaking around. In Wanted, you're searching for your target, but are also being targeted by one or more of your opponents. The more obscure your kill, the more points you'll get. This is a game where you need to sit up and concentrate!

In Manhunt, for example, for one round, you and your teammates are the hunters, but in the next round become the hunted. Any mode I've played definitely gets the blood pumping. It does have to be noted that actually getting into a multiplayer game can be tortuous. Sometimes it connects with the correct amount of users and the game starts right up, but more often than not, you are waiting 15-20 minutes before you get a full group of 6 or 8. Extremely frustrating, to say the least. It's tough going at the beginning being lower leveled, but once you get to level 29 (poison is now an option), I would think things pick up (I'm currently at level 25).

Graphics
The cities are quite detailed, but often a little repetitive. If you don't mind that kind of thing (I didn't), you'll be fine. I did like the differences in regions, from the buildings, to the clothes the people wore. There is, however, quite a bit of pop-up when on a horse. I didn't notice it so much at the beginning of the game, but later on when I was trying to avoid certain groups of troops, all of a sudden a guy would pop in on top of a building's roof. I'm not really a huge graphics person and I was so immersed in the story, that it wasn't a game killer.

Sound
The city is vibrant with sound, ranging from people getting annoyed that you ran into them, to those mystified by your agile grace, and the return engagement of those annoying minstrels (which I just tackled this time around). Also, the score does pick up, especially in tense moments, with the correct mood music.

Replay Value
There is A TON to do in this game, especially if you'd like FULL SYNCHRONIZATION on all missions, and the additional sidequests. I'd say a quick run through might take around 15 hours, and going for everything around 30-40 hours (or my 55 hours). Quite a lot, I think. Ubisoft could have just put out a filler game for half of that. The multiplayer adds infinite replay, in my opinion. That is when you get connected.

RATING:
9

As enjoyable a game as I've come across, although I am an AC fanboy. Definitely the best in the series to date.

I'm new to the Assassin's Creed genre, so I was looking forward to playing this game so I could see what the series was all about.

I usually stick to games like Castlevania, Infamous, God of War, Batman, etc. I enjoyed those games because they were very unrealistic with fighting monsters and possessing crazy super powers and weaponry. I wanted to try a game that was more realistic, hence the purchase of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. It was quite a change of pace not having to slay monsters and riding a horse through the streets of Rome. I really enjoyed the combat in this game, (wish it was more of it) there's nothing like splitting a guard's skull with the bearded axe lol. I have to admit, It took me awhile to get used to having to physically find a Blacksmith shop to purchase upgrades (I'm accustomed to just pressing the start button and getting them). But once I upgraded, I really loved using those weapons! I enjoyed the scenery of Rome, tons of stuff to do and get into, maybe too much at times....

There are a few reasons as to why I deducted a couple of stars. Now, this could be due to the fact that I have not played the first two installments, but this game was a bit overwhelming at times. I would be in the middle of a fight, and all of the sudden, a red icon is streaking across my map, I'm like who the heck is this??? I later found out it was a thief, how was I to know that? Or, I could be riding my horse trying to escape guards and all of the sudden a message pops on the screen saying that a deposit failed in the bank. And? Why would I care, I'm trying to escape. It was just a ton of little things like that going on throughout the entire game, just not used to that in an action game. Without all the mindless platforming, (especially as Desmond), this game would have been 8 hours long. It seems that they threw silly things in just to make the game seem "longer". I'm not a fan of the kind of puzzles AC used. The puzzles consisted of: here is a building, now figure out how to climb to the top. That would have been ok if the control scheme was better laid out. I can't count how many times I tried to climb, but ended up doing a wall jump in the other direction....I really wish there was more fighting in this game as opposed to all of the platforming and roaming around Rome (no pun intended). The Desmond stuff alone caused to me to deduct another star. I would have given this game 4 stars if I did not have to endure the Desmond nonsense at the end. All of the endless climbing and jumping really got on my nerves, not needed. I often asked myself, what the heck and I suppose to do now? Where the heck am I suppose to go, no map telling me anything while playing as Desmond. The only thing I'll say about the ending is that Desmond is such a tool...

I would have had a blast with this game if there was more fighting and less platforming. For me, it's never good if I'm ready for a game to be over. I don't know if I'll get the next installment of this game, I'll just have to wait and see.

