Zero Punctuation: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

[Kermi]

By 'a lot a changed', you probably mean 'a lot more stuff has been tacked on to gameplay'. To me, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood will always feel like an expansion pack to Assassin's Creed II that I had to pay full price for. At least the first and second games were vastly different with different contexts, but Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood just feels rushed out and the assassin recruits, to me, feel underutilised. It's not like they make much of a difference in the story.

If your Assassins felt underutilised it's because you weren't using them enough. They're instrumental in several story missions if you're going for 100% synch, they're great fun to call in on guards, pickpockets and Borgia couriers just for the hell of it if you don't feel like dealing with them yourself, and sending them out of missions nets you money early on when you need it - then later on when they're ranked up you can send them on the really tough assignments where they can net you key trade items you need for shop quests.

It's really the other guilds that were under-utilised. Yes, Courtesans came in handy once or twice, but I didn't need to use theives or mercenaries at all once I had a few Assassin recruits.

If you think AC:B felt like an expansion, I have no idea what more you could possibly have expected. A new vast city, an excellent continuation of the story, some new gameplay elements, though truthfully they may as well have taken out the pistol when they took the crossbow - I only recall using the pistol once when I ran out of Crossbow bolts, and that was because I wasn't looting corpses as diligently as I should've been. The only other times I heard the pistol go off were during executions, which was unnecessary.

It felt like a fully fledged game to me, with a surprisingly excellent multiplayer. It's great that I am rewarded for playing stealthily, so I can come 2nd or 3rd (I'm yet to net a first place, but I've only played about 10 games) with half the kills of the morons who run around getting 100-point kills because they keep blowing their cover. It's exhilarating to escape, and hilarious to lure your pursuer to a civilian.

One fond memory for me was when I play playing as a smuggler and found two other smugglers talking in a blend spot - so I joined them. My pursuer managed to track me to the blend spot then stood there for about a minute watching the three of us - me and two NPCs - trying to guess which one was his correct target. Unfortunately I couldn't stun him because he hadn't exposed himself in terms of gameplay mechanics - he was 100% stealthed - but I knew he was my pursuer, and laughed like a maniac when he turned and pounced on one of the NPCs because they turned and left the conversation before I did.

Anyway, I digress. An expansion to AC2? Maybe. Worth full retail price? Absolutely.

 

[SonicWaffle]

I always did see a similarity between Yahtzee and Assassin's Creed's Shawn.

I though he WAS Assassin's Creed's Shawn

It would seems that Ubisoft's been paying attention to this particular reviewer and in order to please him put him in the game...

Oh snarky British community theater college student. I just knew Yahtzee would approve of you.

OK, given up on looking for replies, BUT! The guy playing Shaun (and looking exactly like him IRL, what with one being based on the other) is incredibly funny comedian Danny Wallace. I have to say that I don't know why though - sure, Wallace is funnier than a sack full of weasels being used to beat the homeless to death, but he's also one of the most optimistic and positive comics whose work I've ever read. This is the guy who founded a cult by accident and then set them to doing good deeds. The guy who decided to say yes to everything. It seems weird that his character in the game is 'generic snarky British fellow #12' when he's more optimistic than almost any writer I've read.

The reason he doesn't play sarcastic pessimist very well (as anyone who has played these games can tell) is that it appears to be totally alien to his personality. If people are seeing a clear link between him and Yahtzee then it means Wallace is a good actor, but is overall kinda depressing :-(

 

[SonicWaffle]

WOW and here I thought zero punctuation had finnaly stoped kissing valves ass. I have a question for Mr. Croshaw, Is there a game made by Valve that you dont like?

I'm going to have to make a point here - who made Assassin's Creed? Was it;

A) Valve
B) Ubisoft
C) Valve

I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count.

 

[Tempest13]

I always did see a similarity between Yahtzee and Assassin's Creed's Shawn.

CAN'T SEE WHY

that line made me laugh so hard

 

[Memor-X]

i hope Yahtzee didn't forget Assassins Creed Bloodlines on PSP, and since Assassins Creed 2 did the same as no. 1 by releasing a squeal of the game that uses the same assassin as the previous game in a short storyline that tried to tie up all the loose ends, if there is ever an Assassins Creed 3, there will no doubt be a game like Bloodlines and Brotherhood, Assassins Creed Bladestorm anyone? (probably the only name i could think that so far fits with the ACB naming that the previous 2 games have had)

 

[roostuf]

Ah its been awhile seen yahzee totally skull-fucked an upcoming game that is supposed to be brilliant in my country.

