10.) The Setting
The city of Rome is bigger and better than the previous Assassin’s Creed games and you have more free reign than ever.
15th century Rome is yours to explore.
AC:B is one of those games where it’s fun to just wander around, whether on horseback or jumping from rooftop to rooftop, and see what you can do.
Speaking of what you can do in Rome, you can not only burn down Borgia towers but you can opt to rebuild shops which earns you income and can get you help like new weapons and health.
You can also go around the city doing side missions as with the other Assassin’s Creed games, and try to blend in with the citizens by surrounding yourself with a group of them.
9.) Single and multiplayer options
A little bit of single player action.
Check out Flik’s Gaming Stuff take out his targets in multiplayer mode.
While you may have been led to believe the multiplayer option was going to be the centerpiece of this game, there’s actually a lot of gameplay you can do solo.
The multiplayer is, however, an incredibly fun option with the ability to gain experience points and abilities, like in Call of Duty.
Don’t mess with the women!
Basically, you get set up with 8 other players in a crowd of regular citizens and you have to assassinate the targets. Who doesn’t get excited by stealth assassination missions?
8.) Fixed combat controls
Let the games begin...
Did you feel like combat with multiple attackers got rather tedious in previous Assassin’s Creed games when you had to hold the block button and wait to counter-kill? Ubisoft noticed too
They fixed the problem rather well and you can now transition from one counter-kill into a succession of kills with the push of a button.
You got a little something on your face...
So while killing an army attacking you is now easier it’s only slightly so. You can still lose but don’t worry, with a few hours of experience under your belt you can take down whole armies.
Plus now you can dual-wield weapons, which is always a fun leg-up in combat.
7.) Graphics and soundscapes
Turn it up and take a look.
With so much more land being added to the game you would think Ubisoft would be a little lax in the graphics department but you would be wrong.
AC:B definitely delivers a stunning Renaissance Rome; the graphics are spectacular and make you feel like you’re really there.
Rome is bigger and better than ever.
Along with the improved graphics, the sounds and music have been improved. You can hear ambient sounds like birds, carts, and townspeople going about 15th century life which really adds to the experience.
6.) Playing as Desmond and Ezio
Youtuber Viperxify plays as Desmond in Ezio’s time.
Desmond, in modern day Monterigionni, is attempting to find the Apple of Eden by going back into his ancestor Ezio’s memories using the Animus.
Play as Desmond and enter Monteriggioni.
By going back and reliving Ezio’s memories you can discover what happened to the Apple, and where it was hidden so that you can use it to stop a foretold disastor in Desmond’s time.
Jumping back and forth between times and characters makes the story more interesting and really gives you something to look forward to and try to figure out while playing.
5.) Side missions
Take a look at the Loose Cannon side quest walkthrough.
The extra quests and missions you can complete offer a great way to lengthen gameplay. They also offer you a way to hone your skills.
These also offer a little bit of different gameplay. So you may be have to figure out a way to get through an entrance, or finding a way to steal a letter without being found out, or even using one of Davinci’s crafty machines.
We’re taking things to another level now.
Desmond going into the Animus.
While doing all of these new, fun actions you’re also going around doing plain old assassinations and beating guys up. You can perfect your parkour skills as well while going through some of the missions.
4.) Parkour
Hardcore parkour.
Need I say more? You may not be able to do it in real life but in Assassin’s Creed you can leap rooftops, jump off buildings, scale towers, and run through the crowded city with ease.
He can leap tall buildings in a single bound.
You can also, of course, still jump from buildings onto your faithful steed, kill someone, and ride off into the sunset.
While climbing towers to survey your surroundings may seem too much like previous games, you may now have to fight off guards at those towers with special abilities. Once you defeat the guards you can burn down the tower and start building the town back up.
3.) Historical accuracy
You can probably see why no one likes the Borgias now.
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood offers a look into what it was really like in Renaissance Rome http://assassinscreed.wikia.com/wiki/Renaissance which is pretty cool if you’re a history/political buff.
While several characters appear from history, it’s refreshing to see them doing things that would have actually happened. For example, Machiavelli appears discussing philosophy with Ezio and the Borgias capture the Duke of Milan’s daughter and take advantage of Rome; all of which are accurate.
Cesare Borgia and his father up to no good as usual.
You can also clearly see how much influence the Borgia and the Papacy had over Rome in the game, which was pretty much par for the course during the Renaissance.
Isn’t history remarkable?
2.) It continues Assassin's Creed 2's storyline
The Templar’s and the Assassin’s war continues in Brotherhood.
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood continues Assassin’s Creed 2’s storyline with Ezio trying to get revenge against the son of the Pope, and with the continuing war between the Assassin’s Guild and the Templars - which you also see in Desmond’s time.
Those pesky Templars.
In AC 2 you saw Ezio grow into the assassin he was meant to be, and with Brotherhood you get to make him a better assassin and regrow the guild.
Brotherhood also continues Desmond’s story where it left off in AC 2; Desmond and his friends have escaped the Templar attack and are off to try and find the Apple.
Desmond and company going after the Apple.
With such a large story arc it’s definitely not difficult for you to get engrossed in the storyline and spend hours trying to figure out what’s next.
1.) You train the new Brotherhood
Ezio recruits some fresh blood.
Rebuilding the Brotherhood is probably your greatest task in this game so choose wisely; no pressure!
The family that slays together stays together!
When you save people in AC:B who are being harassed by the Borgia you have the ability to recruit them for your cause and make them apprentices. In order for them to gain experience you can send them on missions to take out targets in Europe and Asia; this also allows them to get better weapons.
You can also bring your apprentices along with you and use them as backup on your major missions; how handy is that? Once your apprentices have gained enough experience they can become initiated into the Order and become full-fledged assassins like you.
This is easily the best part about AC:B as you can basically create your own army; you can even set them up to do an arrow storm for crying out loud! That’s what I’d call epic.
These reasons and more make Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood easily one of the best of the Assassin’s Creed games and one you should already be playing.
Don’t you agree? If you don’t you know what to do: throw on a comment and convince me!
If you like this article, there are some others you may enjoy here, here, and here.
