Intrigues in the shadow of the Colosseum

Version tested: PlayStation 3

This review necessarily contains some spoilers, be lenient with the offenses in the comments (at most a couple each) because it is impossible not to talk about Assassin's creed brotherhood. The success of the second chapter and the splendid aesthetic and historical qualities of our beautiful country have in fact produced a full-fledged sequel before the change of setting that will take place with the next episode, a sequel that begins exactly where the previous one ends, with Ezio Auditore da Florence which is located inside the Sistine Chapel after a chat with Rodrigo Borgia and interesting implications on the apple of Eden, the main theme of the story from the original title. Rome at the end of the 1400s is therefore the absolute protagonist of Brotherhood, in its imposing guises and in a map that has a good part of the famous landmarks that belong to the Eternal City, starting from the Colosseum, passing through Porta Nomentana and arriving at San Pietro, Campidoglio and so on.



Intrigues in the shadow of the Colosseum

In parallel there is the current life (indeed future, in 2012) of Desmond Miles, who thanks to a machine called Animus tries to relive the memories of his murderous ancestors in centuries-old struggle with the Templars, and discover the location of the apple to prevent the latter from coming into possession of it. In this chapter, the events of Rome will be relived, where the brotherhood of assassins is in league to free the city from the extreme influence of the Borgias, which sees Cesare, Lucrezia and Rodrigo himself as key characters among others.


Brotherhood is not a dance

The structure of Assassin's creed brotherhood, as expected, it resumes in the foundations and in a slavish manner that of the second chapter, with the third-person view and the control system where thanks to the combination of the R1 and X keys it is possible to run, skip and climb almost anywhere, according to a natural and now established dynamic. The story also unfolds through the well-known genetic sequences, with the next piece visible on the map by means of a special exclamation point, the secondary missions represented by different icons and the sections of Rome that become available as the adventure progresses. The first novelties that catch the eye are represented by the possibility of riding inside the city (curiously not galloping, probably due to frame rate problems or generation of nearby buildings) and by the fact that each mission, be it main, secondary or extra, can be replayed at any time via the DNA menu, much to the delight of trophy hunters (whoever played the second chapter knows what we're talking about). In reality there is a further and fundamental difference, each sequence can in fact be completed at 50 or 100% in relation to a secondary condition that must be completed. Among many: complete the mission within a certain amount of time, without being detected, killing the target with the hidden blade or the crossbow and so on. The "reward" that is obtained translates into replayability, variety because the game leads to a different approach to missions, but also in additional memories that appear on the game map. Abandoned Monteriggioni (but it will appear more than once during the adventure, do not despair) the whole "micromanagerial" section of Ezio Auditore and his brotherhood has been extended to Rome in its entirety. A new den is obviously available but now the concept of income revolves around the restoration of some structures present within the Capitoline city, starting from the various shops to get to the imposing structures mentioned above, which once restored at a cost variable allow you to generate income that is finally deposited on a regular basis in shops that act as a counter.



Intrigues in the shadow of the Colosseum

However, each district containing shops and structures must first of all be freed from the influence of the Borgia, through a "practice" which involves killing the captain in command and setting fire to the respective tower adorned with banners belonging to the many hated nobles. Before focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of the game we would like to conclude the description with three other big distinctive elements of this Assassin's creed brotherhood, which also determine its strengths. Beyond the various secondary missions of guild and faction, the crypts of the second chapter have as their alter ego in this the six rooms of Nero, each of which hides a key to access the tomb of Romulus. These sanctuaries mainly offer long and very pleasant platform sections where Ezio's control is a real ballet between ledges and holds, and where everything is harmonious and natural as long as you play a little with the manual camera to avoid making a jump. in the void. To then support the introduction of the pistol and parachute in terms of technologically advanced inventions, in Brotherhood there is the presence of Leonardo with further decidedly lethal arquebuses. The problem is that in this case he developed them under threat for the Borgias, and here other missions appear where Ezio must first burn the project and then take possession of the invention itself to get the better of his opponents and destroy it (unfortunately!) In the end. joke. The result? Entertaining game points where it is possible to control naval guns, rudimentary tanks rather than hang gliders. These sections are also an "excuse" to offer the player settings different from those of Rome: in fact, you go to visit the Castel dell'Ovo in Naples, Monte Circeo, Valnerina but also Florence and Venice, obviously in a reduced configuration but pleasant to see and face.



Multiplayer my love

The most "striking" novelty of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is certainly represented by the section dedicated to multiplayer, absolutely new for the saga. We need to make a couple of premises, the first is that the Ubisoft title basically remains a single player experience with a pleasant multiplayer addition, the second is that we have had the opportunity to test the beta extensively and very little the final version, due to the lack of players present with the title not yet released in stores. That said, an initial tutorial session introduces the game mechanics with the first available mode, the sought-after one, which requires the player to identify some prey that must be eliminated. The multiplayer structure includes 50 levels on the classic Call of Duty style where each one allows access to new skills such as disguises or other, weapons, slots and colors for clothing. At level 5, for example, the alliance mode is unlocked, where a team of two Templars is designated as prey and in general the experience points can be increased based on the above kills but also thanks to various bonuses linked to the consecutive number of eliminations rather that the use of certain objects. Between ranked and non-ranked matches, the available maps are 8 and provide for the return of "old glories" such as Forlì and Monteriggioni itself, the total characters are instead 14, they differ only in terms of aesthetics and killing animation, they are unlocked continuing through the levels or thanks to UPLAY, the Ubisoft social network that allows you to obtain themes, skins and so on for the game based on the actions performed. Always in terms of interaction with other users between the menus Assassin's creed brotherhood Finally, it is possible to see the item "Virtual training", a mode that provides a series of running tests, combat and so on in a virtual space, with three levels of medals and online rankings to compare with your friends or globally .


