Assassin’s Creed tells the story of a man who uses a high-tech computer to relive the memories of his deadly ancestors. Brotherhood, the latest videogame in the series, allows you to relive your memories of playing Assassin’s Creed II in 2009.
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood,was released Tuesday for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Stealthily clambering over the rooftops of 15th-century Italy and assassinating your political enemies is still a potent gameplay formula, and Brotherhood’s new multiplayer mode puts a unique spin on things by adding a unique factor: human intelligence.
After the fantastic twist ending of Assassin’s Creed II, we were done with Florentine nobleman/assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze. He’d fulfilled his mission, so there was no longer any reason for the series’ main character, Desmond, to enter the Animus computer and relive his assassin ancestor’s life.
The big question on players’ minds was, “Where will Desmond go next?” The answer is nowhere, for now; just straight back into Renaissance Italy for the anticlimactic continuation of Ezio’s adventures.
This time, he has a ready-made enemy in that wacky, murderous, incestuous Borgia family. But unlike the intriguing period mystery (and simultaneous present-day drama) of the last game, Brotherhood feels more like a straight-to-DVD side story, like how Disney managed to squeeze out two more Aladdin movies after the genie got out of that particular bottle.
The gameplay still works, though, and it’s addictive enough to keep one moving through Brotherhood at a rapid clip. The city of Rome is dotted with many interesting things to do — assassinate a guy here, explore an ancient tomb there — largely staving off any feeling of repetition or fatigue.
Plus, Brotherhood adds a few wrinkles to the gameplay. Rome is now filled with dilapidated shops and businesses that you can purchase and renovate. This generates income. Income is used to buy more shops and businesses. Repeat.
The other major addition to the game is the titular band of assassins who assist you. At most points in the game, you can call them in to assassinate people without having to get your hands dirty. Just press a button while you have an enemy highlighted and they’ll leap in and take him down.
This is fun stuff, watching them pull off an assassination without you being discovered. They’ll be more skilled at it once you build up their levels. And how do you do that? Why, you go into another menu and click-click-click away, sending them off on assassination missions and waiting for them to come back. Again, this isn’t strategy- or skill-based, just Facebook-style busywork.
I hate to admit that there’s a certain addictive quality to all this, but there is. I can know in my heart that I’m just in an elaborate Skinner box, but that doesn’t stop me from pressing the lever.
Call of Duty is undoubtedly the killer franchise when it comes to first-person shooters. Last year's Modern Warfare 2, from respected studio Infinity Ward, became the top entertainment release of all time, and fresh offering Black Ops is reportedly outselling that by a solid margin. Black Ops is made by Treyarch, which already has a strong footing in World War II games, and focuses on the Cold War, kicking off with a controversial mission to assassinate Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
From there the roll-call of missions takes players across the globe as the top-secret Studies and Observations Group try to find a mysterious bioweapon called Nova 6 before it's used in the US. The story kicks ass in a huge way - offering a more cohesive and intense campaign than Modern Warfare 2 did, with enough mystery to offer a few surprises as it unfolds.
The gameplay is outstanding, albeit with a few issues with the selection of weapons and strategic necessities, giving Black Ops a far more tactical feel. There is frantic action from the word go, with hordes of enemies between you and your targets as you blast your way through the increasingly tough and often frustrating levels for a good six to 10 hours of gameplay, depending on skill.
There are also a number of vehicle-based missions, taking Call of Duty somewhere that Infinity Ward never really managed. These include a motorbike chase as you flee Cuban soldiers angry that you tried to shoot their boss in the face, heavily armed gunboats raining missiles down on NVA positions in Vietnam, wild helicopter missions against ground and air targets - it all makes for a varied and riveting FPS outing. And when campaign mode is done and dusted, a good set of extras are on tap. Maps are good, combat training lets you play against AI versions of your network friends. Oh, and you get to go on killing sprees - even as JFK - in the delightful Zombie mode.
There isn't anything hugely irritating about Black Ops. The worst feature is allied name tags not popping up quickly enough in hardcore firefights - members of your team don't like being shot by their own. There's also a tendency for your character to respawn right in harm's way - irritating if you're in the firing line of a helicopter or a bunch of adversaries.
Verdict: Treyarch have exceeded all expectations with Black Ops, delivering what is undoubtedly the best first-person shooter on the shelves in 2010. It boasts both a superb campaign and story mode, engaging online maps that don't leave newbies out in the cold - and, of course, zombies.
