Since Ubisoft introduced the high climbing Assassin’s Creed title in 2007 the franchise has spawned quite a following behind it. The thought of the future linking us to past through our DNA has captured the attention of many fans. Assassin’s Creed 2 was no doubt the most successful in the franchise. Ubisoft is already hard at work on the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. They have also revealed that there will be a new mode in this upcoming title, multiplayer. The question is that with a game of this type how well does it hold up?
When first glancing at the trailer that of the multiplayer element that was revealed at the Ubisoft conference it initially left a lot of people wondering how it would work. Well simply put, the trailer doesn’t do this mode any justice whatsoever. It definitely takes some hands on to fully appreciate the direction that the multiplayer is taking. Ubisoft is trying something new here, and it could very well be a mode that sells copies by itself so long as it is supported.
Upon entering a session you will be prompted to choose the character that you would like to represent you on screen. The ones that were available included doctor, noble, executioner, etc. My personal favorite was definitely the executioner, mainly because he carried a huge axe. After character selection a selection of special attributes will pop up, here simply choose the one that fits your individual playing style the best. It ranges from extra spring to smoke bombs that stun victims, all this depends how you play.
The premise is simple, take out your target that appears in the upper right of your screen. The compass will first appear as a small segment of white area. This represents that your character is far away from the target. Upon going in the direction of the target the segment will grow larger until you are within striking distance of the target, at this point the compass will fill up completely with white and say the target is in your area. One thing to take under consideration is that as soon as this occurs the target will also get a notice on their screen that you are within their area as well.
The key thing here is observation of people within that area. Given that there are only so many characters that I mentioned earlier, there are many of the same. So if the target is a doctor, when entering the area there may be 7-8 total doctors walking around. If the doctor that is your target makes a sudden move you will notice it and know which one to strike. If not and strike an innocent civilian you will automatically lose your contract and have to wait on another contract to appear. Everything that you do to take out your contract adds to your total as well. This includes aerial attacks or simply just taking out the contract unnoticed.
Upon successfully taking out the target you will receive another target shortly there after. The higher ranked you are, the more targets will be taking out on your character, at one point I had 4 guys coming after me. It was rather nerve wrecking having 4 people chase you at once, yet at the same time escaping them was extremely satisfying when using the blending perk to disappear into a crowd.
Overall the multiplayer was extremely addictive and can easily be a huge reason behind why this game will sell well. For those that were worried about the multiplayer failing miserably, it does not. The way that it is implemented has it extremely balanced, and it just works very well overall. Be sure to check it out when the game is released this November.
