Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood brings to the table so much more than was ever expected. Not only is it perhaps the best in the franchise, but is also an easy Game of the Year candidate.

Brotherhood beats its predecessor in every aspect. It has a new team management system, a beautiful environment to explore, fantastic controls that will have you running all over the city, along with an engaging storyline. Throw in one of the most unique multiplayer experiences to date, and you have yourself one of the greatest games of the year.

What makes the multiplayer so much fun is the constant balance between being the hunter and the prey. Stalking enemies around the map is a lot of fun (even when I end up on the business end of a blade before I can make my kill), and patience has never been so important.

With a campaign worthy of sequel status and a multiplayer mode full of fresh, entertaining ideas, there isn't enough praise I can lay on AC: Brotherhood.

It amazes me that a game of this caliber – that is to say, a game that is ridiculously good in spite of its missteps – comes just one year after its predecessor. It improves a lot, adds even more, and changes nothing I already adored. It's a shorter game than Assassin's Creed 2, if that matters, but aside from the storyline it's better in almost every way.

But the best of all may be Advanced Wanted mode, which ditches many of the indicators and forces you to rely almost entirely on your observation skills to detect your targets. It's super tough, but incredibly rewarding.

But what sets Brotherhood apart from the rest of the series is the inclusion of Multiplayer.

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood builds on the foundations laid by the previous two games, expanding the gameplay with some very welcome additions, ultimately Brotherhood is by far the best Assassin's Creed game we've seen so far and one of the standout games of the year.

The game may have the odd technical flaw, but it still stands out as the best in the franchise so far. Oodles of fun with an epic campaign and slick multiplayer, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is a serious contender for Game of the Year.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is a deep, rich, and sublime experience in both single player and multiplayer.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is one of this year's finest releases, and improves on everything we loved about the previous title, while adding plenty of its own excellent features.

It's a measure of how great a game is that you have to fish around for something to say that is even remotely negative.

Against all odds, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood exists in 2010, and it not only lives up to the hype, but it manages to completely outclass its predecessor. Brotherhood is a game that Assassin's Creed fans simply cannot afford to miss, and one of best games this year.

This is a truly worthwhile upgrade on the Assassin's Creed experience and sets the bar dangerously high for the next iteration.

It may not take the same giant step forward as ACII did in comparison to the original title, but there's no doubt that if you loved ACII, you're gonna adore Brotherhood.

Definitely the apex of the Assassin's Creed series thus far. The story does a great job of furthering both the historical plot as well as the overarching sci-fi elements of the story (Desmond has a much larger role here), and the game's new structure is refreshing for those who may have found the back-and-forth structure of last year's title to be a bit tedious.

Within a year Ubisoft delivers one new great game to the Assassin's Creed franchise that takes place in Rome. A new story, more side-missions, a multiplayer. It's also the best looking Assassin's Creed game so far. Must buy.

The multiplayer modes are a blast to play, and open up a world of possibilities for future installments.

Its new gameplay elements and other additions like the multiplayer modes makes this one the most complete Assassin's Creed thus far. Brotherhood is an amazing follow-up to the sequel and an amazing way to conclude Ezio Auditore's adventures.

Brotherhood continues to tune and polish the Assassin's Creed gameplay proposing the incredible Rome scenery to the player. We're still a bunch of aspects away from perfection and the game is probably too easy but Brotherhood is without any doubt the best chapter in the series.

The moment you finish the game, you'll be chomping at the bit for the inevitable Assassin's Creed III. [Dec 2010, p.112]

A rich and bast game designed to treat fans. Great value, lacks 'wow'. [Christmas 2010, p.72]

A simply brilliant sequel. [Issue#199, p.72]

If you didn't like Assassin's Creed 2, Brotherhood will hardly convince you, but if you are one of the series followers, this game is a great sequel to the previous one. It polishes its mechanics and includes many things to do in the city, and it adds a very enjoyable multiplayer mode which brings some freshness to PS Network and Xbox Live.

The multiplayer aspects aren't that engaging for me -- there's just not enough to do to balance out the frustration of not being able to defend myself in a fight. However, I love how deep the team has managed to make the single-player portion of the game (again).

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is a pleasant surprise in every respect, even though some of the concerns you might have had regarding the single map and ageing formula still stand with the final product.

Brotherhood didn't came to revolutionize the industry but without a doubt that came to revolutionize the series.

A very good sequel to Assassin's Creed 2, with an impressive atmosphere, a lot of diversion and a great multiplayer-mode. There are some issues that could have been done better, but in the end they don't matter anyway.

Without question, this is one of the best games of 2010.

In Assassin's Creed Brotherhood the only place where Ezio is sneaking around is Rome. But thats not bad news because the city of Rome is gigantic. There are some balancing problems and the multiplayer is not that entertaining. Anyway, Brotherhood is a wonderful game.

