The Assassin's Creed series is one of those free games that tries something new with something that exists. This is a great sandbox game with a great story that is able to accomplish all this without drastically changing or innovating.
I'm kind of a conspiracy junky myself. I like good history conspiracy stories so my saying the story is great might be a touch biased. Even so it is a decent story that sucks you in when it's moving forward. Of course it's not always moving forward, but even when the story is moving there is plenty to do in this game. Brotherhood really doesn't change much from AC2, but the climbing and freerunning seem a little more fluid and easy to get right. There are still the occasions when Ezio shows his prowess by randomly grabbing a ledge two feet off the ground, but that's normally the players fault and is only an inspiration to maybe work harder on your parkour skills. Which leads me to talk about the many new additions in the game.
First is the Virtual Training which was a fantastic idea. I personally have found that it has actually made me a little better at the game. It's fun to get the medals, but actually helping is something superb. The ability to leave the Animus is also a great idea. I always wanted to see more of the Desmond story in AC2, but realize maybe it wasn't very prudent. However, in Brotherhood the Desmond story is actually something that is somewhat dynamic and having the setting be at the Villa is just a nice touch.
Now for the real deal. I will go on record saying that this multiplayer is one of the greatest that I have ever seen. I still like a good fragfest once in a while, but getting blown to pieces on Halo and COD just gets old after a while especially when the perks and customizations are weak. AC:B took the multiplayer norm and threw it out the window and said "Slow the hell down and let's actually think while we're playing." The fact that the way you win in taking your time and being patient might frustrate some, but I find it brilliant. When I only get 4 kills and beat a person with 20 kills is amazing. This is a tense, edge-of-your-seat, multiplayer experience. This isn't a passive game and you really have to try and pay attention. The learning curve is gentle and doesn't just let you get annihilated when you first start. With patience and a great strategy, you'll win without even trying.
The gameplay overall is basically the same as AC2, but the small additions like being able to jump off a huge tower directly to your horse and throwing heavy weapons is something that still satiates the thirst for something new. The new gadgets also help throw a twist in some of the strategies that you attempt by giving you the ability to poison from a distance and parachute from building to building. The way that you can build and renovate Rome is fun, but lacks some things. Getting to the point where you're getting 50,000 florins every time you're withdrawing from the bank is great and the different items that some shops have is fun. However, renovating Rome falls short. I haven't finished the game yet, but when I buy a shop and it makes itself look nice, I expected to buy the Colosseum and see it at least clean itself up. It's nice to see a decrease in the guard presence as you start rebuilding Rome, but I wanted to truly REBUILD Rome. It's still fun, but I do have a gripe with that.
I won't go into much more, but I'll finish by saying that this game is a must buy for the people who want a sandbox game that doesn't include health increases by banging a hooker and hunting wild animals in the wilderness. The story delivers and I can't wait to see how the whole thing comes together, and I love building Rome while planning out my assassinations and building up my assassin's guild. I wish they would have added maybe a few more gameplay additions and maybe does some design upgrades, but it still is a great experience. I give this a 9 out 10 and would tell any person to buy this shooting games . No doubt.
