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[Dr Zhivago]

Spoiler

The first circle that expands is a stun/make everyone crazy effect. The second circle when using the apple is a kill circle. Hold it long enough to see the second circle expand. The Cardinal thing was annoying, but I found that once I brought up eagle vision and took a lap around those ruins it kicked right into gear.

Ah, OK. Another thing the game fails to tell you about.

Spoiler

I didn't charge the Apple up very much because it drains your life.

 

[daxter01]

awesome game but this game(ps3 version) runs like ass ,sub 30 fps all the time, I thought ubi said they have made improvements

 

[Animation-Imp]

awesome game but this game(ps3 version) runs like ass ,sub 30 fps all the time, I thought ubi said they have made improvements

I feel it runs a lot smoother than ac2,
I hardly notice any screen tearing compared to the tear-fest that was ac2, and the framerate only chugs while riding horses in certain areas...

Could be the fact I became unscensitive to frame rate drops,
but I doubt it...

 

[big_z]

I totally hit lvl 50. Woo.

how long would you say it took you to do that?

 

[spidye]

I feel it runs a lot smoother than ac2,
I hardly notice any screen tearing compared to the tear-fest that was ac2, and the framerate only chugs while riding horses in certain areas...

Could be the fact I became unscensitive to frame rate drops,
but I doubt it...

no, it runs constantly below the 30 fps mark. only exception are the leonardo missions and that's because it's not in rome. this game is definitely a technical mess. many freezes, bugs, ridiculous frame rate and the worst offender is the disappearing parachute bug. I'm not going to bother with assassin's creed again if they don't give the engine an overhaul and fix the seriously broken stealth missions.

 

[Killthee]

It's pretty tricky to get 100% sync on some of these missions. I have a feeling I'm stuffed because I messed up the sync on

Spoiler

kicking an overseer for the map to one of Leonardo's machines

and the game saved as soon as it happened, and I can't repeat that memory because it wasn't a standalone memory that I can replay. Poo

As an aside, when do you get the smoke bomb in single player? I've had tooltips popping up telling me to use smoke bombs but I don't have them yet and can't buy them from anywhere :lol

You can repeat all sequences inside the Animus, that includes lairs and war machine missions. Just go to the DNA menu and select War Machine under Secondary Memories.

As for smoke bombs, I think you just have to buy the pouch from the Tailor to unlock them.

 

[Animation-Imp]

no, it runs constantly below the 30 fps mark. only exception are the leonardo missions and that's because it's not in rome. this game is definitely a technical mess. many freezes, bugs, ridiculous frame rate and the worst offender is the disappearing parachute bug. I'm not going to bother with assassin's creed again if they don't give the engine an overhaul and fix the seriously broken stealth missions.

Have you played ac2 on launchday?
I'm quite certain ACB's framerate and tearing have improved.
In certain parts of AC2 the FR dipped beneath 10fps (especially a lot of npc's nd enemies reacted on your presence at once).
Up until now I haven't noticed anything as drastic.

 

[spidye]

Have you played ac2 on launchday?
I'm quite certain ACB's framerate and tearing have improved.
In certain parts of AC2 the FR dipped beneath 10fps (especially a lot of npc's nd enemies reacted on your presence at once).
Up until now I haven't noticed anything as drastic.

I played ac2 and you're right it could get really laggy sometimes. again the framerate in acb is only bad in rome but unfortunately you spend the most time in rome.
I am playing ballad of gay tony right now and I have the feeling it runs smoother than acb(all ps3 here)
tearing definitely improved though.

 

[Mr. B Natural]

I just unlocked templar vision. How does that not break the game? It's so easy now. Is there a counter I'm not aware of?

 

[Killthee]

I just unlocked templar vision. How does that not break the game? It's so easy now. Is there a counter I'm not aware of?

You glow yellow when you use it so anybody looking out for pursuers can easily spot you when you use it.

 

[Mr. B Natural]

You glow yellow when you use it so anybody looking out for pursuers can easily spot you when you use it.

Oh I see. Never noticed that.

 

[semiconscious]

Borgia Towers are simply the best open world stealth gameplay I've experienced. There is variety and you can plan out your attacks and execute them in your own style...

yep - approaching the end game (with 1 romulus lair, 3 feathers, & 2 truth segments to go), & it's the borgia towers that'll be my favorite memory of the game. simple (conceptually, anyway), classic, & ingenious...

