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[Klocker]

Anyone else having trouble getting onto the MP servers today?

day before yesterday could not get a game, last night instant join, have not been on yet today. seems hit or miss, hopefully a matchmaking patch will emerge.

 

[iNvid02]

just listened to the entire ACB soundtrack whilst working out :lol

unfortunately it's nowhere near as "epic" as AC2's, stuff like "Ezio's Family" , "Earth" and "Venice Rooftops" are probably the best its gonna get unless Kyd whips out something insane for the next AC - i think a setting change is due which will allow him to move away from Italy.

 

[Snapshot King]

Disappointed in this. It's basically a mod for AC2 at full price.

Comments like these always make me wonder about expectations in regards to other games. You could easily make this comment and be far more justified about most sequels, if your opinion is that a game is just like a mod if it has asset or core concept re-use.

 

[Klocker]

Only scratching surface of SP (digging MP) but so far the little finishing touches to the game for me are:

* Story seems more natural and flows pretty well (so far) with several goals to achieve in each area
* Have not gotten to my Brotherhood of assassins but can only imagine it adds even more
* Catacomb levels are more immersive, less repeitive task-like
* Ability to replay memory (need to get "Full synch)
* exit the animus at any time to play as desmond
* MP is very well done although matchmaking could use a patch at times
* ability to ride a horse anywhere
* More variety and better weapons with more interaction with the weapons on ground
* Battle system FINALLY is overhauled making large engagements less annoying and makes you feel like a bad-ass
* Graphical touches (better lighting system than AC2 IMO)

 

[MightyKAC]

Ok now I'm worried.

I picked up my copy of ACB yesterday. Put it in , it gets to the loading screen and it says "Disk dirty or damaged blah blah blah " and will not load up for me. Ok, I must have a bad disk since ALL my other Blu ray discs and DVD's work just fine in my PS3 (old 60gig ps2 BC system btw). So the next day I bring my system to a friends house and he's got the game on rent so I pop in his (completely different) copy of ACB and lo and behold the SAME EXACT ERROR POPS UP.

tldr version: 2 different copies of ACB give the same error on my system that plays every other game I put in it just fine.

W
T
FFFFUUUUUUU!!!!!!

I did a google search and I went through this thread and found nothing similar to my issue.
Someone PLEASE tell me I missed something.

Problem solved, the issue was indeed the HD. Once I poped in a different Sata HD that I had lying around the game booted up just fine. Now I guess the only thing left is figure out how I'm gonna transfer all my shit over to the new HD.

Ah well fuck it, I'm gonna get my assassinate on in the mean time

 

[Irish]

just listened to the entire ACB soundtrack whilst working out :lol

unfortunately it's nowhere near as "epic" as AC2's, stuff like "Ezio's Family" , "Earth" and "Venice Rooftops" are probably the best its gonna get unless Kyd whips out something insane for the next AC - i think a setting change is due which will allow him to move away from Italy.

I don't know about that. There was this amazing track I heard in the countryish part of Rome that I just could not find in the soundtrack.

 

[Snapshot King]

Just hopped in the multiplayer, which is great btw, but god damnit, I can't believe that there's no time limit on choosing your character. I've been stalled at this screen for maybe 5 minutes because some jackass won't pick his profile.

 

[Hixx]

Holy shit the execution linking is so fucking bad ass. So fun stabbing someone in the head then shooting another point blank in the head a second later :lol

 

[Zep]

Why is the PC version 3 months behind?

 

[Clevinger]

Why is the PC version 3 months behind?

Gotta get that DRM ready.

 

[ZealousD]

Anybody else hate the fact that horses don't use tank controls? IIRC this is the only series that has horses but uses halo-style vehicle controls. If the city was more open that would be fine, but you're running through small allies.

 

[Zep]

Gotta get that DRM ready.

They still don't get it.

 

[Coldsnap]

It's sorta garbage how the first few Borgia towers that are location around central plot areas like the one next to the whore house cannot be climbed because you are lacking the high jump ability. This is one of the many things I'm finding early on in this game which is taking away from the enjoyment.

