Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

I agree with the score at the end, but I think that there is enough in the game to attract new players to the franchise. Ubisoft should be applauded for creating a game with a strong narrative that continues on from the second game. Yes, this approach can potentially alienate first time players, but seriously this is the third game in the series. Do people really expect to be able to pick up everything that's gone on in 2 games that take over 40 hours to (collectively) complete in about 5 minutes? Perhaps if you are used to the Call of Duty games.

I felt that Brotherhood covered the main plot points well right at the start for those that missed out on ACII. The virtual training and indeed the missions themselves cover the skills you need to learn as well.

Also the new tunnel system makes travel around Rome quick and easy. You can also ride around on horseback as your horse is but a mere whistle away which also shortens the journey times. Also as there is so much to do all over the city I didn't feel it was an arduous task just running between memory points. I found the biggest problem was getting distracted, for hours in some cases. This game is a real time sink. *Poof* There goes another afternoon.

As you can probably tell I really like Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. Actually, it has surprised me in just how much they've included in the game. To me it is far more than just AC2.5, which is what I was expecting.

Ok, gotta get back to check on my team of trainee Assassin's ;-)

Hmm, to clarify my first sentence. I agree with the 93% but think the newcomers score is too low. I don't think it alienates first time players as much as the review thinks it does.

My comments, which I accept may not have been as well expressed as they might have been, are not so much about story context as they are about fighting controls. In Assassin's Creed 2, agile troops and pike bearers who could poke you out of hiding places were introduced as the game progressed, and you were given hints as to how you could deal with them. In this game, these troops are present from the get go, and if the player does not remember how to deal with them from AssCreed 2, there is not much help. Add in the horse mounted guards and you are facing a steep and frustrating learning curve for new players.

I also believe that he story recaps which seem adequate to those of us who know the back story, are actually not. I think the game offers too scant a backstory, but this is not what I marked the game down on. I think newcomers would benefit GREATLY from having played AssCreed 2, whereas I think Black Ops Players can get by fine without having played CoD4.