Assassin's Creed Brotherhood Multiplayer Beta

To all those waiting to see what it's like out there, I decided to give my first impressions on the Assassin's Creed Brotherhood multiplayer beta which just released today exclusively for the PS3.

First, some minor SPOILERS. At the beginning of Assassin's Creed 2 we saw row upon row of animus chambers at Abstergo, but had no idea why they were there. Well, as you might have guessed, it appears the Templars got the same idea as the assassins with Desmond and are training their followers to be fighters using the Animus' bleeding effect. And this multiplayer, it seems, is that training. END SPOILERS.

Entering a public match is basically the only option they give you at this point (though both ranked and private matches are there, just inaccessible), so jumping on in you are able to select one of several different types of killers. Unfortunately, at this point it doesn't appear to make much of any difference which one you choose, and if you don't choose quickly then you're either forced into one as the other players (up to 8 I believe) takes the rest, or the timer counts down and auto-chooses for you. All those commercials implying that each class had their own special ability at least so far is a lie. Instead, as you make kills you gain points which help you progress in levels, and about every two levels you unlock something, whether it be a special ability, a perk, a kill/loss streak bonus, or even just the ability to have more than one profile.

The only match style available is called Wanted, where you are given a player to assassinate while another player is hunting after you. You are given your target's type of killer, as well as a blue slice of a radar pie which gets bigger as you approach your target. Once you're in view of the target, a little notice tells you that if you run or do something in high profile for long enough, the target will notice you and be told to escape. There are various doors and obstacles throughout the map to help whoever is fleeing, and if you break line of sight you can hide somewhere until the counter ticks down and your pursuer fails to find you. Also, even if you do catch them, it's worth less points than killing them while incognito. You get points for killing people in certain ways (from a ledge, from a hiding spot, etc.) . So while you're locating your target, the objective is to remain indistinct from the crowd so that whoever is pursuing you has as hard a time as possible picking you out. You get points for escaping from a chase, or even something like tricking your pursuer into killing a civilian instead of you. Still, judging from the scoreboards at the end of matches, your hunter will find you. Often. The real trick is to go for those big point kills so you can stay ahead. At least, that's my strategy, I'm sure other people will have other ways to do it.

To help you along the way, you're given some special abilities. The early ones include being able to temporarily shapeshift into another type so your pursuer can't recognize you, or being able to sprint at an increased speed for a short time. Use wisely though, they have a long (shapeshifting is 1 min, haven't tried speed yet) recharge time which makes a big difference in a 10 minute match. Eventually you also earn bonuses for a kill streak (extra 100 points per target after 3), and a loss streak (radar is extra sensitive after you die 3 times in a row). So far I can see the rewards up to level 20, and even though there are levels after that it appears they won't be available in the beta (but who knows, I'm still just level 6).

But what you really came to know is...is it fun? Is it worth it? And the answer is...yes.

This mode is almost excessively simple in its premise and play quality, but there's something really fun about tracking your target through a crowd while also trying to stand out as little as possible. Then when you get close there's the more high risk options for extra rewards, like waiting 3 seconds with the kill button above their heads before committing the act. It gets your blood pumping every time you do something out of the ordinary and have to decide to either run for it or hope that isn't your hunter walking straight towards you. More often than not you'll be caught completely unawares by your hunter, but thankfully you respawn so quickly that it's more funny than irritating that they got you.

The point is, it's addictively simple. It's easy to jump right into, easy to have fun with, and easy enough to leave behind if you get tired of it. Of course, being so simple it does lack that extra oomph that would make it really spectacular (aka different and balanced character abilities instead of just different skins), but if you're looking for a fun, new take on multiplayer then you can't go wrong.

If there's more that I find out, or they make improvements before launch, I'll make sure to update things. However, so far...

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood multiplayer beta gets a 7.5/10.