So while a large and terrifying number of you will be playing Call Of Duty: Black Ops online, day in, day out and night in, night out, an admirable portion of you are playing Ubisoft’s hooded hero; Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. Yeah the numbers aren’t as impressive, but there is no lag so take that haters.
I’ve already written up my verdict on how the multiplayer holds up on Brotherhood, so if you missed it and can’t be bothered to read my complimentary review then just for the record: it’s rather good. Anyway, I thought in the true spirit of….umm….articles…*cough* nothing to do with the fact that the industry is being rather quiet on the news front *cough*….I thought that Brotherhood’s multiplayer deserved a list of some description (don’t look at me like that).
Let me tell you, the multiplayer is potentially VERY involving, you could pour all your tactical thoughts of conspiracy and assassination into it, or you could just beat the controller against the wall and hope for the best. Depending on which technique you opt for you’ll either bear witness to some truly awesome online action, or the irritated voices of your unfortunate neighbours.
First up has to be the chases. You simply can’t find that thrill you get when you leap across rooftops dressed as a prostitute, chasing after a man with a claw for an arm, in any other game anywhere. I particularly like the heart pounding moments when you are frantically scrambling after a player whilst another one is breathing down your neck (that actually sounds a little erm…graphic..hmmm).
Next thing on my list is the ‘lure’ mechanic. It’s just so satisfying on so many untouched levels to watch your pursuer triumphantly leap atop a duplicate of you, stab him/her violently, only to realize that they guessed wrong. It probably doesn’t make them feel better when I run around them in circles after they lose their contract. A good tip I’ll share with you is to find a crowd member (on any mode pretty much) with your character skin near a haystack, because the compass isn’t very accurate in close quarters, 9/10 times your pursuer will hastily react and attack the AI dude while you watch from your hiding place.
The situation on alliance mode where your teammate is about to be knifed/bludgeoned/scissor-ed/injected/shot/pile driver-ed and you spot the assassin before hand, double back and creep up behind him, then smash his neck to make him go-sleepy, is a hilarious moment. When you realize your buddy is about to be attacked and you intervene successfully, you feel like some kind of 7th sense security agent, and consequently grin from ear to ear.
A massacre is normally bad, horrid even, but when it happens on Brotherhood it’s hilarious and exciting in equal measure. A handful of occasions you will find a moment where all the targets and assassins are in the line of sight of every other player, and once the first player makes his move for the kill, all the others rush after in a very specific chain. There is normally one smug player left standing around the 5-6 bodies, but the ‘oh my goshh!’ moment when you realize that all the people standing around you looking perfectly innocent are actually the lobby competitors, still makes you jump and gets under your skin in a weird way.
Shooting someone. There is something highly amusing about watching a player fling himself daringly from platform to platform in what he thinks is a fantastic escape routine, only to focus your gun sight on his distant figure and blast a hole in his back. Call me a sadist but, oh dear it’s revoltingly fun.
Finally, I think that there’s a lot to be said about aerial kills. I mean how bloody amazing does it feel to ceaselessly hunt a player who’s slipping through crowds down on the street, dancing across beams and roofs like an acrobatic sociopath, and then hurl yourself off a ledge only to squarely takedown Mr: “you can’t catch me?” It’s fantastic I’m telling you. It’s the Assassin’s equivalent of getting a headshot…but better.
Now while I’m here writing this, I’m getting withdrawal symptoms from the multiplayer, so I’ll be seeing you. If you’ve got any golden moments you’d like to share with us then feel free to post em up in a comment below.
