Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

[toblix]

Okay, so this game which I, for some reason thought was a multiplayer-focused DLC thing, have ignored, turns out to be a full single player sequel, running on the same engine as AC2, with some revised mechanics. There's a huge god damn Rome you're running around in, and it has you buying buildings Fable style and managing a small army of assassins. Check out the Giant Bomb quicklook; it made me want it. The large map is just ridiculous.

[Erkki]

Okay, so this game which I, for some reason thought was a multiplayer-focused DLC thing, have ignored, turns out to be a full single player sequel, running on the same engine as AC2, with some revised mechanics. There's a huge god damn Rome you're running around in, and it has you buying buildings Fable style and managing a small army of assassins. Check out the Giant Bomb quicklook; it made me want it. The large map is just ridiculous.

I'm still "boycotting" the previous game. At the moment most probably beause I've nowhere to play it on

[Nappi]

http://www.idlethumbs.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7472

I might just buy this game after all because of the quick look, although I'm still not a huge fan of the band of assassins thing. I want to be alone in the shadows, goddamned.

[Roderick]

I was also for the longest time under the impression that Brotherhood was a multiplayer expansion pack for AC2, but knew I was wrong.

This video confirms though that I'll probably play this game in a couple of years, when I crave this sort of gameplay again. Midway through AC2 I just got really, really, really tired of freeroaming bullshit and it became a slog to the end that I don't wish to repeat any time soon.

I'm sure it's a great game, but it seems also to be a lot of work. Just look how much time the guy in the video is spending in menus and on maps? It's ridiculous. They're so happy with their bunch of icons giving them missions on the map, but all I see is a lot of complicated chores. Sorry to be a bit of a downer In that respect, I absolutely love Fable 3 because it's so wonderfully uncomplicated and direct.

[toblix]

http://www.idlethumbs.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7472

Sorry! I did a search – really! – but I must have missed it. To be fair, though, that thread is incorrectly named.

I'm sure it's a great game, but it seems also to be a lot of work. Just look how much time the guy in the video is spending in menus and on maps? It's ridiculous. They're so happy with their bunch of icons giving them missions on the map, but all I see is a lot of complicated chores. Sorry to be a bit of a downer In that respect, I absolutely love Fable 3 because it's so wonderfully uncomplicated and direct.

I totally see what you mean. I feel I could go for some more right now, but expect to become tired with it after a few hours, but then just put it down and come back later. Hopefully by getting it sooner rather than later I'll be able to try the multiplayer while it's still being played.

[Squid Division]

Well since it seems like I'm the only one who has actually played the game yet, I'll go ahead and post my first impressions:

My thread title was not wrong, because this is the most sequely sequel to ever sequel. The game starts off by replaying the last 30 seconds or so of the final Ezio cinematic from 2, then the gameplay picks up from there. The game gives you most all of the gadgets you had in 2 from the start, sword, shortsword, throwing knives, wrist blade, gun, medicine; without explaining any of it. In fact, the game never really explains a whole lot of anything that was in 2, including the story. There's a quick summary at the beginning of the game that retells the gist of 2, but it doesn't mention any of the characters, all of whom reappear.

The game is absolutely packed in content, and the map reflects that in being so cluttered. That said, how you play the game is completely up to you. It sounds like the GB quicklook had a lot of the Assassin Contracts in it, which plays kind of like a football-manager-like mini game, but you don't have to do that at all.

I too got real tired of the free-roaming in 2 towards the end of the game. It got tedious, especially in Venice, because it was so tall. This game is the same way, but offers warp points placed all over the map that you can go to and fast travel to another one. You can also have a horse in the city now, and any time you want, you can just press Y and you'll call your horse (ala RDR). It's a weird decision, because the streets aren't any less narrow, crowded, or nonsensical (damn Europe-y roads), but it works alright.

For negatives, the map doesn't give you enough information. You can't tell if you've already renovated a building or not. Also, the writing seems to have gotten worse; Desmond's is worse than atrocious (which makes me worry about ACIII if he's going to be the assassin in it), and Machiavelli is a caricature of himself written by someone who read The Prince a little too literally (it's a satire).

I haven't even tried the MP yet.

[miffy495]

Yeah, I was wondering how they'd handle Machiavelli. Sounds like my fears were confirmed. Oh well. Watching that GB quicklook made me desperately want the game. Instead, I'll settle for replaying AC1, 2, and Bloodlines (PSP) while waiting to hopefully get it for Christmas or my birthday. The trouble with having your birthday and Christmas a week apart is that around the time November starts, you can't buy a damn thing for yourself, just in case. It makes the late November rush of awesome games very painful. At least I've got a tonne of AC to replay to get myself back up to speed.

[Orv]

. . .and Machiavelli is a caricature of himself written by someone who read The Prince a little too literally (it's a satire).

That's unfortunate. The Prince is one of my favorite, if not my favorite, I guess you could call them "old world books."

By which I mean things the The Republic, The Odyssey that flavor of thing. But it is, as you said, very much satire, and taking it too seriously leads to people like Dan Brown existing.

Edit: Heh. As for MP. . .

[Roderick]

I should reread The Prince. When I first read it a couple of years ago I didn't catch the satirical undertone you're speaking of, I took the philosophy at face value. Worth digging into again, then!