PlayStation 3 Trophies

Assassin's creed brotherhood offers 51 trophies, of which 15 are Silver and 1 Gold. In the second chapter it was quite easy to get them all and even in this the music does not change, with most dedicated to history, to the completion of the missions of Nero and Leonardo and to the collection of feathers and flags of the Borgias, which can be reported by purchasing the appropriate maps. of the treasure. The "problem" arises from the fact that now there are also trophies related to multiplayer, with the most difficult one, necessary for platinum, which is obtained by bringing your character to level 50, not exactly a health walk. In any case, completing the main adventure with a good part of the secondary objectives brings home about 70/75% of the trophies available.

The followers of Ezio Auditore

To close the descriptive circle we have the possibility for Ezio to literally hire murderous adepts, who once trained can be recalled to do the dirty work without alerting the guards, thanks to a special bar placed immediately after the energy bar. Their management is almost like a RPG, in fact they acquire experience, level up and through special dovecotes scattered around the game map it is possible to assign to each some skill points rather than send them around Europe to complete missions that return different amounts of money, items and experience points, based on difficulty level and feasibility. Said this, Assassin's creed brotherhood brings with it once again two historical defects of the saga. First of all, artificial intelligence, practically identical and once again not convincing in the identification phase of Ezio rather than in the fighting. As for the latter, the use of football on the family jewels rather than the counterattacks that are performed with the squared R1 allows you to have the upper hand in any situation and without worries, not to mention that the murderous adepts add fun and variety but make the fights themselves even easier. The situation improves in the missions that must be completed without being discovered, but even in this case there are several "tricks" to cheat the artificial intelligence in most of the occasions. Consequently, the level of challenge of the game is quite low, you have to put in the effort to die and it is clear once again how the Ubisoft title focuses on the gaming experience and fun to captivate the player until its completion. in a conceptual parallel we like to do with Fable II. However, you will have already seen the decidedly positive vote at this point in the reading, Assassin's creed brotherhood also due to the aforementioned flaws it fails to make the leap towards the absolute masterpiece, however it improves practically every aspect of the previous chapter to the extent that it remains extremely fun, has an incredible variety and eliminates almost all the boredom points present in past (think also of the underground tunnels to move quickly between all points of the city), not to mention the pleasant additions and the narrative structure that also in this case provides a final with a bang.

Intrigues in the shadow of the Colosseum

Making a direct comparison, probably the main adventure can be completed in a lower amount of hours (about 10-15) than the second episode, the fact is that in our road test we were naturally led to complete the game doing most of the side missions and extras, with our counter set to a whopping 23 hours. We have not forgotten the technical sector! Rome is beautiful to see with its variety, vegetation and known places. We have excellence in the construction of the most impressive structures and in the interiors, for example, of San Pietro, where the textures are truly exceptional. The polygonal models of the characters are equally improved as well as the lighting effects and the day / night cycle, the overall impact is even more pleasant and in general we are faced with one of the most valid titles from this point of view in the videogame panorama. . As far as the PlayStation 3 version is concerned, however, the graphics engine continues to lose a few strokes in terms of fluidity and tearing. The situation is better than in the past especially in terms of desync of the screen, but situations in which the frame rate drops to around 20/25 frames per second are not uncommon. The feeling is that the situation is similar to what we saw with the second chapter compared to the Xbox 360 version, which at first glance seemed to be more stable from this point of view. The dubbing is obviously in Spanish and identical to that of the previous episode, the soundtrack once again of the highest order especially during the fights or in the original songs like the one that accompanies the player in the district of the Roman forum, really a pleasure to listen to. .

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Resources4Gaming.com

9.3

Readers (999+)

9.1

Your vote

Assassin's creed brotherhood continues the work of filing and improvement of this lucky saga and proposes a splendid Rome where inside it is possible to admire its imposing structures but also to tackle primary and secondary missions that are increasingly fun, airy and that leave no room for boredom. The Ubisoft title fails to make the full leap towards the masterpiece because historical defects remain such as the revisable artificial intelligence rather than the low challenge rate, but everything else is increasingly coherent and structured, with peaks of excellence in the platform sections rather that in some sections related to the main story. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is therefore and obviously the least "surprising" chapter of the saga, but from our point of view the absolutely best one.

PRO

  • Fun and with less downtime than in the past
  • Lots of things to do between extras and side missions
  • Rome is splendid to see
AGAINST
  • Artificial intelligence still not convincing
  • Low level of challenge
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