 

[bobs...onGaf]

So I have only just got the game today - I read somewhere that after you finish the game theres no free roam? So if I do the last mission I basically miss out on all the side stuff unless I restart the game?

Is this the case? What should I be looking out for in terms of where the end of the game is so that I dont accidently make that mistake? (no spoilers please, what sequence is the last one I can do free roam stuff in? Is there a way to have multiple saves perhaps by using a USB so that I can complete the game and then go back and do the side stuff?

Awesome game so far, havent played much but

Spoiler

Omg seeing the villa in the 'present' is actually so awesome

Im looking to jump straight into the Multiplayer. Should I finish the single player first or can I quite happily play both every so often?

 

[Killthee]

So I have only just got the game today - I read somewhere that after you finish the game theres no free roam? So if I do the last mission I basically miss out on all the side stuff unless I restart the game?

Is this the case? What should I be looking out for in terms of where the end of the game is so that I dont accidently make that mistake? (no spoilers please, what sequence is the last one I can do free roam stuff in? Is there a way to have multiple saves perhaps by using a USB so that I can complete the game and then go back and do the side stuff?

Awesome game so far, havent played much but

Spoiler

Omg seeing the villa in the 'present' is actually so awesome

Im looking to jump straight into the Multiplayer. Should I finish the single player first or can I quite happily play both every so often?

No, you can still free roam and finish up any sidequest you might have missed after completing the story. What happens is around the end of Sequence 7/beginning of Sequence 8 you're forced to complete the story mode and are locked out of doing any sidemissions until you do so. You also lose the ability to

Spoiler

exit the Animus and visit present day Monteriggioni

at the same time.


You can flip back and forth between Multiplayer and Single Player, there's no SP twist spoiled in MP but there is a cool little easter egg (

Spoiler

The MP Templars you play as are the SP Templars you kill

). If you care about trophies/achievements though, I would advise you to quit the game before switching modes. Apparently there's a bug in the game that prevents you from earning trophies triggered sometimes by switching modes without quitting to the XMB. Not sure if it affects the 360 version, but better safe than sorry.

 

[FrankT]

I swear one of these assassins looks just like J Allard heh.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

No, you can still free roam and finish up any sidequest you might have missed after completing the story. What happens is around the end of Sequence 7/beginning of Sequence 8 you're forced to complete the story mode and are locked out of doing any sidemissions until you do so. You also lose the ability to

Spoiler

exit the Animus and visit present day Monteriggioni

at the same time.


You can flip back and forth between Multiplayer and Single Player, there's no SP twist spoiled in MP but there is a cool little easter egg (

Spoiler

The MP Templars you play as are the SP Templars you kill

). If you care about trophies/achievements though, I would advise you to quit the game before switching modes. Apparently there's a bug in the game that prevents you from earning trophies triggered sometimes by switching modes without quitting to the XMB. Not sure if it affects the 360 version, but better safe than sorry.

Thanks!

That clears it up,

Spoiler

will I regain the ability to explore modern day Monteriggioni after I complete the game?

Also do Gaffers have a regular group of people who play online? It would be nice as a noob to get to know the game while having a laugh with some gaffers.

 

[Killthee]

Thanks!

That clears it up,

Spoiler

will I regain the ability to explore modern day Monteriggioni after I complete the game?

Also do Gaffers have a regular group of people who play online? It would be nice as a noob to get to know the game while having a laugh with some gaffers.

Spoiler

No, so if you don't get the two achievements tied to modern day Monteriggioni (read an email and find a memento in the city) you'll have to start a second game. There's also a cutscene with the Animus crew triggered by solving all the Subject 16 puzzles/The Truth that you can miss if you complete the puzzles after the end of Sequence 7.

As for multi, I got a list over at the community forum, but haven't had much luck playing with gaffers.

 

[xKilltheMx]

Spoiler

No, so if you don't get the two achievements tied to modern day Monteriggioni (read an email and find a memento in the city) you'll have to start a second game. There's also a cutscene with the Animus crew triggered by solving all the Subject 16 puzzles/The Truth that you can miss if you complete the puzzles after the end of Sequence 7.

As for multi, I got a list over at the community forum, but haven't had much luck playing with gaffers.

