Assassins Creed: Brotherhood & Jesper Kyd ☺☻♥

Goddammit, he did it again. After Blood Money only Assassins Creed 2 and Brotherhood are the two games where I have actually stopped to hear the music.

Also, kudos to UBI for creating a better RPG than BioWare has ever managed to in the 3D generation. Yeah yeah, AC2 isn't really an RPG but to me it's more of an RPG than DA or ME series (if you ignore the player stats, dialogue "wheel" or controllable party exclusion). In AC2 you are upgrading your gear, you are levelling up your Assassin brothers/sisters (with selectable stats during level up), you are pouring money into the world ecomony to support your killer lifestyle.. the game has almost everything.



Assassins Creed 2: Brotherhood

PROS
- Great music by Jesper Kyd.
- Great story and characters... more interesting than ME and DA series combined. Great voice acting also helps.
- Upgradeable armor, some customization with threads. Upgrade and buy establishments to support your brotherhood.
- Lovely visuals, game runs fine at highest quality and blurry textures are usually noticable in cutscenes only. Best day-night cycle I have seen any game ever. Visually pleasing colors everywhere and a lot of variation in different parts of the game.
- Action that is actually challenging even though you still end up counter-killing your way through almost eveyr fight. A lot of variation in quests requirements (like not killing anyone with anything other than assassin blade or not being detected at all) keep every mission you get fresh unlike previous games. Game introduces tough enemies from start almost everywhere. These "tough guys" can't be counterkilled easily or at all, which means you have to kick them.. which also means that others will attack. And yes, unlike previous games, people surrounding you don't wait for their turn to attack, they start attack if you focus on one enemy. Keeps you on your toes.


CONS
- Game uses mouse acceleration in Windows 7 which makes camera lag everytime you turn. I had to use a patch to disable acceleration in Windows 7 completely to fix this issue (though I did play like 10 hrs without fixing it ). To be honest, a lot of games don't bother working around this problem on PC.. only Bad Company 2 is the game I know which gives you option to disable acceleration in-game.
- Using your assassins to assassinate is pretty fun and cool except when the game forces you to not use the assassins during every major quest. Last missions are even more retarded since (SPOILER) you are running around holding a stupid magical apple and not allowed to use ANYTHING in your inventory for some mysterious fucking reason. Also, when you get the apple you are chased by whole fucking roman army and you can use the help of your brothers here, but yeah, you aren't allowed to anyway so FUCK YOU MISSIONS DESIGNERS. I had to try that mission a few times to get 100% rating (you don't have to lose health at all but every fucker wearing ten times more armor than you can run at the speed of light while even your top speed feels like walking in comparison).





PLAY THIS GAME!

I'm a big fan of the Assassin's Creed series. I think it's one of the few AAA-titles out there that offer a truly unique experince. I love how awesome everything you do looks and how fluid the animations are. The games could be a little harder, though. Like making you lose 1/3 of your hp per hit in combat, because as it is you're not really getting penalized for fucking up.

As for Ass Creed Bro, yeah the game's amazing. Basically more of the same from AC2, but hey, if it's good I'm not complaining. You can clearly see how the game was supposed to be in AC2 originally, though. Like how the plot seems to crawl for 95% of the game and then take a giant leap in the final memory sequence. I also think it'd have been better if the brotherhood you can recruit was a bit deeper. By that I mean that every assassin has her own personality and style. Now they're just robots who come kill some dudes for you.

Also:

ortucis said:

- Game uses mouse acceleration in Windows 7 which makes camera lag everytime you turn. I had to use a patch to disable acceleration in Windows 7 completely to fix this issue

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Derp. 95% memory synch and haven't thought of getting a patch for that jittery camera. Well I guess those few last flags will be easier to collect now.

Ooh it's out, is it as visually and atmospherically equal/greater to AC2?

Satori said:

Ooh it's out, is it as visually and atmospherically equal/greater to AC2?

