14 DAY TRIAL // 
Barely has a year passed since Assassin's Creed 2 was released by Ubisoft, and the French company is at it again, with the release of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, despite rumors that an all-new title would appear, starring new heroes in a different time frame.
Instead, the company is continuing the story of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, the hero from the second game, but also introduces quite a few new features, with the most important one being multiplayer, a first for the franchise.
So, did the French company succeed in delivering a new, fresh experience a year since the last game or is Brotherhood set to be forgotten in shadows? Let's find out.
Story
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood picks up right where the second game left off, meaning that if you want things to make sense, it's better if you played and completed that title. Still, Brotherhood manages to expose the wide array of information to the player, and if you have a basic grasp of what the series is all about, then you won't be confused.
Basically, Ezio needs to finish the job he set out in the second game, that of taking down the evil Borgia family, which is currently ruling Rome with an iron fist, and wants to subjugate Italy completely. The assassin won't be alone however, as he will be helped by three big factions, the thieves, the courtesans and the mercenaries, as well as his own brotherhood of assassins (hence the name).
During your fight against the Borgia, you will recruit citizens of Rome and train them, so that they can help in the taking down the family, and freeing the whole city and country.
Meanwhile, Brotherhood also continues the story from the future, in 2012, where Desmond and the modern assassins are trying to find where Ezio hid the mystical artifact known only as the Piece of Eden. They are conveniently set up in Ezio's former town of Monteriggioni, and Desmond can even use his new found abilities to explore the town for hidden surprises.
Even if some might say that Ezio's story is complete, Brotherhood brings a lot of new things into his life, and also explores some of his more dramatic memories, making players really connect with the Italian assassin.
Gameplay
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is pretty much the same as the second full pledged-game, in terms of regular gameplay, meaning Ezio moves, climbs and pretty much fights the same way as he did in Assassin's Creed 2.
This isn't a bad thing, as the hero feels very agile, and the combat has been seriously upgraded with the addition of execution streaks. This means that as soon as you execute an enemy soldier, you can select another one and Ezio will kill him in one simple move, something great when faced with lots of enemies.
Still, most of the times you'll be keeping your guard and waiting for enemies to attack and then quickly countering their move. You'll also be able to break their guard if you get tired of waiting with the help of a quick kick.
The platforming and free-running is pretty much the same as the one in the second game, and you'll have plenty of chances to try them off around the huge city of Rome, as well as in specially-constructed "gauntlets", similar to the assassin's tombs in the second game, with a whole new back story to them and filled, once more, with treasures.
Sadly, it's still a bit hit-and-miss, meaning Ezio, while chasing targets or other such things, will much rather go up some walls or grab awkward ledges than continue the chase on foot. Also, he will easily jump to his death if you don't hold the stick pointed squarely towards the intended target.
For the first third of the game, you'll definitely feel like you're playing an expansion to the second one, but once you begin hiring assassins and have them do your jobs, it quickly turns into a different experience.
You will be able to recruit a certain number of assassins, and send them out on missions across Europe, in order to improve their abilities. You can choose upgrades for them, in either armor or weapons, and your ultimate goal is to get them to Assassin level, when they're the most useful for you.
Ezio isn't helpless either, as the assassin can wield a variety of weapons, including a brand new crossbow, as well as the regular swords, hidden blades, throwing knives or your own pistol-like weapon. If you find yourself without any good weapons, you can pick some up from the ground and use them for that respective fight.
One new aspect is horseback fighting, as because Rome is such a big city, with a building-filled center and a more deserted suburb, horses can be used by both Ezio and other non-playable characters. When outside Rome, guards on horseback can be pretty dangerous, as they can charge at you and swipe their weapons at you, causing big damage. Fortunately, a carefully timed counter can send their horse to the ground, and the guards alongside the unfortunate animal.
The Borgia towers play a big role in the liberation of Rome, as you must burn them to the ground in order to free up areas of the city. Before you can do that, you must first take down the captain of that tower. These encounters can be pretty hit and miss.
By nature, the captains are either courageous, meaning they will fight alongside their troops, or cowardly, meaning they will run and hide as soon as you are spotted. While perseverance can result in you killing the courageous ones, the cowardly captains are a real pain. If you're not quick in killing them, they hide inside the building, and you need to wait until dawn or dusk for the guard shift to change, so that they appear once more.
Another special type of missions are revealed by Leonardo da Vinci, your friend from the previous game, who was forced by the Borgia to create war machines, ranging from machine guns to bombers or other such things. You must endeavor in special missions in order to destroy the plans and the prototypes of these weapons, so that you can weaken the family.
These are basically forced stealth sections, as if you're detected, the game instantly fails you. You must remain hidden at all times, and then complete certain objectives with the weapon prototypes before you burn them to the ground.
In order to encourage people to replay the game, Ubisoft also introduced a few new things. First off, special challenges were included in almost all of the missions, which give you certain extra objectives, like not take damage or execute a certain number of enemies. If you complete these objectives, you reach 100% synchronization, which can manifest in certain "cheats" being unlocked when you replay that memory segment, including turning horses into unicorns or unlimited health.
Next up, the game also has a Virtual Training module, where you must complete certain challenges in order to unlock bonus things like a skin for Ezio that turns him into Metal Gear Solid's Raiden. Also, you can also explore Monteriggioni as Desmond, if you opt to disconnect from the Animus.
Graphics and audio
Visual-wise, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is looking as sharp as ever, even if it uses the same engine as its predecessor. Ezio is looking extremely impressive, and the development team finally managed to polish up the faces in the game, so other characters don't look like frogs or other monstrosities.
Rome is very well done, and there are a huge number of its inhabitants walking on its streets, many carrying different (and sometimes hilarious) conversations. The countryside is pretty well designed and historical monuments look pretty much like the real things.
In terms of sound, Brotherhood is also pretty good, with tight orchestral scores highlighting battles. The characters all have their unique tones, and the enemy taunts are reasonably varied to keep things interesting and not wear on your nerves.
Multiplayer
The new multiplayer mode is by far one of the big new features for Brotherhood. Even if it is a first for the franchise, the team at Ubisoft Montreal managed to craft an engaging experience, which will keep you on your toes.
There are four modes, each designed to encourage paranoia in players. You have Wanted, which is a basic deathmatch, but every player is tasked with killing another one, so you need to hurry and find your prey before your predator finds you. You also have Advanced Wanted, which strips away a few features to make finding targets that much harder.
Then there's the Alliance, which behaves basically like Wanted, but instead of individual players, there are three teams of two players, who must take down their target before the other catches it.
Last but not least, Manhunt splits players into either hunters or hunted, and they must either search and assassinate others, or try to blend in as easily as possible, and escape assassination attempts.
Basically, almost all of these modes work great, and if you are matched with players on your own skill level, then it will provide lots of thrills and rushes.
Conclusion
Overall, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is a great addition to Ubisoft's franchise, even if it's not a completely separate game, with a new story. Those that spent dozens of hours in Assassin's Creed 2 will find similar elements here, but there are quite a few new things that worth your attention.
The combat is tight, the platforming is still the same and Ezio's story is still as interesting as ever. If you're a completionist, you'll spend over 20 hours exploring this new title, and many more if you get into the multiplayer.
