This installment of the series is thought of by many as the best that Ubisoft have produced for Assassins Creed. It always features within the top 3 of many website, magazine and YouTube countdowns which I agree with, as the game is also in my own top 3; however playing this immediately after finishing ACII has made me question whether it is in fact the greatest.
Personally for me, one thing that let's the game down is the trophy requirement for 100% synchronisation (sync) in ACB, as part of the free DLC content within The Ezio Collection. I am a trophy hunter and long for those platinum trophies. This is the first in the series to introduce the 100% sync aspect for your ancestors memories which since then has featured in all following games, but only for completion of the main story-line. To achieve 100% sync you must complete an optional objective within that sequence or side mission. The idea, is if you have a better sync with your ancestor, the less likely you are to de-synchronise out of the Animus simulation. I like the fact that they add an extra element of challenge to a memory as AC games are not that difficult, but some of the optional mission constraints either don't make sense within the mission or are a major pain to achieve. This can be especially frustrating with a lack of restarting a checkpoint within a memory as we only have the option to restart the entire memory.
Renovating Rome
Brotherhood sees Ezio parkour his way through the vast map of Rome encountering many famous landmarks that still stand today. A part of me wonders whether we are missing out on the element of travelling to other locations like in ACII that provided different backdrops for assassinations; another part of me feels that it is a fantastic setting. Due to the size of the map and the many new side missions within the game, I feel that there is a lot to do and see to keep you playing for a longer amount of time and even more so with the trophy requirement for 100% sync, as this is the only game where side missions are also included for it; the only drawback for me is that this makes the map extremely cluttered meaning that you might not always find what you are looking for on the map as it is it hidden by another symbol. Differing side missions are:
- Leonardo's War Machines - Destroying Leonardo's inventions for the military and getting to use them in the process
- Lairs of Romulus - Replacing the Assassin Tombs of ACII where the Followers of Romulus (of Romulus and Remus) protect and worship Romulus Scrolls
- Faction Missions - Mercenary assassination missions, Courtesan missions and Thief missions; in my opinion these are very repetitive
- Templar Agents - Based on the multiplayer characters from the original game and are reflective of the assassination side missions
Building on the previous game we see upgrades to Assassin weapons and the formation of The Brotherhood. At the start of the game, the Villa Auditore stronghold in Monteriggioni falls under siege by Cesare Borgia, destroying the Villa and the surrounding village. Fortunately, this leaves a reason for Ezio to start upgrading his weapons once more as they are lost/destroyed during the attack, making sense to the player. It also means that Ezio heads to Rome and with that we no longer renovate our stronghold, but can begin to renovate Rome's districts and famous landmarks by taking over Borgia towers across each district, thus allowing you to make your renovations. This is a game mechanic that continued into following installments like the liberation of Boston and New York in ACIII and the London gangs in Assassins Creed Syndicate for example.
Again, our good friend Leonardo Da Vinci is there to aid us in renewing our lost assassin weapons yet he builds them from memory and not the now lost Codex pages. He is no longer in a workshop but will move around the city as not to arouse the suspicion of the guards that he is working with you. Additional newer weapons can be bought such as the poison dart and a 'climb leap glove' giving Ezio the ability to jump higher when scaling buildings. Parachutes are also a new aspect in the game designed by Leonardo and acquired from Tailors. I also love the addition of the crossbow as it is more effective for sneakily taking out targets than the throwing knives in my opinion, especially as it is able to one-shot kill more advanced enemies; I generally use this weapon on rooftops while surveying the mission area.
I believe the most outstanding feature of ACB is the ability to build your own Brotherhood by rescuing citizens and using their skills towards the Creed. In order to develop your recruits, a pigeon coop is used to assign them to a mission that is level dependent and therefore the higher the level of an assassin in training, the more likely they are to survive a higher rated mission (which is judged on a percentage basis). XP is gained per mission and once your recruit reaches level 10, they attend an Assassin Ceremony and are regarded as a true assassin by their mentor and Master Assassin: Ezio Auditore. The need for your Brotherhood can be great as Ezio has the ability to signal assassins either to attack an enemy while remaining anonymous or for additional help when overwhelmed. A cool-down is used for your three assassin signals that are rewarded by increasing the size of your Brotherhood. When all three signals are ready there is the option to use an ability called 'arrow storm' which kills all of the enemies in your area in one quick burst of arrow fire; I found this incredibly useful in areas with a high number of enemies. Unfortunately, Ezio cannot partake in the missions for his trainees as it is designed more like a mini game. Again, this is yet another feature like the 100% sync that had been passed to further AC games. Examples of this are the Homestead mini game in ACIII and the naval battles in Black Flag.