 

[pahamrick]

It's sorta garbage how the first few Borgia towers that are location around central plot areas like the one next to the whore house cannot be climbed because you are lacking the high jump ability. This is one of the many things I'm finding early on in this game which is taking away from the enjoyment.

Pretty sure you don't need high jump for any Borgia towers. The only time I recall not being able to climb a tower is when they were in an memory inaccessible due to a memory limitation. Some of them are just tricky, you need to find the right path to take.

 

[Snapshot King]

It's sorta garbage how the first few Borgia towers that are location around central plot areas like the one next to the whore house cannot be climbed because you are lacking the high jump ability. This is one of the many things I'm finding early on in this game which is taking away from the enjoyment.

I absolutely climbed that one before I got the high jump. Maybe YOU couldn't :lol

 

[ZealousD]

It's sorta garbage how the first few Borgia towers that are location around central plot areas like the one next to the whore house cannot be climbed because you are lacking the high jump ability. This is one of the many things I'm finding early on in this game which is taking away from the enjoyment.

Eh? I got all the Borgia towers in the Centro district without the high jump ability. You're missing something.

 

[Irish]

I think only one of the towers required the jump-grab ability and that was in the northern(?) part of Rome.

 

[dwebo]

I think only one of the towers required the jump-grab ability and that was in the northern(?) part of Rome.

Yeah, I'm almost certain the 5 star one near the roman forum fast travel location needs it - I tried that one a ton of times since the captain was a pain in the ass and I didn't want to redo it (that was before I got assassins). It's stupid anyway you need to unlock the high jump again. Did someone bonk him on the head to make him forget how to do it?

day before yesterday could not get a game, last night instant join, have not been on yet today. seems hit or miss, hopefully a matchmaking patch will emerge.

I've found it either joins a game instantly, or stays on the waiting screen (for minutes, if you let it). Now I just cancel out and try again if it doesn't do the former. Most annoying though is when it'll boot me randomly during manhunt matches, usually during the midpoint.

 

[conman]

As I get further into the game, I'm definitely going back and forth in my opinion of the SP campaign. At times, I'm convinced it's the best in the series, and at others the worst.

Mission structure:
I think the core of my issues with ACB are similar to my complaints about AC2. Too often, it just feels like you're cut adrift in the city with no guidance or direction. "Just go do stuff" seems to be what the Ezio story amounts to at moments. From Desmond's perspective this makes sense, since his goal is to explore the city and the period and find modern-day clues. But from Ezio's perspective, raw exploration doesn't make a lot of sense. He should have important things to do and a clear sense for how to do them. Instead, it ends up occasionally falling into the same meandering A to B to C to D structure of AC2. However, there are moments that feel like the great assassination climaxes of AC1. Trouble is, you rarely see those on the horizon, so there's little sense of anticipation or of planning or building an important mission.

Frankly, I'm torn. The climactic missions are brilliant, but the small missions just seem like throwaways, and too often you're just drifting and directionless--two qualities that don't make sense given Ezio's reason for being in the city.

Tombs and Borgia Towers:
Absolutely brilliant. These are what keep me waffling the most in my opinion. Just when I'm getting annoyed with the game's meandering qualities, I'll do one of these tombs or towers and all is immediately forgiven. The variety and strategy involved in the tower attacks is amazing. It delivers on the promise of the first Crackdown game. And the design and depth of the tomb levels makes this seem more like the sequel to Sands of Time than any other PoP game has. Love it.

Factions and Assassins:
I'm not far enough in the game yet to see the full function of these things. But so far, it's just more "stuff to do" rather than anything that seems integral or necessary. Same goes for having to purchase and renovate storefronts. I'm not sure I see the point other than just giving you something to spend all that money on. The guild missions are great, but it starts to make the AC series a bit too much like the GTA games for my taste.