 

[JenkinsTR]

I thought the same as Yahtzee with the whole playing in different time periods and being disappointed about the samey-ness of all 3 titles so far... doesn't seem like there will be many other time periods.. Darkest of Days anyone?

 

[FallenMessiah88]

Bah im getting tired of this whole multiplayer thing. But this games multiplayer actually sounds interesting.

 

[LaughingNabashin]

I'm sorry to say but I didn't think much of this review. It might be me expecting too much of a laugh from Yahtzee, or it might be the fact I couldn't give a damn about "Ass" Creed. Last week's video however I found hilarious and I don't play COD.! I don't know what didn't click with me here, but what I do know is this, that new bloody mic he's been using lately makes him sound like he's talking into a pillow! What happened Mr. Crosshaw??

 

[equalplatinum]

Is it 9 alley handjobs or 9 alley blowjobs? Continuity error!

 

[OZITOMAI]

yahtsee the game is similar but there are some key differences, 1. the assassin's which you mentioned i rather like the idea of sending them everywhere, 2. the multiplayer which yeah yeah DLC so what, 3. the combat is alot better and more fun and differen/fresh e.g. the combos are better to do and more fun to watch, they have amped up the attacking so instead people dont have to rely mainly on the counter which i had to in AC2, 3. there are more stealth been added in this one e.g. the leanardo missions they are mainly stealth, 4. the horses are used more not just for ezio but also the soldiers which can be taken for the combat point, 5. the assassins can be used also for combat and assassionations, so i dont know what your talking about being it another copy its a new one and better, didnt know though that it was a sequal seriously thought is was a spin-off and come on yahtsee i thought you would complain about the beggers and the musicians they are both this one which are so freaken annoying, your being very lazy today lol

 

[AssassinJoe]

I always did see a similarity between Yahtzee and Assassin's Creed's Shawn.

I though he WAS Assassin's Creed's Shawn

It would seems that Ubisoft's been paying attention to this particular reviewer and in order to please him put him in the game...

Oh snarky British community theater college student. I just knew Yahtzee would approve of you.

OK, given up on looking for replies, BUT! The guy playing Shaun (and looking exactly like him IRL, what with one being based on the other) is incredibly funny comedian Danny Wallace. I have to say that I don't know why though - sure, Wallace is funnier than a sack full of weasels being used to beat the homeless to death, but he's also one of the most optimistic and positive comics whose work I've ever read. This is the guy who founded a cult by accident and then set them to doing good deeds. The guy who decided to say yes to everything. It seems weird that his character in the game is 'generic snarky British fellow #12' when he's more optimistic than almost any writer I've read.

The reason he doesn't play sarcastic pessimist very well (as anyone who has played these games can tell) is that it appears to be totally alien to his personality. If people are seeing a clear link between him and Yahtzee then it means Wallace is a good actor, but is overall kinda depressing :-(

I've never seen any of Danny Wallace's movies. What's he in?

Also, how is it depressing? He's a good actor!

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

Well, a team of Renaissance era assassin's would certainly spice up the World Cup, that's for sure.

 

[Vault101]

so.. i wonder how yhatzee likes the news about ea retiring "offline" games

wait what? what dose that mean then?

 

[v3n0mat3]

As much as I love AC:B, I have to agree that all that fucking building upgrade stuff is BORING AS HELL.

 

[havass]

Even if it is just an extension of Ass Creed 2, I'll take any excuse to faf about with 'ol Niccolo: Disregard Morals, Acquire Power!
And it's still a good game, which is nice.

I always did see a similarity between Yahtzee and Assassin's Creed's Shawn.

I though he WAS Assassin's Creed's Shawn

I thought the dude was called Shaun?
And it'll be a miracle that Yahtzee wouldn't like him. They're both sarcastic bastards who spout entertaining dialogue.

 

[carpathic]

I am not sure how he does it most weeks, but that, was an excellent review. Equal parts hilarious and informative.

Thanks!