Finals are whats keeping me from playing. Im sure more Gaffers are in the same position.

 

[creid]

how long would you say it took you to do that?

I asked the same thing, already answered here:

Game multiplayer time reads about 23 hours. But add around 2 or 3 hours to that easy for all the time spent out of matches/matchmaking horrors.

It's taken me almost 5 hours on the game clock to get to lv16, it's felt like a lot more than that though.

 

[Ledsen]

yep - approaching the end game (with 1 romulus lair, 3 feathers, & 2 truth segments to go), & it's the borgia towers that'll be my favorite memory of the game. simple (conceptually, anyway), classic, & ingenious...

They're waaaay too easy though. I don't think I failed more than once or twice on all the towers combined.

 

[NullPointer]

They're waaaay too easy though. I don't think I failed more than once or twice on all the towers combined.

I had a personal vendetta against that one 5 star tower to the north because I kept failing it. Ended up saving it up for last once I had a full group of ten maxed assassins.

Turned out that I didn't need to.

Spoiler

I ended up doing some serious recon on this place, noting all the guards, every entrance and exit to the area. Then I spooked him on purpose by attacking one of his guards and then taking off to watch the results - saw where the captain ran to hide. Knowledge in hand, I was now ready.

Turns out there is an ivy covered balcony to the north of the complex that is relatively unguarded (except for a patrol of troops in the streets below). Biding my time I slipped past the patrol and made my way inside. There I was, right in front of the door the captain loved to run off to. I was ready. Hiding behind a column I ordered my assassins to attack one of his close bodyguards - once the melee started the cowardly captain took off on cue, ran straight into my hidden blade.

They never saw me coming. They never saw me leave. Just as it should be.

RIP Borgia captain.

I had just enough experiences like the one described above for me to look past the majority of horrible missions in the game. Give me more freedom Ubisoft, not less. Stop being so god damned Templar about your mission design. Freedom of choice is where AC truly shines.

 

[betweenthewheels]

Started up multiplayer before SP just to "get it out of the way", only to my surprise it was awesome. A welcome change from FPS deathmatches

 

[WickedLaharl]

* Everything else. But a special moment of hate goes out to any mission that includes the phrase "Maintain distance to target". Or missions where you can't be detected, even if you gut the one guy that saw you within a moment of being detected. There's too much handholding in the missions, too much linearity, and too many trial and error challenges.

this right here is why i think i hate assbro. i honestly cannot remember the last time i was frustrated to my breaking point with a game.

the banker mission in particular was infuriating.

 

[NZNova]

You can repeat all sequences inside the Animus, that includes lairs and war machine missions. Just go to the DNA menu and select War Machine under Secondary Memories.

As for smoke bombs, I think you just have to buy the pouch from the Tailor to unlock them.

I didn't mess up the War Machine mission - I messed up getting the map that unlocked the war machine mission. I got 100% sync on the war machine mission itself, just not on the overseer since I accidentally did a counterkill before I could kick. Hence, I don't think I can replay that little bit. I'll give it a go tonight I guess.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

Multiplayer is amazing, I really love how it plays out. Damn I wish I got this game when it came out, what can I say, im in love. :lol

Anyone want to partner up for some team stuff later, manhunt is 2v2 right? Ive been sticking to Wanted and doing pretty well so far.

 

[Killthee]

I didn't mess up the War Machine mission - I messed up getting the map that unlocked the war machine mission. I got 100% sync on the war machine mission itself, just not on the overseer since I accidentally did a counterkill before I could kick. Hence, I don't think I can replay that little bit. I'll give it a go tonight I guess.

War Plan missions are considered War Machine missions and can be found under War Machines in the DNA menu

Multiplayer is amazing, I really love how it plays out. Damn I wish I got this game when it came out, what can I say, im in love. :lol

Anyone want to partner up for some team stuff later, manhunt is 2v2 right? Ive been sticking to Wanted and doing pretty well so far.

4 vs. 4 actually! Best mode in the game.

 

[NullPointer]

this right here is why i think i hate assbro. i honestly cannot remember the last time i was frustrated to my breaking point with a game.

the banker mission in particular was infuriating.

Follow the gondola mission was one of the worst offenders in my book. That and one theatrical mission at the Colosseum and all the pursuing leading up to it. Remember that one?

