I decided that the one thing the world is in desperate need of is another
friggin blog--so here I am. I'll mostly be reviewing video games--hence the
name of the blog--but (since my wallet is generally empty and I can't buy all
the video games I want) every now and then I'll mix it up with movie reviews and book reviews--especially if they pertain to video games. I'm also hoping to get some interviews with the writers/developers. Now that you know what this blog is about, I really hope you'll stick around!
I finished Assassins Creed Brotherhood about a month ago and have had some time to let it sink in. When Assassins Creed 2 came out, I wasn’t thrilled, considering the only thing I had heard about the franchise was AC1 was redundant. The game did look good in the trailer though, so I gave it a shot. It ended up being one of the best games I have ever played. It had a long story filled with plenty of action and surprises to keep me hooked to the very end. I felt like I needed to squeeze every drop out of the game, so I went back and completed all of the extras, such as the trophies, races, chambers, etc… Those parts were almost just as much fun as the storyline. By that point, I was so involved in the game that I was just happy to be playing more AC2.
When I heard AC Brotherhood was coming out, I nearly self-combusted with excitement. I followed it down to the release date, checking the website sometimes more the once a day. When the big day finally arrived, I brought my copy home and started playing the second I got in the door. The first thing I noticed was the similarities between AC Brotherhood and its predecessor.
The game picks up the second after AC2 ended. While I still loved the character of Ezio, it felt like it was an expansion pack of Assassins Creed 2, rather than its own game. Now I’m not complaining, any fan of Assassins Creed 2 will be a fan of this game. It has plenty of extra game play, a fresh story line and many more conspiracies. However, it also had its faults. When they tried bringing back the feather hunt, in the form of Borgia flags, it fell flat. There were over 100 flags, so it was nearly impossible to collect them all. They also made the fighting system even easier then Assassins Creed 2 (which I didn’t think was necessary) by adding kill streaks and allowing you to mow down ten to twenty enemies at a time.
On the other hand, the tailing missions, along with the missions where you couldn’t get detected, were amazing. They made my heart go three hundred miles an hour. I took guards out secretly from the shadows and tailed my target until I finally got to thrust my hidden blade into his back and have a deep conversation with him in a completely white world, while holding him in my arms. Awesome.
In the trailer, they really focused on the brotherhood of assassins, so I thought that would be one of the best parts. While I loved the feeling of setting my assassins loose on a group of guards, it made the game much less challenging. With smoke bombs, cross bows, poison and a friggin army of assassins, the game should have been called Assassins Ease.
There is also a whole different layer to the game with Desmond's story. When you're not being bad-ass Ezio, you're playing the role of Desmond Miles (Ezio's future great, great grandson or something). Desmond's story comes off too animated though, with the same phrases used repeatedly--like, everytime he uses the pulley system he says, "up we go!" It got really annoying after awhile. Frankly, none of the characters drew me in during Desmond's story. Ezio and Claudia always had my full attention, but with Desmond I wandered a bit. I would have enjoyed that part if they had developed his story more and given him more realistic dialogue.
The online gaming had excellent action, fast-paced gaming, and an array of excellent killing styles. However, it got frustrating, as you often got spawned right next to your enemies. I also didn’t like that online version wouldn’t always allow me to stun my pursuers, even though i caught them off guard .
All in all, I give this game a 7.5 for great graphics and over twenty-five hours of game play. I’ll definitely purchase AC4. That being said, I really hope that AC4 includes a difficulty setting, for those of us who don’t like to breeze through a game with little challenge.
What about you? What did you like/dislike about it? Do you have any other games that you would recommend or would like me to review? Let me know...thanks. (Now I'm going to disappear back into the shadows, Ezio style...)
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