Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Review

The Assassin's Creed franchise is turning into something of a behemoth and the impressive thing is that it has managed to do it in such a short space of time. After debuting in 2007, the franchise has appeared on almost every console, can be explored in written form and is viewable in the form of some short films - it's the epitome of Ubisoft's convergence mantra. But it's only been such a success because of its mysterious storyline and its ability to transport players into past time periods with such ease - two aspects that Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood manages to nail yet again, despite being primarily set around the life of Ezio Auditore da Firenze for a second time.

The game kicks off right where Assassin's Creed II ended and your first action in the game as Ezio is to escape from the Vatican with the assistance of your uncle Mario. From here though, things take a sharp turn for the worst, as the Borgia are back to seek vengeance for Ezio's previous endeavours and they have a new leader in Cesare Borgia, Rodrigo's son. They lay siege to Monteriggioni, killing Mario in the process and taking back the Apple of Eden from Ezio.

However, the main premise behind the story of course isn't Ezio, it's that the Animus is struggling to figure out where exactly Ezio hid the Apple of Eden when he retrieved it for a second time from the Borgia. Because of this, Desmond must again tackle Ezio's past in order to re-synchronise the Animus and where better to do this than Monteriggioni, in the present day. After all, sometimes the best place to hide is somewhere that's rather expected.

As the game develops, it will once again hook you in. However, it probably won't answer many of the lingering questions that were posed by both Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed II. In fact, it probably opens up even more questions and the ending, in true Assassin's Creed style, is another monstrous cliff-hanger which will leave you craving Assassin's Creed III to figure out exactly where the story will turn next.

Although it's possible to leave the Animus at any time to play as Desmond, it does feel as though this aspect is still a bit restrictive. Only brief conversations can be had with the various team members and while it is possible to roam around the town of Monteriggioni, the sections where you're forced to play as Desmond are about on par with previous iterations.

Due to the attack on Monteriggioni, the bulk of Ezio's equipment is destroyed. He flees to Rome and with the help of Niccolo Machiavelli, he gets the basics back almost instantly. You'll have to work your way up to performing certain actions, like the double hidden blade. You can get things like this relatively soon though so there isn't much waiting around which is nice.