Review: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

There’s that old saying about how Rome wasn’t built in a day. In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, out for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 on Tuesday, Rome can’t be played in a day.

The often stunning immersiveness and incredibly varied gameplay make this another standout in a series that is getting better with each release.

The third instalment in Ubisoft’s series about medieval and Renaissance-era assassins is so deep it’s bound to suck up a good chunk of any gamer’s life. At a time when many single-player games can be completed in a handful of hours, this is a good thing.

Brotherhood picks up where Assassin’s Creed 2 left off. Players again control Ezio Auditore, a master assassin who is now a folk hero in much of Renaissance Italy. Ezio is fresh off a victory over the evil Templars and the Borgia family, and possesses the mysterious artifact known as the Apple of Eden. The story starts off with the Borgia striking back, destroying Ezio's villa and stealing the Apple. Ezio must again rise up, rehabilitate a Rome suffering under Borgia rule and instigate a rebellion. He's helped along the way by thieves, courtesans, even the ever-scheming Niccolo Machiavelli.

The first Assassin’s Creed game, set during the Crusades, won praise for its stunning graphics and realistic immersion, but it was also knocked for being repetitive. Players had to travel the land looking for towers to climb — thereby unlocking some breathtaking vantage points — as well as assassinate merchants and nobles. It was fun at first, but the novelty quickly wore off.

The designers at Ubisoft Montreal must have taken the criticism to heart because the second game was amazingly involving. Players were given all sorts of side quests, such as collecting items and secret glyphs that unlocked special features; the game also contained a compelling economic system. Much of the fun came from earning money that could be spent on Ezio's villa, either improving buildings in the adjacent village or amassing a collection of weapons and Renaissance paintings.

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood expands on that already deep experience. All of the goodies from the second game are here, and the economic system has been broadened from simply improving a villa to rebuilding Rome entirely. Ezio must spend his florins buying and renovating stables, banks, blacksmiths and even landmarks such as the Pantheon.

As the title implies, Ezio must also cultivate a brotherhood of assassins by rescuing ordinary citizens from Borgia oppression. He then "trains" these followers by sending them on missions around Europe. They can be sent to Constantinople to kill a noble or to London to protect a merchant, for example. The junior assassins gain skill points for successful missions, which are then spent on better weapons and armour. Having strong and experienced assassins obviously helps Ezio's rebellion later on.

One of the more exciting parts of the game is the ability to deploy recruited assassins. With a whistle and a wave of his hand, Ezio can call on his henchmen — those not out on contracts, anyway — who appear out of nowhere to quickly take out Borgia guards. It's a cool ability that indeed makes Ezio feel like a powerful master assassin.

As with previous games in the series, Brotherhood’s graphics and sound are stellar, bringing the teeming and crowded streets of Rome to life. It’s easy to lose yourself in exploring the nooks and crannies of the city streets, which is yet another reason why it's impossible to simply play through the main story — the temptation to go off into side missions is just too great.

As if this weren't enough, Brotherhood also introduces the Assassin's Creed franchise to online multiplayer capability. The system borrows heavily from the Call of Duty games by allowing players to level up as they play, thereby unlocking new skills and abilities.

Players roam around with a compass directing them toward assassinating other players. The catch is that all players are disguised to mingle with the ordinary citizenry. Running around and climbing roofs is a sure means to give yourself away to other assassins, so often the best approach to taking players out is to simply walk up to them calmly and discreetly, then flash your blade when they least expect it. It makes for disconcerting and exciting multiplayer action, to be sure.

For all of the improvements over previous versions, it’s disappointing that Ubisoft hasn’t fixed the often-wonky combat system. It's still very difficult for Ezio to retreat from a fight or to pick a correct target because of an unreliable lock-on feature. The result is that well-planned fights and assassinations can often go awry, leading to much frustration.

Nevertheless, the flaw isn’t a deal breaker and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood — like the game before it — is sure to end up on many best-of-year lists. The often stunning immersiveness and incredibly varied gameplay make it another standout in a series that is getting better with each release.

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is in stores Nov. 16.

Peter Nowak is a writer based in Toronto.