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Yes, yes it is.

AC series has ruined third person games for me. Now I expect kickass mocap and fluid animation in every game (and then you play something like Mass Effect and DA2.. well..).

Dont forget the acceleration fix.

I remember AC2 having awesome music. Can you post some good tracks from AC: Brotherhood?

They already released the soundtrack.


BTW I recommend getting Blood Money soundtrack as well. I recognised few similarties in some themes in AC2:B and Blood Money (the reason I was like > ).

Yesss. The first mainstream AAA title I've enjoyed... well, this year. And most of last year. (Since DoW2: Retribution doesn't "count" as AAA probably.) There's just so much shit to do. Yeah, most of it is repetitive shit, but it's still strangely engaging. Thank god I'm not a completionist because this game would drive me fucking crazy.

More stuff than AC2? I actually enjoyed hunting for pieces of the Codex, building up your city and other such things which is very rare for me.

it's an amazing game. one thing i like less than AC2 though is the lack of town planning. Buying up rome just isn't as interesting as Monteriggioni. That's being said, running about the roman ruins is great fun.

Satori said:

More stuff than AC2?

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Yep, there's a whole lot to do, and the only thing I can't be arsed with is the stupid flag collecting (could've ditched that completely if you ask me).

Easily the best in the series so far, highly recommended if you liked the earlier parts.



If there's one thing I hate about the series tho, it's the retarded and completely unnecessary frame story. I would've been more than happy if the overall theme would've just been about the two factions warring throughout history for whatever reasons they have, with each game set in their dedicated time period. The whole modern day sci-fi nonsense is just lame and the sequences set in it are just boring in comparison to the 'main' game.

It really does seem like they purpose-hired an entirely separate - and tragically retarded - team of writers to handle the "modern era" story and dialog. Other than that particular pile of giant WTF, quite an impressive game which greatly improves upon its predecessors. The flags don't bother me much, because they're just TACOs, and marked on your map to boot. It's classic platformer stuff - "you can see me, but can you get me?" That said, I've noticed a lot of rage around the net from compulsive completionists who are angry at what they "have to" do (especially some of the more cruel - but equally optional - bonus objectives within the missions.)

I'm particularly impressed how effectively the "context sensitive" (that's their term, right?) actions are implemented, almost always resulting in an intuitive result. The goes not just for the different states of the controls themselves (attacking while sidling up behind someone gives them knife in the back, attacking from the ledge beneath them pulls them over, attacking when that lone soldier gets too close to your haystack - well you get the idea) but even for the little ease-of-use things. Crossing a short series of limited obstacles in a straight line entails hold the "run, you fool" and "jump, you idiot" buttons. A running leap over a wall onto a horse puts you on that thing's back, kicking it into pedestrian-trampling gallop if you're still holding down "run you fool" - I half-expected to clipping off it and have to manually remount.

Unlike a lot of games that use such systems to cram in a bunch of single-use crap, or hide potential actions behind a veil of temporary inaccessibility, this one assumes the basic physical competence of your character and makes your intent the focus. That said, when things heat up, or you're cruising at a good clip, there's plenty of tricky thumbstick work and (mostly mental) reflex tests. It's nice, but the early-to-mid learning curve does end up with a funny bump when you start trying to do fancier things and end up performing elaborate maneuvers you didn't intend to.

I once pressed my luck with the level geometry and get stuck perched where you can't jump down from for lack of space (and can't get him to "drop" on the right side.) There was also a funny bit where the little hop at the beginning of the hidden blade's diving assassination landed me on the adjacent perch. From the corner of the top of one tower or another, he wouldn't quite actually point his body at the landing zone, and I had to just trust the engine to do its thing (it luckily did.) These times stick out like a sore thumb, of course, but that's partially because they're so infrequent.

It's a really fun game, yeah.

Satori said:

More stuff than AC2? I actually enjoyed hunting for pieces of the Codex, building up your city and other such things which is very rare for me.