 

[Porecomesis]

If your Assassins felt underutilised it's because you weren't using them enough. They're instrumental in several story missions if you're going for 100% synch, they're great fun to call in on guards, pickpockets and Borgia couriers just for the hell of it if you don't feel like dealing with them yourself, and sending them out of missions nets you money early on when you need it - then later on when they're ranked up you can send them on the really tough assignments where they can net you key trade items you need for shop quests.

I meant story-wise, not gameplay wise. They're used once when you hurt the thieves' feelings and you needed a substitute, but that's it. The trailer depicts Ezio walking straight up to Cesare Borgia (in a completely stealthy and assassin way, mind you, with his bright white cloak and belt of knifes) and after killing some guards Ezio and the recruits begin an epic battle with Cesare's soldiers. Does this happen in the game? No. I mean, unless you call them, they don't even bother to show their faces in the final battle.

In any event, I did send them on all those side missions and rank them all up to Assassino way before Claudia's entry into the brotherhood (which I suspect was supposed to come first), but later I only used them for arrow storms and when the game told me to because I remembered I prefer doing the killing myself.

If you think AC:B felt like an expansion, I have no idea what more you could possibly have expected. A new vast city, an excellent continuation of the story, some new gameplay elements, though truthfully they may as well have taken out the pistol when they took the crossbow - I only recall using the pistol once when I ran out of Crossbow bolts, and that was because I wasn't looting corpses as diligently as I should've been. The only other times I heard the pistol go off were during executions, which was unnecessary.

How about a completely different time period? I'm going to go with Critical Miss on this one; you have a special chair that lets you relive the memories of ANY of your genetic ancestors. The opportunities are endless! Ancient Egypt! Victorian England! But instead, Ubisoft just dumped us in the same time period.

I get the very strong impression that AC:B was very rushed out to wring as much money as they could and they didn't spend much time at all trying to think of new ideas. That's why I'm grateful for the news that the series is taking a 2 year break.

 

[Psychoninja7]

Yahtzee has a daughter?

anyway, the only thing I really like about assasin's creed is Ezio. I'm not in a rush to by brotherhood at all. I hope it isn't as bad as my friend described it.

 

[Kermi]

How about a completely different time period? I'm going to go with Critical Miss on this one; you have a special chair that lets you relive the memories of ANY of your genetic ancestors. The opportunities are endless! Ancient Egypt! Victorian England! But instead, Ubisoft just dumped us in the same time period.
I get the very strong impression that AC:B was very rushed out to wring as much money as they could and they didn't spend much time at all trying to think of new ideas. That's why I'm grateful for the news that the series is taking a 2 year break.

I think they saw an opportunity to capitalise on Ezio's popularity and ran with it. I was frankly grateful for more of this time period despite only having finished AC2 a few months earlier, and there were substantial changes to the game world, and enough detail has gone into the finished product (which I don't think you can really deny was very polished) that I didn't feel like I was playing an expansion.

Now the ending is what throws me off:

Spoiler: Nobody read this unless you've finished Brotherhood

They HAVE the Apple in the present day and Desmond is back in the Animus - assuming he ever left, there's a lot of theories around that - after it seems he went a little bit crazy there at the end.

I assumed AC3 the Apple would be somewhere else in history, we'd chase it through another time period, but no, it feels like Ubisoft said "this formula is stale, kill it" - gave us more Ezio, more Renaissance Italy, and brought the Apple into Desmond's hands - we "know" it lay undisturbed below the Colliseum for 500 years for them to find eventually (unless it was all an elaborate Abstergo/Templar trap).

Where do they go from there? Sure, playing around with Assassins in different time periods is fun but how does it stay fresh? I'm confident Ubisoft have some great ideas, but they've opened up some great potential for mindbuggery with the endings of AC2 and Brotherhood and that's what I want more of. At this point I can't help but wonder if the reason that we've seen so many differnet alleged concepts come up for a franchise that's supposedly going to wrap up in 2012 in the real world to coincide with the in-game events, is because they're going to have some sort of grand time-period Royal Rumble where Desmond jumps back and forth between a whole bunch of his ancestors.
Then again that's such a horrible idea for a game I'm disappointed I even came up with it, so that can't possibly be it.

I just feel that while Ubisoft are making games like Splinter Cell: Conviction, we don't really need a game that focuses purely on present-day Desmond to any great extent - so what's the rush?

Also, one of us has outdated news. Last I heard, Ubi were planning on releasing the next installment in the Assassin's Creed franchise next year.