Go exactly to this spot... No, you're going too fast. No, you're going too slow. No, you've been spotted DESYNCHRONIZED, reload, etc, etc. Then you reach the Colosseum. Climb to exactly this spot here. Now climb to exactly this spot here. Now walk exactly this way, at this pace, to this exact spot. All of it is trial and error with a hair trigger on the desynchronize button. Made me wonder just what agency I was adding to the proceedings. Why not have the game play itself is it was going to be that damn particular about it?

Nifty ideas. Horrible execution.

 

[NZNova]

War Plan missions are considered War Machine missions and can be found under War Machines in the DNA menu

Oh awesome!

 

[NZNova]

I'm doing the banker at the moment, the mission where you escort the guy and have to remain undetected? Is that the frustrating one or are you talking about a later mission in the sequence?

I did the escort one a couple times and failed but I'm enjoying the hell out of it. It's like open world metal gear solid, dodging the guards. All it's missing is the cone of vision indicator on the mini map :lol

 

[ZephyrFate]

this right here is why i think i hate assbro. i honestly cannot remember the last time i was frustrated to my breaking point with a game.

the banker mission in particular was infuriating.

I had very little trouble with the banker mission... if at all...

are people just not good at this game? That mission is pretty straightforward.

 

[Irish]

ACB Survey

towards the end its quite interesting, it suggests some new features which could be in the sequel like enhanced eagle vision, faster speed running etc

Heh, it kept asking me all kinds of UK specific questions when I chose the USA option at the beginning, so I went back and just chose the UK and only received questions relating to the game itself. Odd...

Damn, those questions about the next AC game are getting me extremely pumped. Hell, I'm almost ready to put down $60 for it this very moment. I just hope nobody picked the options for more Ezio.

 

[Ledsen]

I had a personal vendetta against that one 5 star tower to the north because I kept failing it. Ended up saving it up for last once I had a full group of ten maxed assassins.

Turned out that I didn't need to.

Wait, the captains run away? I think that only happened to me once. All the other times I simple waltzed into camp, usually alerted the guards after a while and just ran at the captain and stabbed him in the neck.

 

[ZephyrFate]

Wait, the captains run away? I think that only happened to me once. All the other times I simple waltzed into camp, usually alerted the guards after a while and just ran at the captain and stabbed him in the neck.

Most of the more difficult captains, if you're spotted, will run from you. Then you have to wait until the guards change shifts.

 

[NullPointer]

Wait, the captains run away? I think that only happened to me once. All the other times I simple waltzed into camp, usually alerted the guards after a while and just ran at the captain and stabbed him in the neck.

If you check the Borgia influence screen it shows each tower's difficulty right along with a description of the Captain's character. In this case "coward". I didn't notice this until I was close to the end of the game, but its there.

And yeah, that Captain in particular never strayed more than 5 feet away from his group of heavy guards. Any disturbance in the force and he'd hightail it about 30 feet to a nearby door. If he gets through that door you're screwed.

Also, there was another captain I ran into that not only didn't hide, he led his whole guard on a chase across Rome to kill me. I detailed it in a previous post:
linkage

Definitely a highlight of my time with AC:Brotherhood, and a highlight in gaming for the year as well.

ACB Survey

towards the end its quite interesting, it suggests some new features which could be in the sequel like enhanced eagle vision, faster speed running etc

Just got a survey in the mail, but I don't fit the demographic criteria

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I finally picked this up from Amazon for the PS3. I played AC2 on the 360 (and then later on the PC), but I wanted to play the online in this and I refuse to pay for Live, so PS3 it is! Apparently there is some "exclusive content", too.

I only got to play about two hours, but I really like what they've done. Is it just me or did they improve the faces of the main characters a bit? Mario's facial animation in particular looked a lot nicer than I remember. Also, it looks like they added SSAO in some areas of the game. It looked pretty nice. The performance seems fine, but the shadows look a lot grainier than I remember.

 

[1stStrike]

Most of my attempts at stealth just end up with me surrounded by 10 guards and dueling it out. I don't usually bother running unless I've got like every guard in the place on me, or more then 5 heavy guards around me at once. I can go on a spree of 4 - 5 kills in between one of their attacks. And, when they do attack - they really don't do much damage. I have a bunch of life at this point and I can carry 15 medicines... so I don't really have anything to be afraid of.