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Yep, the city-building is... more more this time too: renovations, buying up landmarks, investments. Did you like the assassin tombs sections? Because if you do, they've doubled it up this time.

And it's the most beautiful rendition of Renaissance Rome to be found anywhere onscreen. Sure the NPCs are kind of dumb, but they still react to things and every once in a while you'd come across a couple flirting or a man on his knees proposing to a lady, or a woman walking by with a bitten apple in hand. Little things, but it accomplishes the illusion of a living city pretty well.

Bookmarked on bitgamer. AC2 was pretty good apart from some repetitive gameplay and the retarded modern storyline.

i played brotherhood last year and to be honest i liked AC2 much more - atmosphere of venice during carnival it just unbeatable and the only place that was close to it was Trademeet from baldur's gate 2.
and i have to agree with OP, music in AC is very good.

Have mouse acceleration and jittery camera even though I'm using XP. What's the fix?

The only AC I ever played was the first one and I enjoyed it greatly even though COdex hates it. I might try out the new one though...

Konjad said:

The only AC I ever played was the first one and I enjoyed it greatly even though COdex hates it. I might try out the new one though...

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Dude play 2 and brotherhood then, they are about a 1000 times better then first, well tbh i couldnt bring myself to finish the first game but i heard it didnt get any better and was the same repetitive shit throughout the game.

Dr.Faust said:

I'm a big fan of the Assassin's Creed series. I think it's one of the few AAA-titles out there that offer a truly unique experince.

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This. Damn i actually like almost everything about AC. The story, characters, voice acting, writing, art style, music, variety of missions, customization, etc. Hah, i enjoyed beating the crap out of the pope in AC II. And the series keep getting better and better while Splinter Cell for example keeps getting dumber and dumber. You can hide bodies in AC II/Brotherhood but you can't in Conviction.

But guys, the multiplayer! It's actually *gasp* pretty innovative and original. Something you wouldn't except from an AAA title. You have to be clever and you have to think to outsmart your enemies, fucking awesome :D I love to pwn CoD noobs who are running around constantly trying to kill people for the lowest score.

BTW the crossbow is overpowered :/

I cannot use the Investment option when I visit a shop as it says I am 'disconnected', is this because I'm using a crack or does the option open up later?

Satori said:

I cannot use the Investment option when I visit a shop as it says I am 'disconnected', is this because I'm using a crack or does the option open up later?

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Apparently that's a problem with the crack. I'm waiting for the fix, but can't wait to get into this game, I really liked AC2 despite all its flaws.

Admiral jimbob said:

Satori said:

I cannot use the Investment option when I visit a shop as it says I am 'disconnected', is this because I'm using a crack or does the option open up later?

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Apparently that's a problem with the crack. I'm waiting for the fix, but can't wait to get into this game, I really liked AC2 despite all its flaws.

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Its not a problem with the crack investments are a useless pc only feature and can only be used while connected to uplay so it wont get "fixed". Just get the Dlc unlocker its the only thing you need.

It's enjoyable, I agree. Though it does have a lot of retarded stuff. EXTREME handholding, collecting feathers, flags, etc., and intrusive GUI.

I do think the assassin bro ans sis' are overpowered though. Sure, as assassin recruits, they can be overpowered. But by the time they hit full fledged assassin, they can take entire groups of enemies by themselves.
And thats if you just watch, with your added support, recruits are flat out invincible.

Still very enjoyable, would play again. As a matter of fact, I finished with the ps3 game and I'm now loading up my TPB PC edition.

anus_pounder said:

I do think the assassin bro ans sis' are overpowered though. Sure, as assassin recruits, they can be overpowered. But by the time they hit full fledged assassin, they can take entire groups of enemies by themselves.
And thats if you just watch, with your added support, recruits are flat out invincible.

Still very enjoyable, would play again. As a matter of fact, I finished with the ps3 game and I'm now loading up my TPB PC edition.

