14 DAY TRIAL // Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood has just been released by Ubisoft, and is the next chapter in the company's extremely successful franchise.
Promising to continue the story of Assassin's Creed 2's Ezio Auditore da Firenze, introduce new features as well as an all-new multiplayer mode, Brotherhood is shaping up to be a very important game this holiday season.
Did the team at Ubisoft Montreal manage to continue the story of Ezio or did this game need a stealth assassination before it came out? Let's have a quick look.
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood starts off right where the previous game ended, so if you want to make sense of the action, it's better if you played Assassin's Creed 2 already.
Everything gets cleared up pretty quickly, with Ezio explaining what he saw, and what he went through, to his comrades, as well as his family, in his own little town called Monteriggioni.
What seemed like a happy ending for the Italian assassin is quickly turned into a nightmare, as the evil Borgia family attacks the town and forces him to flee to Rome, where he must take down the members of the family in order bring peace to the city and to the whole country.
In terms of gameplay, you won't find big differences as opposed to the second Assassin's Creed game, but lots of small changes have been implemented.
The fighting is now even more streamlined, as Ezio has the possibility to launch on execution streaks, meaning that right after he kills someone, he can automatically kill another one, in rapid succession.
The platforming is the same as ever, and that's not a bad thing, even though you might find yourself charging up a wall when you actually wanted to stay on the ground and chase a thief or an enemy.
The city of Rome is quite big, and filled with enemies, so Ezio must recruit help at every turn, not to mention try to recruit new assassins in order to help him take down the Borgia family.
Almost every mission can be approached from multiple angles, either trying to go stealth on the ground or on the rooftops, or just going all out and taking on a hefty number of guards until you reach your target.
Judging by first impressions, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood feels a bit more than an expansion to the second game, as there are some interesting new changes implemented, and will no doubt capture players in its virtual world.