The latest Assasins Creed improves much from the already great Assassins Creed 2 formula by making fighting elements more intense and fun while improving the stealth moments. The story and characters develop nicely throughout the game's progress, and it's a blast to play this rich and high-quality game and even though some small problems from the games predecessor haunts the game. It's the finest Assassins Creed yet.

The game features a whole bunch of additions, of which the main innovation is the new multiplayer mode. This new game in the franchise is once again a top shelf production, but it's not for people who like quick action, because the use of stealth is always needed.

While the core mechanics of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood are largely familiar, the game still brings fresh ideas to the table with some inspired secondary missions and meta-games. It's in the multiplayer that Brotherhood really beats its wings though, presenting what's arguably the best competitive stealth experience anywhere in gaming.

Together these elements make Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood the most polished experience the series has created to date. It's one that will vindicate fans and hush doubters, even if Ezio's swarthy charms are starting to run as thin as an Italian waiter shamelessly flirting with your date.

While its story falls short of the bar set by Assassin's Creed II, Brotherhood packs in more than enough new content and improvements to make up for it. It's not the best of the series, but it's still an essential piece of the ever-expanding AC puzzle.

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is a great way to finish the storyline of Ezio Auditore. The game is a better version of Assassin's Creed 2, and offers a solid adventure with loads of missions and a great variety. The multiplayer needs some improvements and could become really addictive in Assassin's Creed 3, but as for now it looks just like a minor extra.

Brotherhood is another great chapter of the most thrilling series of this generation. The plot is mature and interesting, and even if some issues with the battle system are still there to bother, the beauty of the landscape and the amount of quests are impressive.

Hitting the mark in just about every area, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is a stunningly considered improvement on its predecessor. Essential for fans of the series, it's also an adventure of tremendous substance and beauty in its own right.

It's an exercise in perfecting what you've already got working; you're not going to find much in the way of completely new material, but this is a superior game to its predecessor and a solid bridge to the next entry in the series.

The multiplayer component definitely has its moments, but serious players will be turned off by how random it can be. For the series to remain elite it will need to evolve, but for now, its unique premise and core gameplay are more than enough to make this brotherhood one worth joining.

Recommended to fans of the franchise and also to newcomers. While the single player campaign is entertaining and offers a lot of content, the multiplayer mode is only average. It's a nice goodie, nothing more. The atmosphere, the localization and the videos are pretty well done, which let the player forget time and play hours.

Brotherhood is an extremely fun game, with some new elements added that keep the series fresh enough that it does not seem like just an extension of Assassin's Creed 2.

While Brotherhood strays farther away from foundation of the original Assassin's Creed, it still has the ability to hold your interest and lock you into an engaging story.

This is definitely the sequel of the year!

Ezio's new adventure is an intermediate chapter the fans of the series will certainly like. Unfortunately, it offers a shorter single player campaign, and a fun yet not so deep multiplayer mode.

Those wanting more from Ezio, and to revel in the period set in Assassins Creed II for a little longer, will find fond memories in Assassins Creed Brotherhood; however I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd seen it all before and was being dragged along for the same old ride.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is the most complete game of the franchise yet. The main feature we will find in this entry is the huge array of missions we can take, with more variety, and all of them in just one city, Rome; an enormous city. The multiplayer is simple and fun, which makes this series even more interesting.

This may not be Assassin's Creed III, but like Ezio's smirk, Brotherhood is too irresistible to ignore.

Through its newfound cohesive game structure and intuitive, serviceable gameplay mechanics, Brotherhood's assets outweigh its occasionally annoying design quirks.

Like a bigger, better and more polished version of Assassin's Creed II.

Assasssin's Creed: Brotherhood has great atmosphere, beautiful visuals, and overall excellent craftsmanship… Just don't expect anything new beyond the multiplayer.

Brotherhood shows that Ubisoft has found the heart and soul of this series. A variety of missions, Rome as a playground and an impressive multiplayer make this one of the more engaging games of 2010. A couple of mistakes keep this game from becoming a classic.

A stopgap sequel. [Dec 2010]

Even though it lacks polish, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is every bit as entertaining as it's prequels. It's still good fun to stand on the top of ancient buildings, just seing the everyday life pass on the streets below and strike the opponents when they least expect it.

Brotherhood isn't trying to make easy money. One can surely grunt at the lack of mythology revelations and average story (but still unmissable for the fan) of the campaign, but its gameplay has been improved in almost every way. It's massive (at least 12 hours if you're not trying to get everything), and rich with a lot of new stuff, both small and big (starting with the assassin's guild mechanics). We'll see in the long run if its multiplayer will prove to have more strengths than weaknesses, but it's already, and unmistakably, one of the most refreshing experiences of late, with games that are an inspiration for ruse, cold-blood, and cunning.

The game doesn't advance the wider narrative very far, the new mechanics don't really add a great deal and the mission designs rarely explore new gameplay possibilities.

But combined with a lengthy and respectable single-player campaign, Brotherhood becomes a worthwhile Assassin's Creed 2.5. [Jan 2011, p.79]