The His and Hers Review of the best game of the year.
The XY Review with Ian

Achingly beautiful and deeply satisfying, I’d kill my brother for this!

We’re back in the 16th century to follow Ezio and his modern day alter ego Desmond swash buckling their way to superhero status and saving Italy from corruption and bad influences. The story directly follows on from Assassin’s Creed II, which was released just 12 months ago and what Ubisoft have achieved in those 365 days is nothing short of incredible.

You’re in Rome, which is three times the size of Florence from ACII, and it’s all about the sandbox (non linear gameplay system, where tasks can be completed in any order), which is the best bit of the game. You can get lost in the hundreds of side missions from siding with busty Courtesans, brutal Mercenaries, sneaky Thieves and awesome Assassins, to re-building Rome and purchasing properties, finding feathers and flags plus generally slicing and dicing them pesky guards. What a city, what a world and no loading screens between the worlds is very pleasing.

The narrative design is epic, totally believable and immersive. The architecture of the world is impressive in its scale and complexity (if I lived 410 years ago, I think I could navigate those streets) and the characters are detailed and interesting. The soundtrack (composed by Jesper Kyd, who scored the other two games) is a revelation and strikes that fine balance between high emotion and edge of the seat haunting vocals. Combine this with great script writing and well-executed voice acting and the overall presentation is first class.

The fighting sequences are speedy and it pays to be more aggressive rather than waiting to counter strike. The choice of weapons is huge and my weapon of choice has to be the silent Crossbow. Ezio is responsive, agile and does what is asked of him whilst the ability to use kill streaks adds a satisfying menace for those who’re thirsty for blood.

One of only 2 slight hitches for me is that because we’re spoilt with the arsenal at our disposal, the guards are relatively easy to kill and the only times I’ve been desynchronised is through my own ineptitude, not through any ability of the guards. The other gripe is when the perfectionist in me is looking for 100% sync during a memory. If you’re neither super stealthy or remain unscathed, you get an instant fail. Every time you have to replay a memory you have to go through the entire cut scene before hand to get to the action, which breaks up the pace of the game. These are micro criticisms and in no way detract from the magnificence of the game, but they’re worth noting. I’ve not played the other AC titles, but Ezio fitted quickly and perfectly in to my hand and eye. It feels like a classic but is still innovative and I grasped the back-story quickly. You’ll meet some old friends who appear along the way including Leonardo with his crazy war machines, which add an extra dimension to proceedings.

You can also recruit disenfranchised citizens to start the resistance against the Borgia. Once recruited you can send your fledgling assassins across Europe to gain experience with them eventually graduating to uber assassin like Ezio. This added strategy is incredibly pleasing and satisfying and once they’re equipped with the right skills... well I won’t spoil what they can do for you.

This could be the end of a very satisfying experience and one which rightly deserves a high accolades for what is a brilliant game, but oh no, those talented folks at Ubisoft have gone and pulled a blinder by adding an amazing multiplayer game which complements the main game. The multiplayer has a ground breaking feel to it, similar to the Goldeneye experience on the N64 back in the 90s. It’s smooth, builds tension and rewards subtlety, deception and stealth as well as extravagant and flamboyant killing.
With its four settings, Wanted and Advanced Wanted (a solo game of kill or be killed), Alliance (working in pairs to kill other pairs) and Manhunt (two teams of four where one team is the hunter and one is the hunted) you can kill with your friends to your hearts content. A totally enjoyable and a joyous edition to the main game where being a murderous stalker has never been so much fun.

With its polished mechanics, the single player story combined with the new addition of the land of multiplayer, ACB is completely and without doubt the best game I’ve played this year.

The XX Review with Tracey

The Liberation of Rome has begun

He’s back – or rather he never went away. Beginning with Ezio’s encounter with a holographic goddess in the bowels of the Vatican, as seen during the rather abrupt ending of Assassin’s Creed 2, we then return to Monteriggioni where despite working his greaves off, Ezio is criticised for allowing the Spaniard Pope (big Borgia bad guy) to live – a decision it would seem that comes to back to bite him on the culo as the Borgia family storm in, kill quite a few and leave Ezio for dead. I got so excited thinking that Ezio was back with all his finery still in tact from AC 2 but a clever story line ensures he is stripped (literally) of any weapons and so the training and building up a decent inventory starts again – perfect for players like Ian who haven’t invested in the series so far and surprisingly not at all annoying for those of us who are AC diehards.