Combat:
This has undergone some serious changes from game to game. I loved the ability to experiment with a bunch of different strategies in AC2. And even in AC1, there was a lot of room for trying new ways to kill. But in ACB, there seems to be a design acknowledgment that most people who play the game just use the counter attack over and over again (which I never did). So the new combo system favors that fast, simple response. It makes most of the other dozen forms of attack almost pointless. The focus on experimentation seems to have disappeared in favor of a more Batman-like speed and flow. Of course, it could be just me having lost patience with the prior game's experimental focus. Not sure.

Anyhow, just my running thoughts. I'm sure my opinion will change yet again by tomorrow. :lol

 

[Pachimari]

Why have I had the review copy at my desk for 4 days without touching it?

I absolutely loved Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed II, even enjoyed the multiplayer beta of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. I'm starting to get excited for Ezios latest outing even though I'm not much of a fan of this character.

Guess I'll spend my whole sunday playing this thing.

 

[ZealousD]

Factions and Assassins:
I'm not far enough in the game yet to see the full function of these things. But so far, it's just more "stuff to do" rather than anything that seems integral or necessary. Same goes for having to purchase and renovate storefronts. I'm not sure I see the point other than just giving you something to spend all that money on. The guild missions are great, but it starts to make the AC series a bit too much like the GTA games for my taste.

Have you done the escort mission where the full sync requirements ask you to not get detected?

That one is PERFECT for using the assassins. You'll be walking down the street, see a bunch of guards ahead of you. You can't go right by them because they'll attack your escort, and if you attack them you'll miss the full sync. So instead, you call in your assassins or do an arrow storm. It's pretty awesome when you're just casually walking down the street and you sneakily call down some of your assassins buddies to do the dirty work for you so you can keep on strutting. So badass.

 

[conman]

Have you done the escort mission where the full sync requirements ask you to not get detected?

That one is PERFECT for using the assassins. You'll be walking down the street, see a bunch of guards ahead of you. You can't go right by them because they'll attack your escort, and if you attack them you'll miss the full sync. So instead, you call in your assassins or do an arrow storm. It's pretty awesome when you're just casually walking down the street and you sneakily call down some of your assassins buddies to do the dirty work for you so you can keep on strutting. So badass.

Yeah, it's strange though. It reminds me of the focus on experimentation in the combat in AC1. There are lots of ways to do things, but none of them is necessary. It's one of the reasons why the first game divided so many opinions. You could do things the easy way (which is why folks called it "repetitive"), or you could do it the more experimental way (which is why folks like me loved it).

But I definitely need to spend more time with it (a little over ten hours so far).

 

[Snapshot King]

Combat:
This has undergone some serious changes from game to game. I loved the ability to experiment with a bunch of different strategies in AC2. And even in AC1, there was a lot of room for trying new ways to kill. But in ACB, there seems to be a design acknowledgment that most people who play the game just use the counter attack over and over again (which I never did). So the new combo system favors that fast, simple response. It makes most of the other dozen forms of attack almost pointless. The focus on experimentation seems to have disappeared in favor of a more Batman-like speed and flow. Of course, it could be just me having lost patience with the prior game's experimental focus. Not sure.

I'll eventually play through the previous ones again, and I gotta say, I'm kind of lost with what you mean by experimenting. There's combo kills, but they're useless compared to counter kills. Grabs never did any damage unless there was scaffolding around...so like, what're you talking about with dozens of other attacks?

 

[ezekial45]

The misson where you have to

Spoiler

chase after Cesere through the city is bullshit

 

[Lostconfused]

Have you done the escort mission where the full sync requirements ask you to not get detected?

That one is PERFECT for using the assassins. You'll be walking down the street, see a bunch of guards ahead of you. You can't go right by them because they'll attack your escort, and if you attack them you'll miss the full sync. So instead, you call in your assassins or do an arrow storm. It's pretty awesome when you're just casually walking down the street and you sneakily call down some of your assassins buddies to do the dirty work for you so you can keep on strutting. So badass.

Of course all of that can be done with henchmen as well, if you can find them.

Comments like these always make me wonder about expectations in regards to other games. You could easily make this comment and be far more justified about most sequels, if your opinion is that a game is just like a mod if it has asset or core concept re-use.