What I hate, hate, hate in this game are the missions where you need to chase someone - but a bunch of guards keep popping out at you, and when you dodge them, they throw a knife at you and knock you off a ledge.

It's realistic, I know, but it's so fucking annoying. Meanwhile, my target is fleeing ever further away and these fucking guards are in my way.

Even if I stop to kill them, Ezio ends up doing a 5 second long assassination animation on each of them and it drives me nuts.

Grr.

I'm in memory 7 at the moment just finishing up quests and such. I have one more of those damn wolf dens to do and then I get that solarius or whatever armor. I also have to find 1 more of those artifacts as Demond... no idea where the last one is. I keep running out of time trying to find it.

 

[rataven]

Also, there was another captain I ran into that not only didn't hide, he led his whole guard on a chase across Rome to kill me. I detailed it in a previous post:
linkage

This is a great post; I love how some events in the game can take an individual turn, and I wish there were more of them. I wonder if this was the same wily captain that gave me a run for my money.

My assassination setup on this Captain went horribly wrong when I shot down a crossbowman on the roofs who was just a bit too close to the edge and plummeted a few stories to the ground, practically at the Captain's feet. Since my cover was blown, I figured I'd have to run him down, but he decided to stay and fight! About six other lesser guards joined him, and he tried to rally his troops with shouts of "Let's show him some of that Borgia hospitably boys!" This mantra was shouted over and over as I took his men down, until it was only him and I. And still he shouted his line, though he didn't have any boys left to show me their hospitality. I almost didn't want to kill him; I liked his gumption. But I went ahead and did it anyway. Really fun moment in the game. I wish the other Captains had been so spirited.

 

[kylej]

Borgia towers are really some people's favorite moment from the game? Doin't get me wrong I love this series dearly but that shit was simple and boring. Run in and crossbow the guy with the target on his head. Done.

 

[semiconscious]

just finished the game, & it's official: i genuinely hate the way the meta-story intrudes on & cheapens the impact of the main stories in these games. & that they're apparently expanding it's overall presence saddens me. i don't play these games to spend time with a group of clever modern day nerds/twits, i play them to go somewhere else back in time, when assassins were assassins, & the idea that these clowns are what we're left with today upholding the legacy of characters like altair & ezio just depresses the hell out of me ...

as i've said before, i think the meta-story 'concept' is fine. i just really hate the way they've chosen to deal with it...

otherwise, i had a helluva good time - much better game than i'd expected...

 

[NullPointer]

This is a great post; I love how some events in the game can take an individual turn, and I wish there were more of them. I wonder if this was the same wily captain that gave me a run for my money.

My assassination setup on this Captain went horribly wrong when I shot down a crossbowman on the roofs who was just a bit too close to the edge and plummeted a few stories to the ground, practically at the Captain's feet. Since my cover was blown, I figured I'd have to get ready to run him down, but he decided to stay and fight! About six other lesser guards joined him, and he tried to rally his troops with shouts of "Let's show him some of that Borgia hospitably boys!" This mantra was shouted over and over as I took his men down, until it was only him and I. And still shouted his line, though he didn't have any boys left to show me hospitality. I almost didn't want to kill him; I liked his gumption. But I went ahead and did it anyway. Really fun moment in the game. I wish the other Captain's had been so spirited.

That's the one alright. Brass balls on that guy.

Borgia towers are really some people's favorite moment from the game? Doin't get me wrong I love this series dearly but that shit was simple and boring. Run in and crossbow the guy with the target on his head. Done.

Maybe I'm just more of a find-your-own-fun kind of gamer. If a game gives me the freedom to plan and execute the perfect op, I'll take that opportunity with glee.

To whit, as an assassin, I live for the kill where nobody sees a damn thing. Silent in, silent out with nobody the wiser. It usually takes a serious amount of setup, with a very brief window of ultra violence, but afterwards, when you're squatting on the edge of a tower hundreds of yards away watching and laughing at the havoc you've caused its well worth it.

 

[FrankT]

Follow the gondola mission was one of the worst offenders in my book. That and one theatrical mission at the Colosseum and all the pursuing leading up to it. Remember that one?