This is mainly because as Ian rightly points out, the writing is good and the options available are amazing allowing you build up skills and weapons rapidly. There was worry and concern rumbling on the game grapevine (the gamevine? Nah, that doesn’t work…) about ACB – that it wasn’t AC 3 so wasn’t going to be any good and would probably feel more like extended downloadable content. That the story line couldn’t possibly sustain another outing from Ezio and that is was just a lazy Ubisoft vehicle for keeping multiplayer fans happy and would sell anyway. Wrong wrong and wrong again. Forget about it being AC 3 – it isn’t but it is an outstanding development to the series and is a thrilling, engrossing and highly polished game.

We know the Ubisoft team can do city landscapes very well but Rome is incredible with more detail and scope than we’ve seen in previous AC games. Parkour feels so much more fluid around the city as there are fewer dead ends or twisty ally-ways to slow you down plus you can always hijack a horse and trample the poor Romans. The Map soon gets very crowded with symbols, as there are countless sub-missions to tackle as well as buildings to renovate and towers to burn up. The sub-missions are a great way of breaking up the main story line in which Ezio is recruiting Assassin’s in order to take on the mighty Borgia.

Finding potential assassins is easy – you just have to rescue citizens being bullied by the crimson berets and disposing of the guards has never been easier due to the advanced combat options – you can allocate your favourite four weapons to the D-Pad for quick changes during battle and as well as being able to disarm, grab and pull off some rather spectacular counter moves, you can also build up streaks by simply pushing the left stick towards your next victim whist fighting. If all else fails and your opponent is a slippery, dodging little weasel of a guard, one hard kick in his snozzberries swiftly brings him to his knees, allowing you to bury your sword in his head – nice one. This smoother yet complex fighting system allows you to fend off whole armies without breaking a sweat and the piles of bodies you leave in your wake is very satisfying.

I found the real skill in this game is sneaking around. Many of the missions involve tailing someone or breaking into a hugely fortified area without being detected. Combined with the often sometimes goosebumps inducing, dramatic vocal score, stealth missions are genuinely tense and thrilling moments within the game and a nice break from the action. Of course, you can always leave the animus and return to Desmond who after fleeing from Abstergo Industries (modern day templars hunting for his assassin memories obtained via the animus techy bed) is now hiding underground in modern day Monteriggrioni. It’s hard work lying down for hours on end so occasionally Desmond is allowed out to play and finds he is finding more and more in common with his ancestor Ezio so has some equally impressive free running skills to try out in 10 minute bursts to relive him of his boredom. Talking to the animus team offers catty banter or insight into the back story of the templars versus the assassins and those following the series will know that there is a huge amount of back story, conspiracy theories and documentation to get through.

It is a testament to the skill of the designers that when flowing around Rome, you forget about Desmond and the overall aim of the game but it’s this totally engaging element that makes you keep playing for hours on end. Zoom through this game and you’re going to miss the beauty, the nuance and the chance to build up an impressive arsenal. Completionists will find themselves still playing ACB well into next year, as there is so much to uncover, especially as there’s the shiny brand new multiplayer option. Despite not enjoying it when we tested it out in October, here it works perfectly. There are plenty of bonuses on offer and things to unlock whilst the matches are a thrilling mix of chasing your target whilst watching your back. The ticking clock means you are lured into either fleeing panic or tactical thinking both of which are great fun.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood is nowhere near the lack lustre sequel many people were expecting. Ezio is a fabulous, if slightly arrogant ladies man trying to liberate people of Rome from the poverty and brutality it has suffered by the hands of the Borgia and his development shows how Ubisoft are successfully building an incredibly accomplished series. Best game of the year without question – anyone who disagrees be warned, I’m now a master at stealthy air assassinations…

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is available now from Play and other good retailers