Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood review roundup

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is out tomorrow: you’ve seen our take on it already, but we thought we’d share the opinions of the wider gaming press with you too to help you make your mind up. See what the gamepad junkies made of it here in our Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood review roundup.

Single player

The single player campaign of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is its biggest part – and yet Ubisoft has almost undersold it in the run up to launch, hyping up the all new multiplayer. Don’t get confused: the gripping solo story is the reason to play this game, and almost every reviewer had glowing things to say about the title and its vast Renaissance Rome setting.

IGN lavished praise on the vast number of side missions and tasks: “It’s easy to get sidetracked for hours finding treasure chests, taking on assassination contracts, doing missions for the various guilds or trying to level up your relationship with them, exploring the world or climbing landmarks like the Coliseum” while also highlighting the new synchronisation challenges, which offer reply value by giving you additional goals like completing a task in a time limit, or without taking a hit.

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Kotaku‘s Stephen Totilo too loved the extra bells and whistles, and was surprised to see so many in a game coming out just a year after its predecessor. “As before, there are hundreds of details tucked into personnel files, location descriptions, mission briefings and in secret codes the player can crack, all of which add color to the vast historical conspiracy woven through the series,” he said.

Gamespot was a bit more downcast however, stressing that there was too much deja vu in the gameplay and story. “Brotherhood’s straightforward plot doesn’t have much emotional impact, and because Ezio exhibits little personal growth, there’s the slightest hint of staleness to his escapades”.

Sequel or addon?

Ubisoft has been more than a little vague when it comes to clarifying whether Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is a true sequel or not. As we said in our own review, we’re still not sure, and we weren’t alone. “Is it a standalone instalment in the franchise, or a collection of new gameplay ideas that weren’t realized in time to make it into Assassin’s Creed 2?…After completing the game’s single-player campaign and digging into its multiplayer offerings, I can confidently say that I still have no idea,” wrote Joystiq‘s Griffin McElroy.

Not that it matters for fans of the series. As IGN said, “The gameplay on offer here is solid”. However, if you were hoping for an all new Assassin’s Creed in a whole new setting, you may still be disappointed: “By and large the bulk of the missions are pretty similar in nature to those we’ve already experienced in depth in Assassin’s Creed II. It really feels like treading the same old ground, without great improvements.”

Multiplayer

We found the multiplayer modes in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood proved to be a riot: the stealth required makes it completely different from online Call of Duty or Halo. Across the board, other reviewers enjoyed it too, but all had the same reservation: that it might prove a gimmick in the long run.

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It’s a “potentially fascinating multiplayer component”, said The Guardian‘s Mike Anderiesz. “It will be interesting to see how the dynamics of this play out once the servers fill up, but it’s something that could easily evolve into its own MMO, given time and a few more playing modes.” (An interesting thought – could an Assassin’s Creed online only game work?).

Kotaku also thought it was “too early to judge whether this has staying power, fun as it was leading into release.” In short – buy Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood for the single player, but by all means give the multiplayer a whirl.

Verdict

Reviewers were torn between a score or sentiment in the 8 or 9/10 bracket, to those, like us, who labelled Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood as one of the very best games of the year – and it seemed to be based on whether reviewers tired of the same setting. Gamespot said that “This follow-up tale doesn’t have the same impact of the story that spawned it, but Ezio’s world is a wonder to inhabit, filled with amazing architectural detail and bursting with tons of enjoyable content.

IGN meanwhile was more downcast despite awarding the same score: “the reality is that people who finished that game want something new – or that at least represents a clear step forward. Brotherhood doesn’t deliver that.”

But like us, Kotaku and Joystiq couldn’t get enough. The former posited “Game of the Year? Could be.” And the latter said that “any way you slice it, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is an absolutely exceptional game.” We’d have to agree. Go get!

Assasin’s Creed Brotherhood review scores
The Guardian 4/5
IGN 8/10
Gamespot 8.5/10
Kotaku N/A
Joystiq 9/10

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