Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Some spoilers for up to about midway through the game follow, Be forewarned.

Also would like to say, don't even bother buying this game if you haven't played ACII. You won't get half of what is going on. You can totally skip ACI - they gave a nice little short intro at the beginning of ACII to catch you up, but they pretty much toss you right into the mix in Brotherhood.ACII playthrough is almost required to get all you can from this. There are a few tutorial type mission at the very beginning, but it was very sparse and probably not really enough if you hadn't played ACII and not really enough for you to know what is going on.

The hubby bought me this game for Christmas. Of course the fact that I had just wrapped ACII a few days earlier I was pretty excited to tear into Ezio's further adventures and of course a little bit more about what was happening with Desmond and the rest of the crew.

So far, so good. I like that they give you more to do with money. In ACII I had well over 500,000 florins by the time I finished playing with nothing to do with them. All the 'rebuilding' that they expanded from ACII is a great way to spend money, as well as the gathering of objects for special shop missions in order to get better gear.

Rome and it's countryside is probably about the size of all the other cities put together, so even though you don't move from city to city, there is much ground to cover. They replaced the quick travel with a tunnel system that - once you have fixed the entryways - pretty much opens the whole city to you.

The Followers of Romulus hideouts are a nice way to have the Assassin's Tomb sidequests without making it feel tacked on.

The blackboards in the Guilds are an awesome addition as well. You can do the challenges or you can ignore them, but it adds more reason to do certain actions in the game.

Also the Assassins in your guild - the game is called 'brotherhood' after all and not 'solo' - is also another great addition. You play a thoughtful chess game with their missions and their ability to come and help you out of a pinch is really helpful and kind of exciting! The first time I called on them my first recruit, a female assassin all in black, jumped out of the shadows and killed the target so quickly I didn't have much time to even appreciate how cool it was until I thought about it in retrospect.

I am experiencing some issues with guards attacking though I have no infamy and am not in a restricted area, which feels odd, but it's a minor complaint, as well as the return of no save choices that I have already complained about ad naseum in conjunction to this game.

The full synch versus a 50% synch if you don't complete the mission to the games specs can be annoying. In order to do a 100% synch in some cases you will have to play the same memory again and again. I am not sure if I like this idea or if it pisses me off. In a certain part of my brain I think it's awesome. It makes you think out of the box in some cases and try harder. In other cases they are trying to force you to play it twice - once to stop along the way, gather all the treasures, makes sure you have explored every place, and then a second time to beat the clock. (Or whatever the particular proviso for that missions is.) Is the pay off big enough to do it twice - or more times? I am not sure yet.

I am sure I will get back to you on that.

I will say that a few of the flashback memories have been REALLY interesting, filling in some gaps from ACII. It rounds Ezio out even more and lets us see a little more of his motivation.

Over all very excited to play more and that is always a good sign!

Final Thoughts on Assassin's Creed II - Spoilers Obviously.

I finished the game last night. I had this odd feeling of synchronicity while watching the ending scenes. My husband and I had just had a conversation Saturday morning about that topic. Not exactly, mind you, but the general topic had been in my consciousness recently. We had been watching an episode of Ancient Aliens and we both have come to the conclusion that it is certainly possible that aliens have something to do with where we came from and maybe even more alarming, where we, as the human race, are going.

I know it's just a game, I know it's meant for entertainment purposes only. Though the entirety of the game focuses on Ezio's story and the assassins in Italy, the real message of the game is clearly what is happening with Desmond and the others. It's about how these political and historical events tie into the reality of what is happening right now. By looking back they are looking forward.

Really quite deep for a 'mere' video game.

Mass Effect 2 on PS3

If you only have a PS3 and have not yet been able to experience Mass Effect, your chance to find out what all the hullabaloo is about is coming up.

Bioware cleverly designed a semi interactive 15 minute comic to go at the beginning of ME2 that explains what happened in ME1 and lets you make the choices you would have if you had played through the whole game, so you get close to the same feeling regarding relationships and choices that 360 and PC players got. (Since Microsoft holds the rights to ME1, it's pretty sure it will never be released for PS3.)

One of my favorite games of all time. This deserves a play from any fan of RPGs, sci-fi, shooters... honestly, just play it. It's that good.

This video explains it better than I can, I am sure, so check it out!

Spike's Video Game Awards Show

I really don't like awards shows. They are often awkward, lengthy, and most times whomever I think should win, doesn't. (Clearly, I am that important, that MY choice should count for 75% of the vote, but I digress...[/joke])

Spike's VGAs were all of this and less. The audience seemed non-existent, though I clearly could see them there - unless they were digitized in like half the set was.

Hold up, let's visit this point before I flail forwards in my thoughts. The digitized, special effects set. It was..... distracting. I could understand what they were trying to do and I think in theory it was an amazing concept. However, like communism and trickle down economics, in reality it just doesn't work.

Don't give me special effects sets when your special effects look worse than Q-bert. It looked low budget, especially in comparison to some of the trailers they were showing through out the night.


Oh and the comedy? SO didn't work. Again, great in idea, not so much in practice. NPH is charming, interesting, and a good choice for host, but when you leave him hanging on jokes with not even a few piped in laughs to make it seem like SOMEONE in attendance got it, it was just uncomfortable to watch. If you are going to bother making graphics walls, at least get the man a laugh track.

Alright, time to stop my gripes and go to the real reason I watched the show. Upcoming games.

In this arena, the VGAs did NOT disappoint. I was literally giddy with excitement over several of the announcements and was glad that I was taping the show so I could go back and watch them again.

The most visually stunning was probably the Batman Arkham City trailer. The graphics are stunning. Even if the game mechanics from Arkham Asylum were unchanged and they just updated to these graphics I would be happy. But I know that is not the case. I know there is more to it. Much more. And I couldn't be happier.



On to the next game - Mass Effect 3. I had thought that perhaps all the hints that were flowing out of Bioware might have been for ME3, though many of my gamer friends were convinced this was a new game. I wouldn't have put it past Bioware to have started a new IP, but I think they (wisely) are really focusing on Mass Effect and Dragon Age for now, especially since Mass Effect - as we know it - is only a trilogy. Granted there has been plenty of talk of revisiting the Mass Effect universe later, but you would no longer be Commander Shepard. Again, another joyous dancing moment when I hear the man in the clock tower utter the name 'Shepard'.



And last but certainly not least: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. While the trailer was completely lackluster in the face of these other juggernauts, I dare said it is my most anticipated game of 2011 and that is saying a lot considering ME3 is also coming out for holiday 2011.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion held my rapt and undivided attention like no other game every has. I have sunk hundreds of hours into it, have earned every single achievement (this is the only game I have ever done that on), have played from beginning to end several times with several characters, and could sit down right now and play it again and see something new. It's THAT good.

They are incredibly tight lipped about this game and I understand why. Bethesda Softworks have said that once you see actual gameplay it will be a very short amount of time before the actual release, so I don't expect much in the way of previews until the summer perhaps. But in the meantime, I am salivating, ready to go back to Tamriel and start a new adventure in Skyrim!



In closing, the VGAs were wonky, uncomfortable, not very well produced, and felt empty and rushed, yet the coming attractions it ushered into my living room made all two hours worth it. And the cast of It's Always Sunny amuse me regardless, so it wasn't all bad!