Go exactly to this spot... No, you're going too fast. No, you're going too slow. No, you've been spotted DESYNCHRONIZED, reload, etc, etc. Then you reach the Colosseum. Climb to exactly this spot here. Now climb to exactly this spot here. Now walk exactly this way, at this pace, to this exact spot. All of it is trial and error with a hair trigger on the desynchronize button. Made me wonder just what agency I was adding to the proceedings. Why not have the game play itself is it was going to be that damn particular about it?

Nifty ideas. Horrible execution.

Just completed that one this afternoon and indeed frustrating/tedious execution to say the least.

 

[Irish]

Just got a survey in the mail, but I don't fit the demographic criteria

Going into the UK section seems to make it work.

Stuff relating to sequel ("Would you like to see ____ in the sequel to the ASSASSIN"S CREED: BROTHERHOOD?" type of questions):

1) An upgrade to the assassin's blade that increases the fluidity and speed of free-running

2) An enhanced Eagle Vision: see the patrol paths of guards, spot clues to complex navigation puzzles, detect when characters are lying during interrogations, etc.

3) An intuitive crafting tool that lets you create custom bombs from dozens of ingredients found throughout the game world

4) Tactical use of a variety of bombs suited to unique contexts and situations (smoke, poison, flash, explosive, etc.)

5) An additional objective where you and your Assassins guild fight against the Templars to gain control of a city, district by district

6) Playing as a new Assassin, in a different historical time period

7) A continuation of Ezio's story as the leader of the Assassins, set outside of Italy

8) Deeper connectivity between all the Assassin's Creed projects (eg. an action you make on the Facebook game will impact your game experience on the console; events that you read about in the comics will be related to the storyline of the videogames, etc.)

9) Online Cooperative Mode

10) Offline Cooperative Mode

11) The availability of new maps for the Multiplayer

12) A choice of additional Multiplayer characters with new skill-sets

13) Playing new Multiplayer modes

14) A deeper team-based Multiplayer experience (guilds / squads that have common objectives, new tools for clan management, etc.)

15) A customization of the Multiplayer experience (logos, avatars, objects, team names, etc.)

Then they ask for your top 3 of those.

Pretty interesting continuations of the stuff introduced in Brotherhood. I'm not sure what they meant with this one though. "An upgrade to the assassin's blade that increases the fluidity and speed of free-running"

 

[NullPointer]

4) Tactical use of a variety of bombs suited to unique contexts and situations (smoke, poison, flash, explosive, etc.)

5) An additional objective where you and your Assassins guild fight against the Templars to gain control of a city, district by district

6) Playing as a new Assassin, in a different historical time period

Then they ask for your top 3 of those.

Pretty interesting continuations of the stuff introduced in Brotherhood. I'm not sure what they meant with this one though. "An upgrade to the assassin's blade that increases the fluidity and speed of free-running"

Those would be my top 3. And maybe the upgrade they're talking about would allow you to kill on the move?? Dunno.

My dream would be able to play the game without the minimap through added environmental cues and an upgraded eagle vision. That and anything that allows for more player choice.

 

[Irish]

I'm surprised they didn't ask more questions about the Brotherhood aspects of the game. I really think they could do some stuff that would make it absolutely fantastic.

From my little mini-review on the 15th page:

The Brotherhood- While it was a fantastic addition, I don't think enough was done with it. For example, none of the assassin's really seem all that unique. Sure, each one has their own name and a somewhat non-generic appearance, but I don't believe there was enough of a difference between them. Every potential recruit you approach is involved in a fight with three guards and they're all poor and wield swords. It would have been much cooler if they all had unique situations that you could find them in. Examples include: About to jump off a bridge and kill themselves; setting fire to a guard house; randomly roaming about the rooftops of Rome; being escorted away by a group of guards; commanding a group of mercenaries in a battle against the guards; and, for one special recruit, watching their family being hung by the Borgia (mirroring Ezio's own tale). It could have been cool to recruit a few pairs (like a father/son duo).

Each recruit should have had personal stats as well as having their own upgrade branches (instead of the basic four armor upgrades (pauldrons/greaves/chest guard/plate set); four weapon upgrades (dagger/sword/?/Axe); three equipment slots; and small selection of clothing dye that disappears once they become full assassins). These stats (including a personality type- rash, calm, clever, and so on and job- leader. strategist, fighter, tactician, etc.) as well as equipment would have had more of an affect on mission success than plain old level. Personality type/job would really come into effect when it came to pairing up assassins for more difficult missions. Having too many leaders wouldn't really work out all that well. Neither would assigning a bunch of brash assassins to a stealth mission.