If developers were still making expansion, that's what I would call Brotherhood.

 

[Coldsnap]

okay I just suck them. I've tried climbing it three times....

 

[Sai-kun]

Disappointed in this. It's basically a mod for AC2 at full price.

And watch as this guy never posts in the thread again :lol Get outta here.

How do you check the other people's emails? Is it possible?

 

[bdouble]

So single player seems to be just what I expected. More of AC2 and I love that. Jumped into the multi last night (only played 5 or so games in Beta) and damn is it fun. Even though sometimes I feel like its total chance that you might be killed 3 or so times in a row one game and then not die much the next you realize your never really our of it if you can string together some sweet kills.

I played a few hours and never ended up lower than 3rd. Was so addicting though. You keep playing the same people and just despise some of the other players.

 

[ZealousD]

I'll eventually play through the previous ones again, and I gotta say, I'm kind of lost with what you mean by experimenting. There's combo kills, but they're useless compared to counter kills. Grabs never did any damage unless there was scaffolding around...so like, what're you talking about with dozens of other attacks?

Instead of standard counter kills, you can also do disarm counters. Grabs actually can do real damage. With some enemies you can instantly slit their throat once you've grabbed them. I also found that in AC2, counter kills were sometimes more effective with the hidden blade than the sword. But in AC:B, the sword is always more effective for combat. You can do a string of executions in AC:B with the hidden blade, but it's much more difficult.

Of course all of that can be done with henchmen as well, if you can find them.

It's not as badass with henchmen though. With henchmen, you usually just keep them occupied, while assassins straight up kill them. And you can't call henchmen at nearly any time like you can with assassins.

 

[Snapshot King]

Of course all of that can be done with henchmen as well, if you can find them.

If developers were still making expansion, that's what I would call Brotherhood.

I sort of agree, save for the fact that, well, some companies made dramatically better expansions than others. This'd be a blizzard level expansion.

 

[I NEED SCISSORS]

Gotta get that DRM ready.

Isn't it going to be Steamworks like R.U.S.E.?

 

[dwebo]

How do you check the other people's emails? Is it possible?

Huh you just click on their names and Desmond magically fills in their password :lol

(no wonder the Templars have no trouble finding them)

edit: @below, ahh well that explains it

 

[ZealousD]

How do you check the other people's emails? Is it possible?

Spoiler

Check Desmond's trash. You'll get a cryptic message from "Erudito" with their passwords.

 

[ZealousD]

I sort of agree, save for the fact that, well, some companies made dramatically better expansions than others. This'd be a blizzard level expansion.

If the only thing AC:B added was the new single player campaign, blizzard-level would be about right. Even Blizzard-level expansions aren't necessarily worth full price. But I think the addition of multiplayer puts it over the edge. With just single-player, it's a $40 expansion. With multiplayer, it earns the $60 price tag.

 

[dwebo]

If the only thing AC:B added was the new single player campaign, blizzard-level would be about right. Even Blizzard-level expansions aren't necessarily worth full price. But I think the addition of multiplayer puts it over the edge. With just single-player, it's a $40 expansion. With multiplayer, it earns the $60 price tag.

Yeah, they really knocked it out of the park with the multiplayer. It's certainly the best addition of it to a previously single player series I've played anyway.

 

[Sai-kun]

Spoiler

Check Desmond's trash. You'll get a cryptic message from "Erudito" with their passwords.

Ahhh okay. Thanks. Guess I better get started on my second playthrough soon

 

[ZealousD]

Yeah, they really knocked it out of the park with the multiplayer. It's certainly the best addition of it to a previously single player series I've played anyway.

Well it's not as good as Unreal -> Unreal Tournament. =P

 

[bigdaddygamebot]

Disappointed in this. It's basically a mod for AC2 at full price.

I would pay full price for mods like this one.

 

[Lostconfused]

If the only thing AC:B added was the new single player campaign, blizzard-level would be about right. Even Blizzard-level expansions aren't necessarily worth full price. But I think the addition of multiplayer puts it over the edge. With just single-player, it's a $40 expansion. With multiplayer, it earns the $60 price tag.