I feel that by introducing newer game mechanics and features in Brotherhood, it had set the bar for forthcoming titles. We then have the basis for these future games as all up to Syndicate (2015 title) have incorporated some of these mechanics somehow, which is what I believe has made ACB known as the best title in the series. It is no wonder that the series had began to fall due to the use of Ubisoft's seemingly 'copy and paste' method. I am grateful that Ubisoft decided to take time out from AC and have made dramatic changes in the way we play; roll on October 27th 2017!
A Lesson in History
In this installment, we also see the cross between fiction and the reality of history, exploring an era to which I am not completely familiar with. Cesare Boriga was the illegitimate son of Rodrigo Borgia and leader of the Papal armies (a title given to him by his father) supported by the French army; Cesare is Ezio Auditore's newest nemesis. His personality appears to be consumed by power which he states many times that he is control over Rome and Italy instead of Pope Alexander VI, and through the murders of his own family members and friends to retain said power. In fact, as Cesare grew in power and commanded more areas of Italy, his own generals began to conspire as they started to fear him. After finding out about the plot against him, Cesare captured the three traitors and had them executed - these generals are murdered by his closest and most loyal general Micheletto Corella in game. Cesare went from being a hero to a fearsome leader of the states he claimed.
Niccolo Machiavelli the famous philosopher and in game assassin is said to have gained inspiration from the Borgia's, and Cesare in particular, for his work 'The Prince'. He writes that because Cesare was granted his role by his father and depended upon his income that this would be a disadvantage to assert his domain. I believe this is the reason why in game we begin to weaken Cesare's forces by assassinating his remaining generals and sources of income to stop his tyranny. As Ezio is successful in his mission, Cesare becomes desperate and is the one responsible for Rodrigo Borgia's death (one less for Ezio to kill) as he wants to know the location of the Apple of Eden, which Rodrigo had refused. Ever faithful Lucrezia however, reveals the location of the Apple, which conveniently for Ezio, he overhears this conversation and recovers the Apple for himself so it is not in the hands of the Templars. Historically, Cesare did not kill his own father but was soon arrested by the new Pope Julius II and exiled to a prison in Spain. Cesare managed to escape from this prison, recaptured and transferred to a prison of higher security - he escaped again. The game depicts this escape as being assisted by his closest general Micheletto.
I found the death of Cesare Borgia very satisfying as we find ourselves during a siege in Vianna, Navarre. I enjoyed scaling the rooftops and defeating groups of soldiers to finally track down our enemy after he had initially flee'd from us. The battle going on around us is very exciting and the battle between Ezio and Cesare is not easily won. Cesare is very skilled in game using a crossbow, pistols and his sword against us. Armour is chipped off him piece by piece until Ezio can finally get the hidden blade kill. Quick-time events are used in order to see better camera angles and to show the struggle between Cesare and Ezio. Cesare Borgia's real life death was just as dramatic in Navarre as he becomes cornered and alone, he is killed by a spear and stripped of his clothing and valuables for all to see.
If you wondered why we might still be seeing Leonardo in ACB it is because during this time Cesare Borgia had hired Leonardo as a military architect and engineer, where he would create maps of the land in order for better strategic planning by Cesare. The game however sees Leonardo creating 'war machines' for the military such as naval bombers, tanks etc. It is up to Ezio to recover the plans and travel to the locations of the inventions to destroy them. We again get to use the flying machine created by Leonardo in which drawings suggest that this invention was planned but never truly made. I previously mentioned the use of a parachute being a new game mechanism which is also something that Da Vinci had made plans for as it is said that he was interested in flight.
The Da Vinci Disappearance DLC
This is the first time that I've ever been able to play the DLC element of ACB due to the fact that when the original game was released I was always reluctant to spend extra money for them (I was of college age); a part of me still is reluctant to buy today. I feel as though DLC aspects of video games have gotten way out of hand recently and don't appear to add a lot to the game, especially since a lot of them should have just been part of the main game. Although short, The Da Vinci Disappearance and the DLC for Unity (I say this as I have played it) are worth it as exciting extra missions within the game. They add more to the story instead of seeming like they are tacked on for no reason. All DLC is included in The Ezio Collection, that I assume is due to the removal of multiplayer.