Ezio should have interacted more with his assassin recruits as well. It would have felt much more like a brotherhood that way.

It would also have been nice if you could see small video clips of how each mission went once it was completed.

I liked the fact that you unlocked a recruit slot after destroying a Borgia tower. It just made sense. I was disappointed with the fact that you could only have three Brotherhood Assist Move slots even though you could have nearly double the amount of assassins in your guild.

 

[Amir0x]

Damn it I just realized I don't have the Harlequin skin for multiplayer. Damn you, Gamestop!

 

[NullPointer]

I'm surprised they didn't ask more questions about the Brotherhood aspects of the game. I really think they could do some stuff that would make it absolutely fantastic.

From my little mini-review on the 15th page:

There is definitely a solid foundation there to expand upon if they wanted to.

Assassins with special skills that give bonuses for particular missions. Bonuses for having a varied skillset - instead of wanting all of your assassins in plate, maybe your less armored acolytes would be more fitting for pursuits and silent kills. Maybe some could be trained for more diplomatic pursuits etc.

Maybe achieving some assassin operations could unlock subquests that the player could engage in that take place in the same context or continue the story. Along the same lines some choices that Ezio makes could impact what guild tasks are available. Maybe letting somebody live was a liability and now you can send some of your flock to deal with them.

The opportunities here are nigh endless.

 

[1stStrike]

A lot of the contracts that you send the assassins out to do would be nice to be able to do yourself. All of your assassinations are simply run up and stab someone / shoot someone. How about poisoning? Or rigging something to fall on someone?

The game engine is there with the physics necessary already. Just need to add it in. I've always enjoyed Assassin's Creed, but I'd like some more variation on the assassination methods.

 

[Sumidor]

A lot of the contracts that you send the assassins out to do would be nice to be able to do yourself. All of your assassinations are simply run up and stab someone / shoot someone. How about poisoning? Or rigging something to fall on someone?

The game engine is there with the physics necessary already. Just need to add it in. I've always enjoyed Assassin's Creed, but I'd like some more variation on the assassination methods.

Very very very berry much agree with this. If anyone has played Oblivion, one of the best, if not the best, moments is when you join the Dark Brotherhood guild. The different ways of killing people were great. Sneaking into houses, poisoning them, dropping giant trophies on their heads... It was awesome.

 

[1stStrike]

Very very very berry much agree with this. If anyone has played Oblivion, one of the best, if not the best, moments is when you join the Dark Brotherhood guild. The different ways of killing people were great. Sneaking into houses, poisoning them, dropping giant trophies on their heads... It was awesome.

Yes, actually that was what I was thinking of when I wrote that. When you have to kill everyone in your guild, dropping the animal head on the guy in the chair, etc. I killed the big dude in the guild with a poisoned apple. Felt bad :lol

Hopefully, this series will keep growing and they'll add in something like that down the road. I'd still like the option of running up and going ape shit on guards if I want, but I'd also like to be able to poison the nobles drink, or rig a bridge to collapse when his carriage goes over it.

 

[snoopeasystreet]

I've been playing it for the past week or so. The single player is a competent game but I'd be lying if I said that I enjoyed it. The mechanics and systems of the game haven't really changed from Assassin's Creed 1. They're all well done individually but they never come together to create anything interesting. The core gameplay is very static, most encounters play out too similar to one another.

One of the things that Assassin's Creed got criticized for was it's lack of variety. Each assassination was the essentially same and thereby played the same. For Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood, it feels like the developers weren't interested in changing or modifying the systems from the original design, so instead they went in and "manually" made the game more varied. Most of their effort went into putting players into encounters that made the player feel like they were doing different things as well as adding superficial mechanics that do nothing more than add some stylistic flair rather than tweaking things such like AI. It means that while most of the missions in the game begin differently, they almost all end up with you stabbing a dude and then fighting off bad men.

This design decision makes for a good first impression, but ultimately wears thin after a while. If they put some mechanics in the game that made it more emergent, they could have got by with a mission structure similar to the original.


That's my opinion after finishing the game. When I think about it some more, I'll write something more thorough on my blog or something. I haven't played much of the multiplayer but hopefully that plays out to be something more interesting.