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I can only speak of AC2, haven't played brotherhood, but in certain key areas it doesn't seem there are many improvements.

Combat is the big problem of AC2 , it's just too damn easy: Smoke bomb --> slaughter. I had to use an increase difficulty trainer to be able to stomach it. Money are are a problem too, as soon as you're half-way, you have an infinite supply. Also my problem is that all the "extra stuff to do" feel like minigames detached from the actual game, just there to add some flavor, because they couldn't implement them in the actual gameworld. Stealth is laughable and assassination techinics boring and completely linear, no room for improvisation, no subtlety, no choices. Finally, story is marred from the idiotic sci-fi angle.

Basically AC2 is good for what it is, and that's an acrobatic simulator in a beautifully reconstructed renaissance Italy.

Lesifoere said:

Satori said:

More stuff than AC2? I actually enjoyed hunting for pieces of the Codex, building up your city and other such things which is very rare for me.

Click to expand...

Yep, the city-building is... more more this time too: renovations, buying up landmarks, investments. Did you like the assassin tombs sections? Because if you do, they've doubled it up this time.

And it's the most beautiful rendition of Renaissance Rome to be found anywhere onscreen. Sure the NPCs are kind of dumb, but they still react to things and every once in a while you'd come across a couple flirting or a man on his knees proposing to a lady, or a woman walking by with a bitten apple in hand. Little things, but it accomplishes the illusion of a living city pretty well.

Click to expand...

Yes I did notice all those but if you pay attention, you will find that a LOT of women are going around eating apples (obvious reference..), which kinda got annoying. What is fun is pushing them away and watch the apple roll.

"What the.. WHERE IS THIS APPLE ORCHARD I NEED TO BUY?" *pushes everyone in anger*


Also, the militia patrolling everywhere, you bump into them acciendtly and they start pushing you around. It's fun to just use assassin blade on the one who pushes you and call your brothers to finish off the rest of them.

Anyone else found the doctor shops useless? I never bought ANYTHING from them. I just renovated them and moved along. You get fuckload of medicine, poison, bullets (even from those not carrying guns) and bolts from every dead person. I always had them all at full capacity after every fight. That was annoying. They should have made the stuff like medpacks and bullets spawn on hardest enemies of the group only.

ortucis said:

Lesifoere said:

Satori said:

More stuff than AC2? I actually enjoyed hunting for pieces of the Codex, building up your city and other such things which is very rare for me.

Click to expand...

Yep, the city-building is... more more this time too: renovations, buying up landmarks, investments. Did you like the assassin tombs sections? Because if you do, they've doubled it up this time.

And it's the most beautiful rendition of Renaissance Rome to be found anywhere onscreen. Sure the NPCs are kind of dumb, but they still react to things and every once in a while you'd come across a couple flirting or a man on his knees proposing to a lady, or a woman walking by with a bitten apple in hand. Little things, but it accomplishes the illusion of a living city pretty well.

Click to expand...

Yes I did notice all those but if you pay attention, you will find that a LOT of women are going around eating apples (obvious reference..), which kinda got annoying. What is fun is pushing them away and watch the apple roll.

"What the.. WHERE IS THIS APPLE ORCHARD I NEED TO BUY?" *pushes everyone in anger*


Also, the militia patrolling everywhere, you bump into them acciendtly and they start pushing you around. It's fun to just use assassin blade on the one who pushes you and call your brothers to finish off the rest of them.

Anyone else found the doctor shops useless? I never bought ANYTHING from them. I just renovated them and moved along. You get fuckload of medicine, poison, bullets (even from those not carrying guns) and bolts from every dead person. I always had them all at full capacity after every fight. That was annoying. They should have made the stuff like medpacks and bullets spawn on hardest enemies of the group only.

Click to expand...

I liked to ride past people and knock them on the side of the head with my warhammer at full speed it is great fun.

Also when it comes to doctors they are always nice to have around, but yeah they are not that needed.