I was interested in delving into a part of Leonardo's life that I didn't know about which was his sexuality. In this DLC it was hinted that Da Vinci had a relationship with his male assistant Salai who we see is very concerned about the disappearance of his teacher. The relationship appears to go both ways where Ezio questions Leonardo about Salai and that he approves of their relationship, leaving our beloved Leonardo rarely lost for words. Some paintings and drawings of were also said to been modeled by Salai such as 'John the Baptist'. Homosexuality would have been illegal in the 15th and 16th centuries and looking into history itself outside of the game, Da Vinci was once charged with sodomy but these charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence as another involved in the same incident was related to a figure in power. For this time then, I would have said that Ezio's words to Leonardo are very encouraging and progressive for the time period or merely represents the Creed where 'everything is permitted' if there is a cause. It is crazy to think that only 50 years ago, homosexuality was permitted among society within the UK, but still finds much unjustified negativity today. Another aspect that I enjoyed within the DLC is the incorporation of Da Vinci's masterpieces that Ezio recovers from Lucrezia Borgia (Cesare Borgia's sister) and the creation stage of the world renowned Mona Lisa.
The Present Day & Lucy Stillman
At the end of ACII, we see Desmond and Co. escaping their hideout as they have been found by Warren Vidic and other Templars. In the beginning of ACB we see that the group have traveled to modern day Monteriggioni as their new hideout which looks very different to how it has been experienced as Ezio. The Villa Auditore appears more of a historical building and areas have been fenced off for the people who live there. Cars can also be seen in the village yet there is no other human interaction between the group and those who live in Monteriggioni. The hideout is located underneath the Villa where in the previous game was the site of the assassin statues and seals, Rebecca and Shaun set up base here with the Animus. I thought that ACII had a very good mix between the modern day story and the time in the Animus, but I think ACB beats that by providing you with the option to leave the Animus at any time and explore Monteriggioni as Desmond where he can find artifacts left by the Auditore family. Another aspect is that conversations can be had between Desmond and his friends that give more to the story of the modern day assassins and things happening during Ezio's era. Access to emails is also given to Desmond to catch up on the day to day routine of the gang and updates from other assassins. It almost gives a sense of freedom within the modern day world but sadly we are restricted to 10 minutes per outside session.
Once Ezio has found the location of the Apple of Eden, the present day team travel to the Colosseum in Rome where we free run as Desmond to locate the entrance to the Colosseum vault where the Apple resides. This is where things get really interesting if you didn't see it coming already. As Desmond touches the Apple, Juno (one of the First Civilisation) forces Desmond to kill Lucy which we find out is because she was an Assassin turned Templar that was still working with Desmond to gain his trust and find the location of the Apple. For myself when playing ACB for the very first time, it was all very unexpected and left me thinking, 'Huh?' - however on this second play-through I realise the game left hints along the way. I mean, we seemed to get away from Abstergo quite easily, for a compound so big you would have thought that security would have been much tighter (yes I know it's just a game) but we escaped with ease. If you exit the Animus during Sequence 6-8, you will notice that Lucy isn't anywhere to be seen, though if you use your Eagle Vision, we see a red path leading to a drain and red paths generally mean the presence of an enemy that could suggest it was Lucy. Another clue is left by Subject 16 telling us 'she cannot be trusted' which again can be assumed to be about Ms Stillman.
I was mildly upset upon this revelation during both play-throughs due to the subtle glances and slight flirting between Desmond and Lucy who seemed to have hit it off with Lucy genuinely caring. My question though is was she truly dedicated to the Templar cause after spending more time with Desmond outside of Abstergo and thinking about returning to the Assassins, or was she playing him all along? Desmond feels devastated by what he has done and the energy force from touching the Apple reduces him into a coma like state with the Animus being the only thing to keep him alive. Like ACII we have a perfect ending to the game where there is a true reason to re-enter the Animus after the main story-line is complete.
One Final Note
In the original game a multiplayer aspect was involved for the first time where a player is assigned targets, (other players) that they must assassinate, while also evading other players who may be pursuing them. The game modes were both solo and team based and I had spent many hours playing and leveling my profile not only on Brotherhood but the following games up until Unity where this type of online game-play was swapped for co-op play. This was the only multiplayer game where I could confidently say that I was awesome at it, especially considering that for the PS3 version of Black Flag, I was ranked in the top 1% of players. If I were confident enough and had the skills to produce good Youtube videos or Twitch streams, these games would have been what I would have done them on. Sadly though, I feel that the love I have for this game aspect is not loved by all which could be why it was removed for co-op in Unity and all online aspects completely removed for those following. Today, the servers are lacking in population and can almost be unplayable with long wait times to find a match. Requiescat in pace multiplayer mode.
- If you are unsure of any terms used within this post or would like to know more visit the
Assassins Creed Wiki page
- What do you think is the best game in the series? Have your say in the comments!
- Next post we will be exploring Assassins Creed Revelations as part of The Ezio Collection
*Assassins Creed Origins - Releases 27/10/17*
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