Brother in ‘da hood
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood – Multiplayer Versus
I enjoy playing versus modes as much as I like visiting the dentist; as I am not a sadist, this means not very much. I find that deathmatch modes are overly competitive and have more than their fair share of 12 year old racists. However, after hands on time with the Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood versus mode, I may make an exception for this sly fox.
The multiplayer pits upwards of 8 players against one another. Rather than being a mindless shoot off, Brotherhood is more about intrigue and subtlety. Each player can choose one of the 8 types of character models until all have a different hero (or should that be anti hero?) These range from an Altair-esque assassin, to a bony Priest or mask wearing medic. Once all the players are unleashed onto the versus map things start to get interesting. All the character models in the game are made of the same 8 character types, AI and humans look alike! ‘What?’, you may ask. Haven’t we got past the era in gaming were you see the same faces over and over again? Well, no we haven’t got past that era yet, but this is on purpose.
Each player is sent out to try and assassinate another player on the map. To help you in this murderous task you are given radar showing the direction of your intended victim and what they look like. Spotting them is not easy in a crowd where every 8th face is the same. Kill an innocent and you lose points. Whilst you are hunting, you are also being hunted! This leads to a nerve wracking experience as you try to act natural whilst out for the kill. The ability to act like the AI is the secret to success as if you start running or climbing, you may as well switch on a giant neon sign above your head that says, “Kill me, I deserve not your pity, but death.” Being the ace/fluky gamer that I am, I cottoned onto this tactic early and won the demo session I took part in. There was great fun to be had masking yourself in a crowd of AI only to pop out at the last minute and assassinate a human player. I can see that this game type will appeal to gamers who like the pace of their versus modes a little slower and more cerebral.