It's the most amazing thing to walk on the old Rome, see people, on a astonishing graphic engine. It pracally takes you inside that time. While PSN went down, I took this game from my shelf, still unnopened, and spent more than 20 days to finish this game, mostly enjoying the tour on the city and outsides and doing the missions slowly. I'll never forget this experience in my life, I swear. The character moves really as an "spider man", amazing parkour, excelent control response, fluidly such as games as Uncharted 2, but more rapid and precise. Each mission is a new trill, different proposals, even you get to use Leonardos Davinci machines !!! THIS SOLE is worth the game, as flying (altough it's a small map!!), using a tank, and many other adventures.

about Scriptline...:
Also it gives a historical parade about the Borgia family, wich I truly recommed seeing or buying the TV series 'The Borgias', who will give you depper historical insight of what the game brought. The characters depicted are Leonardo DaVinci, the Borgia family (Alexander, Cezare, Lucretia, etc etc.), Nicolo Maquiaveli, and many others. Aso the storyline is amazing, as it does a parallel with the historical reality of that time in Rome, with those Borgia on power, as the relation with the French. Althought there is a debate even in academic historical circle of themes as the Borgia being incestous, there's no doubt that in all this centuries, nowadays the picture of government and high hierarquical religious leaders, matters as corruption, prostitution, and lust for power, has ever been from century to century the same as is shown this game. Also, namely the 'clusters', a set of puzzles makes an account of real hstorical government and people abuses, all related in the game, fictionally, to the "Abstergo Corporation".

THUMBS UP !!!

Having played the whole series this game has polished an already fine game to a fine luster. I just got this last week because I have so many other games to play and I had not finished AC2. I have been playing this several hours per day and can see some amazingly good additions to the game. I will be speaking to the improvements I see as there are already some fine reviews giving a whole overview. If you have not played AC1 and AC2 then this might not be as helpful to you. If so, read on.

Combat: Overview
Right off the combat system is greatly improved. In the past the taunt was about useless. Now it really does bother the foe enough to get a grab at their weapon or throw them off guard. The kick is easy to pull off and it gets them to drop their guard a bit. How many times have you fought an enemy in AC2 and would just pound and pound on their sword and hope one hit would get passed their defenses. In AC:B there are countless ways to get passed that wall and get a good shot in.

Combat: Streaks
I love the new streaks. As long as you can be quick enough you sometimes pull off multiple kills effortlessly. There is even achievements for kill streaks in the virtual training room.

Horses:
Now you can ride and fight from a horse. They also allow horses into the city. That always bugged me in AC1&2 the fact you had to dismount at the gate.

Jumping and Climbing:
It seems the climbing has been improved. It is still sometimes more difficult to climb areas that really are climbable but you didn't line up right. Jumping from ledge to ledge has been tweaked. It is now easier to make serial jumps.

Outfits:
I like the new armor. I wont go into a full spoiler but basically you start out with nothing again in the beginning.

Online:
Very fun to play online against other players. I am not very good 1v1 on these games so I did not enjoy it as much as others would, not the games fault, I just got roflstomped too often.

Overall:
This game is a perfect addition to the series. It takes what was good and improves it. If you have played the first 2 then you owe it to yourself to continue the journey.

Thank you for reading my review.

I don't understand why people are complaining about this game. I have been a fan of this series from the beginning, and I see no problem with this installment. Although Assassins Creed 2 may have been a better game overall, this game is very close in all aspects. The game graphics are better, the cutscene graphics are much better. The story stays pretty close to the second, but what do you expect? There was a big difference in the storyline between the first two installments because they were completely different people. AC 2 and Brotherhood both revolve around the journey of Ezio, it can't change that much. I thought the kill streaks were a great improvement, and the characters have developed a lot. I am not a large fan of the multiplayer aspect, but it is still very fun. I also thought that the installation of the recruits was very cool.

My only complaint would be that the greatest improvement in my mind between AC and AC 2 was the emotion. Altair was very blank and showed no emotion at all. Ezio was full of emotion in the second installment, and that added to the relatibility of the game. It allowed the player to become more immersed in the game. In Brotherhood, Ezio has also began to become more distant. He is no longer chasing after girls or celebrating with family, he has become more like Altair. The flashbacks help to counter this but not entirely.

All in all a great game. If you are a fan of the Assassins Creed series or just looking for a fun experience, this is a great buy.