When Ubisoft announced that a sequel toAssassin’s Creed II was on the way, it seemed like a no-brainer. Ubisoft has claimed that it is unlikely to develop any new IPs (intellectual properties) until the next generation of consoles, so its current library of titles — of which there are many — will be the focus for the company.  And of those existing titles, Assassin’s Creed seems like the one with the most potential to expand on. The Tom Clancy games are always going to be around, but the universe created for Assassin’s Creed is ripe for expansion. Just look at the multiple comics for Assassin’s Creed coming out soon, and even the rumored (emphasis on the "rumor” part) animated series and Hollywood movie adaptations.

So when a new game was announced, it seemed obvious and welcome. But to put it out less than a year after the previous game? That seemed potentially problematic.

Activision does it with Call of Duty, and most sports games have annual entries, but sports are a different type of game, and the Call of Duty titles are developed by multiple companies with at least two years between entries. So many people feared that this new Assassin’s Creed would be little more than Assassin’s Creed 2.5.

Turns out they are right, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood basically takes the game created for ACII, adds a new setting with an original story, puts in a few new tricks, then ships it off with a multiplayer. Now, while that might not sound like a glowing endorsement, ACII was one of the best-selling and best-rated games of the current generation of consoles. It redefined open-world gaming, and delivered one of the most compelling stories ever written for a video game. ACB’s biggest problem is simply that it is competing against itself and the expectations of fans. If you can put those aside, and if you give the multiplayer a shot, then ACB jumps from being a little more than a lengthy add-on to one of the must-have games of the year.

Hard to live up to the hype

This is one of many instances where ACB competes against its own history. ACII’s story was deep, and layered with twists and consequences that spanned well over 10 years. The plot always worked in conjunction with the gameplay, and it felt natural and interesting to progress through the game. In ACB, there is still a solid story, but many times it feels like a contrivance for the gameplay. In fact, despite the assertions of the game, I felt relatively confident that I probably could have just walked into the Borgia’s stronghold after leveling up a bit and done a fairly good impression of the Black Death, wiping out anyone and everyone that looked at me funny, thus ending the game in record time. But rather than unleashing the fury within, the game has me recruit a bunch of noobs to do my bidding. It is a fun gameplay mechanic, but the story seemed a bit more forced than the last game.

Not to nitpick the plot to death, but it also lacks some of the subtlety that surprised me so much in the previous game. For example, there is a character named Cristina, a love interest for Ezio, that is sort of retconned into the previous game through flashbacks in this one. Her story is interesting and it isn’t too out of place, but adding to a story that was already completed always seems a bit odd. Just look at BioShock 2.

Again, the story isn’t bad, it just isn’t anywhere near as compelling as the previous game, and despite a handful of inevitable twists and turns, it really comes down to being as simple as see the bad guys, gather information on the bad guys, kill the bad guy in one of several interesting ways.

Spiderman better watch himself!

While the story is an added bonus, the gameplay of the Assassin’s Creed franchise is what keeps it going. If you played the original game and still played the second game, that is a testament to the gameplay. The first AC game took that gameplay, added an interesting story, set it against a series of amazing backdrops, then did its best to ruin the game with a series of extremely repetitive and dull missions. ACII fixed that in a big way by creating a much better mix of story and in-game missions, and ACB builds on that.

At the start of the game, Ezio is badly wounded while being forced to flee his home. The reason for this is partly to ratchet up the drama of the scenario. (You will want to hunt down Cesare for what he did and make him pay! Nowhere on Earth will be safe after what he did — you are an angel of death that will deliver judgment!)  The other reason is to give the game an excuse to strip you of your weapons and lower your health to where it was at the start of the previous title, and you regain health squares as you "heal” over time (i.e., complete missions). The weapons also return to you gradually as you earn enough to purchase them from blacksmiths and others like Leonardo.

The free-roaming mechanics are much the same as the previous games, and the entire world of Rome is your playground. Which does bring up a minor criticism: Ubisoft has claimed that ACB’s  Rome is three time the size of the largest city in the series. While that does seem likely, there were five cities in ACII and three in the original AC, as well as land surrounding them all. The city of Rome is big enough that you probably won’t notice, and there is still plenty to see and do, but the game is a bit smaller than the previous entries. A fact I contemplated while enjoying some of the mini-games and challenges around the city. For about five straight hours. Minor quibbles aside, the game is still fun and addictive and plenty big.

ACB again offers an assortment of games within the game through side missions and quests. Courtesans will ask for your help to escort them through the city or beat up men that did them wrong, while thieves will seek your help against other thieves, or perhaps challenge you to a race. Perhaps the biggest addition in terms of game modes is the Borgia Towers. The towers are spread around the city, and each marks the influence of the Borgia family. When you approach one, you will enter a restricted area where you need to find and assassinate the captain of the guard. The difficulty of these assassination ranges, and some guard captains will flee like little punks, while others will call for reinforcements. Once you dispatch of the captain, you then scale the tower and hit a button to destroy the structure and free the region from the Borgia influence. Once you do, you can then begin to purchase structures, which leads to another change in the game, the economy.

In ACII you earned money in order to rebuild your home town, but the money system was flawed, and it was easy to have purchased every single thing in the game — stores, art, weapons, everything — long before you reached the end of the game. In ACB the system is similar, but the scope is bigger.

As you free areas from Borgia control, you can then pay to upgrade and renovate certain stores, including blacksmiths, banks, tailors and more. With each new shop of that type opened, you receive a discount, as well as increase your income, which accumulates for your collection at the local banks. You can also purchase structures like aqueducts and historical landmarks, which increase your incoming cash flow, and further dispel the Borgia’s control of the area. You can complete the game without getting caught up in the rebuilding and acquisition of Rome, but it is shockingly addictive.

There are also a handful of "shop quests”, where you find rare items in chests, from looting bodies, or from assassin’s missions, then turn in the right combination for rare armors, weapons, pouches, etc. It is an interesting addition, but the rarity of the items means you probably won’t find them until late in the game, at which point you will already have more powerful equipment. It’s not a bad addition, just not a very useful one either.

There is also a quest to hunt down the Keys of Romulus, which is almost identical to the collection of the six seals that unlocked Altair’s armor in ACII. In each of the six locations, the game becomes something of a platformer, and you jump and swing your way through a series of obstacles to recover a key at the end of each area. When you have all six, you release a powerful new set of armor.

Even with the diminished geography, the single player campaign will take at least 15 to 20 hours, and could take many, many more if you want to seek out and complete everything the game has to offer. So while many of the games and missions might seem familiar, there is plenty to keep you playing ACB for a long time.

The combat is the same, unfortunately

One of the bigger gripes about the previous games was the combat, and while it is better, it still faces the same awkward targeting and inelegant button mashing moves.

The counter system has always been a highlight of the games, and now while you are in the middle of a counter, you can line up your next target and attack with a one-hit kill. If you are quick enough, you can link that to another target and continue a chain massacre. It is great when it works, but that isn’t all that often, and you will frequently face several enemies that you will need to kill by using the incredibly complex maneuver of hitting a different button. That was sarcasm, by the way.

The enemy attack patterns are always the same; usually one poor SOB will charge you screaming like you killed his mother, then an armored foe with an axe, a long sword or a spear will attack. The screaming idiot enemies are simple to deal with and make counters fun, but the armored enemies require you to either dodge an attack or kick them and smack them. The combat isn’t bad, but targeting can be a headache, and trying to flee a battle can be ridiculously difficult. Once you have fought through several waves of enemies, it becomes somewhat mind-numbing, and you will probably end up avoiding combat just because you have better things to do.