Comments about Assassins Creed: Brotherhood

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is the third game in the AC canon despite the fact that Ubisoft is reserving the actual numeral 3 for the next iteration of the franchise. The game picks up where Assassin's Creed II leaves off, so if you haven't played the previous titles, you may be better off starting there. Just in case though, here's the breakdown. Desmond has been recently liberated from the Abstergo Company who, by using a device called the animus, forced him to relive his ancestors' memories in the search of information on the whereabouts of a long hidden artifact that is itself the key to world domination. Desmond and his rescuers find a secluded place to set up their own animus to further probe his ancestors' memories- in this instance, one particular ancestor: Enzio Auditore da Firenze. Yeah, I know. It's complicated.

When we last saw Enzio at the end of the 15th century, all kinds of crazy stuff went down, and the end result is a Rome run by the Borgias. The previous game's villain, the Spaniard Rodrigo Borgia, has secured the artifact, the Apple of Eden, and has become Pope. The Templars, now backed by the Papacy, launch an attack against the Assassins and Enzio, and his few surviving allies are forced into hiding out in the city of Rome to bide their time and rebuild.

Much of AC: Brotherhood's single-player experience remains faithful to AC2, but a few new dynamics are thrown in that prove to be a positive addition to the already tried and true Assassin's Creed gameplay. For one, Enzio can recruit new assassins into the order. Once you have liberated a district from Borgia rule, you can rescue citizens fighting the guards and train them to become assassins. You can then send them out on contracts in exchange for cash and occasional items. If not out on a contract, the assassin can be called out to assist in battle, to silently take out a guard in Enzio's path, or if Enzio has been busy recruiting, have them rain arrows down on a patrol or guard station.

In addition to the rebuilding effort, you'll also be tasked with assisting the other guilds allied with the assassin order (namely, the consorts, thieves and mercenaries) on several missions, and an old friend will call on you to recover some stolen schematics. All the while Enzio will be making his play to recover the stolen apple from the Spaniard. Throw in the usual flags, feathers and various treasure chests to hunt down, and the single-player campaign will easily last you a good 35+ hours if you're a completionist.