[Squid Division]

I should reread The Prince. When I first read it a couple of years ago I didn't catch the satirical undertone you're speaking of, I took the philosophy at face value. Worth digging into again, then!

Link

[Orv]

Link

Yup.

The tone isn't as heavily satirical as the context of his writing it is. But there's still a little, which shines through a lot better when you know the context.

[ThunderPeel2001]

I love Cracked.

[juv3nal]

That's unfortunate. The Prince is one of my favorite, if not my favorite, I guess you could call them "old world books."

By which I mean things the The Republic, The Odyssey that flavor of thing. But it is, as you said, very much satire, and taking it too seriously leads to people like Dan Brown existing.

Really? I took a college course that covered it and while it clearly was not meant sincerely, it was not described to us as being satire in the secondary writing. The difference being, I guess, between making fun of a particular way of ruling (satire), versus being a sarcastic critique, but not with the end goal of humor.

[Orv]

The difference being, I guess, between making fun of a particular way of ruling (satire), versus being a sarcastic critique, but not with the end goal of humor.

Not having written the thing (I wish I had, believe me) I can't say if it was intended to be humorous, but I'd imagine it wasn't. It struck me as more of a critique of the class/ideal of ruling. It's one of those things that, had he written it a couple hundred years earlier, it wouldn't have been published and he'd have been killed. I really enjoy the book regardless of what it's intended to be, as it has some interesting ideas that don't quite work if you like to live a long time as a monarch/dictator. (And don't have sufficient military power to enforce "YOU EAT WITH YOUR LEFT HAND OR EVERYONE DIES" [Which is about as crude an example of fascism as it gets ])

TL;DR - Not quite satire, still amusing because medieval rulers were dicks.

[Garple]

There's a huge god damn Rome you're running around in.

Shit, Yo!...That's one of the only things that bummed me out about the previous game...the fact that you didn't actually get to go anywhere once you finally got to Rome.

[Thrik]

The downside being that Rome is the only significant place in the game from what I understand, which is unfortunate as I loved the completely different atmospheres the various cities and areas between had in AS2. Though if anyone has information to the contrary without spoiling that'd be cool!

[toblix]

The downside being that Rome is the only significant place in the game from what I understand, which is unfortunate as I loved the completely different atmospheres the various cities and areas between had in AS2. Though if anyone has information to the contrary without spoiling that'd be cool!

I'm assuming they're doing the variation within the various parts of the city rather than between different zones. So I expect various types of architecture, people, streets, music, etc. within Rome. It makes sense both from a design perspective and from a realism perspective.

[Erkki]

So I just started this after finishing AC2. Rome seems more interesting than the cities in AC2, and there seems to be even more stuff to do so that's cool. I realized I'm most into the exploration aspect of the game and Rome has more unique looking areas so that's cool. I'll probably ignore side missions (assassinations etc.) but try to collect all the treasure and stuff.

[toblix]

I haven't played much yet, but I'm really happy with the achievements so far. I know it's a highly controversial issue, but for those who get a little addicted to the little notification popup, it's nice that they didn't go all completionist with them. Of course, there are a couple of 100% ones, like the flags, feathers, etc. but I was pleased to find that the memory synchronisation one is for one memory, not all, and that the gold challenge achievement is for five challenges (I think) and not all of them.

[Thrik]

Well I got surprised with this as a late gift yesterday and am definitely impressed with it. I wasn't too arsed and was planning to wait until finishing the superb Red Dead Redemption, but after being pushed into it I'm pleasantly surprised.

It's definitely in the 'more of the same' category when it comes to how the game looks and feels, and I felt a bit overwhelmed initially because it expected me to remember AS2's intricate assortment of controls. But they've definitely stepped things up from what I can see when it comes to presentation of the story and the cinematic side of things — also the graphics are noticeably refined.

So far I've been playing through relatively linear areas, having not yet gotten to Rome. I'm actually quite liking this being a huge fan of the 'Prince of Persia' areas in AS2, and hope the later parts of the game feature plenty of dungeon-esque areas where the gameplay is more controlled and intricate.

[Sully907]

Brotherhood actually holds your hand maybe even a little more then it should even when you get to rome, locking off certain areas of the map until you complete story missions, but I guess your criticism about having to remember the controls maybe justifies that design decisions. They want to ease people into it.

[Squid Division]

I've played a little bit of this since beating it and my feelings have been solidified in preferring ACII's settings better. Rome may be a more varied setting than any of the cities in II, but it's less distinctive than them; it's more of a compilation. The only thing that felt different about Rome was the ruins. Whereas with Florence, you had a sprawling, short, tan colored city. Venice was a tall, sprawling, colorful city. Forli was a escalating city, culminating in those huge towers.

This sounds like nitpicking, but for me Assassin's Creed is all about the movement. Movement in Florence was rooftop with little consequence for falling, and street-running. In Venice it was careful and harrowing jumps over canals. Movement in Rome wasn't very distinctive in anyway except the ruins-plains, which were annoying because with all the fences and cliffs it took forever to traverse.

[Erkki]

Finished it. The structure is quite different, but I'm not sure if I like this more than AC2. I wonder where the next game will be set.

Eden

?

[Squid Division]

I hope it's not just present day. Unless it's somewhere cool, present day, that is.

[Erkki]

Damn, I did The Truth after completing the story and now my game is stuck in an infinite loop in the animus. Got only 64%