Play in Process: The Patient Assassins

Each week in Play in Process, Richard Clark shares what he’s been playing and why it means something to him.

It’s been out for a while, but I’ve recently regained interest in the multi-player mode of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. Here’s my thesis: If you’re the kind of person who finds the standard fast-paced, shooter-based multiplayer games overwhelming and or boring, this is for you. Here are some things that set apart Assassin’s Creed’s multiplayer from any other game:

• An emphasis on patience. Sure, you could run full speed for your enemies and kill them flat-out. But you will lose. The game places value on stealth and blending in with the crowd. As someone who is used to more face-paced shooters, I have to get myself into a particular head-space to play AC:Bros well. By the time I’ve played a game for an hour or two, I feel markedly different than I do after playing those other games.
• The presence of the crowd. Unlike other games, you’re attempting to take out your opponents in the presence of a bustling crowd. This creates some really fascinating circumstances. You’re forced to push people out of the way, avoid startling the crowd and creating a scene, and keep from killing innocent people for no reason.
• A secretive and strategic aspect. Playing against a friend can be pretty satisfying for those moments that you both stop talking, only to realize that one was hunting the other. The social aspect is very real and changed in a significant way by the mechanics of the game. Trust and suspicion are always at play.

Bottom line, it’s the perfect antidote to pretty much any other mainstream multi-player game out there. I highly recommend it.