I am just saying that I wasn't really a big fan of Ezio's story in 2 and am not thrilled this time around either. I am certainly enjoying the game but I am more interested in Assassins Creed 3.

 

[Snapshot King]

Isn't it going to be Steamworks like R.U.S.E.?

Really? I had figured they were going to use they're "always online" DRM plan that lands on top of steam as well.

 

[Lostconfused]

Wow if they use steamworks instead of their abomination, I might actually buy another assassins creed game since 1.

 

[fernoca]

By the way, why do the guards always put your 'wanted' posters, in the most osbcure, hidden, high places?

Shouldn't they put them out in the open, to let everyone know "you're wanted"?

I don't know how much purpose is going to serve those posters they (apparently aimed from afar with a crossbow); in some of those roofstops.

 

[Ledsen]

Anybody else hate the fact that horses don't use tank controls? IIRC this is the only series that has horses but uses halo-style vehicle controls. If the city was more open that would be fine, but you're running through small allies.

Actually when I first got a horse my first thought was "wow, these controls are awesome, finally I can navigate through these small alleys" :lol the horse seems to turn on a dime and going through tight corridors is no problem.

Instead of standard counter kills, you can also do disarm counters. Grabs actually can do real damage. With some enemies you can instantly slit their throat once you've grabbed them. I also found that in AC2, counter kills were sometimes more effective with the hidden blade than the sword. But in AC:B, the sword is always more effective for combat. You can do a string of executions in AC:B with the hidden blade, but it's much more difficult..

Really? I only ever use the hidden blade (haven't really tried any other weapons), and I have no problem stringing together as many kills as I want. being able to counter using RT+X during a combo string without breaking your combo helps a ton.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

Have I hit a glitch in Cluster 1? I get to a Quarantine Zone and it says hit X to activate but nothing happens.

 

[dwebo]

Have I hit a glitch in Cluster 1? I get to a Quarantine Zone and it says hit X to activate but nothing happens.

Press x over the red dot?

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

Press x over the red dot?

Hah, it's a recticle. Didn't even cross my mind.

 

[Snapshot King]

So in multiplayer, what's everybodys favourite abilities? I can't ever see myself using anything but throwing knives and firecrackers myself. Just so useful.

 

[Bebpo]

Started playing this on PS3 and surprised at how badly it runs. I played AC1/2 on X360, but my X360 is dead so I went PS3 for this one. I can live with the heavy screen tearing, but once I got to Rome the framerate is arghhgh when moving around the city with people. It feels like it's almost never holding 30fps and closer to 20-25fps. Really taking away from the experience for me. I'm disappointed they couldn't have done something to smooth it out. If I haven't replaced my X360 by the time AC3 comes out I guess I'll just wait the extra 3-6 months for the PC version :\

 

[Drahcir]

Started playing this on PS3 and surprised at how badly it runs. I played AC1/2 on X360, but my X360 is dead so I went PS3 for this one. I can live with the heavy screen tearing, but once I got to Rome the framerate is arghhgh when moving around the city with people. It feels like it's almost never holding 30fps and closer to 20-25fps. Really taking away from the experience for me. I'm disappointed they couldn't have done something to smooth it out. If I haven't replaced my X360 by the time AC3 comes out I guess I'll just wait the extra 3-6 months for the PC version :\

Having played all three AC games on the PS3, Brotherhood is easily the jankiest in terms polish. I'm about 5 hours into Brotherhood and it pains me to see how sluggish the game runs compared to the first two games. My entire experience with AC 2 was flawless compared to Brotherhood where NPCs would pop up in front of Ezio (some on horses!) and it just ruins a little bit of the immersion. That's probably my biggest gripe. If that happened in the first two games as well, I couldn't tell. But in Brotherhood, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Hopefully this is somehow patchable to at least reduce the issue.

 

[ashbash159]

Just literally finished the story. Amazing.

I think I might have enjoyed it more than any other game this year and I think I liked it more than Assassin's Creed II also.

Haven't even touched the multiplayer yet.