OXCGN’s Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood DLC Review
The Da Vinci Disappearance
by exterminat
©2011 Nicholas Laborde
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is a fantastic title, embodying some of the best traits of this console generation.
Whether it be completely dynamic fights, open-ended exploration, larger-than-life building scaling and traversal, intense multiplayer or simply walking around and stealing money, Brotherhood shows some of the best in gaming.
Free multiplayer DLC has become synonymous with Brotherhood, with two full multiplayer pieces available that add new modes and maps for absolutely free.
Today, though, that changes.
The Da Vinci Disappearance is the first piece of paid downloadable content for the title, adding a hefty single-player experience and tons of new content for multiplayer.
Where in the world is Leonardo da Vinci?
You might be familiar with the two pieces of downloadable content released for Assassin’s Creed 2, Bonfire of the Vanities and Battle of Forli.
Each told the tale of memories that were cut from the game, and fill in the gaps of sequences near the end of the story.
While being sub-par at best, they were an interesting take on how a developer could produce additions to their game. This DLC takes on a similar concept. A new marker appears on your map, called Restored Memories.
Upon entering the marker, the Animus does its famous shifting of scenes, and Ezio is hurled back to Rome, circa 1506.
Ezio once again pays a visit to his friend Leonardo, this time to acquire the name of a ship captain, so as to secure passage to another land. Disappointingly, the name escapes da Vinci,and they move on to other things.
Not long after, Ezio returns with Leonardo’s “worker”, Salai, to the workshop and finds it ransacked, with his oldest friend and six of his paintings missing.
• Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood da Vinci Single Player vid
Leonardo had been working on something quite big, which attracted the attention of the Hermeticists, a cult devoted to transforming mankind.
The discovery? An underground catacomb that led to a large chamber, in which untold secrets related to the Pythagoreans awaited.
The Pythagoreans believed that everything in nature came down to complex numbers; if humanity could figure out those numbers, they could control nature itself.
The cult struck swiftly, seizing Leonardo and his paintings before anyone knew anything was wrong.
Ezio is seeking the paintings because Leonardo always left secrets in his works; what he left this time could lead to the location of the underground relic, and Ezio must fight against the clock to return all of the paintings, discover their secrets and save his best friend.
A simple idea that develops into a deep story aspect, The Da Vinci Disappearance proves an extremely worthy single-player addition.
The end teases what may be the next Assassin’s Creed title (check out my article on that here!), and will run you a solid three to four hours worth of gameplay.
And the gloves come off
The real attraction of this DLC to many will be the new multiplayer modes.
We are offered two brand-spanking-new modes and a few new maps, and they truly are interesting, to say the least.
First off, we have Assassinate. To sum it up, it’s what you would imagine true Assassin’s Creed competitive multiplayer to be. It’s very similar to the free-for-all style of Wanted, but just a little bit different.
Targets are not marked for you; rather, YOU are the one marking the targets. Players have to look intently at crowds for suspicious activity, and pick out who the real players are.
What makes it all the more tactical is the fact that you must be locked on to your target in order to kill them. No more of that sprinting to your target nonsense that you see all the time in Wanted.
Once again, the players who get the most kills in the best ways will win the session.
• Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood da Vinci screenshots slideshow
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The second new mode is Escort, which is essentially your traditional VIP mode. There are three groups of people: the VIPs, the Hunters, and the Protectors.
AI assume the role of two VIPs, which the Protectors must defend while moving to different destinations.
The goal of the Hunters is to kill the VIP, but they must proceed with caution, as they can only stun (not kill!) the Protectors. It leads to some truly intense action and requires tons of teamwork, but it’s some of the most fun I’ve had in a long while.
It’s all elementary my dear Watson!
If you’re a Brotherhood fan, you need to own this downloadable content. Whether a single or multi-player fan, you’ll find enough content to satisfy the USD$10 entry fee.
Just make sure you’re ready to continue playing one of the best games this generation.
OXCGN’s Golden Award
“9/10
And even more Assassin’s Creed:
- Assassin’s Creed 3 Set during the American Revolution? - Read more
- The Assassin’s Creed Effect: 3 Templar Games in 2011 - Read More
- Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood Review (Single Player)
- Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood Review (Multiplayer)
- Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood: (Almost) Modern Warfare – do you agree with new direction? Look Here.
- Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood novels HERE
- Assassin’s Creed Ascendance Animated Film teaser HERE
- Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood: Beta Kill Video and Verdict here.
- Assassin’s Creed 3 – Where and When to Next Part 1. – Read more.
- Assassin’s Creed 3 – Where and When to Next Part 2 – Read more.
©2011 Nicholas Laborde
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• Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood: da Vinci Disappearance DLC Screenshots
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