As with the previous instalments in Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft has pushed back the PC release date from its console counterparts. Ubisoft states that this is to spend time optimising the game for the PC platform. This time around they also decided to ditch the outrageously annoying ‘always-on’ DRM. Instead, players will have to login once initially for verification, after which the single-player component will work offline.
The various development teams that worked on Brotherhood could leverage the work already done on the engine for Assassin’s Creed 2, which was optimised to take advantage of multi-core processing. For this PC development cycle, the focus has been on tweaking graphical rendering options.
The PC platform provides a number of advantages over a console, such as scalable settings and a hard disk installation to reduce loading times.
Assassins’ Creed: Brotherhood on PC will benefit from tweaks such as higher overall resolutions, high levels of multisample anti-aliasing (MSAA) and anisotropic filtering (AF), screen space ambient occlusion (SSAO), a new shadow algorithm, better level of detail transitions, and higher resolution shadows and reflections. Brotherhood on PC will also support Eyefinity and 3DVision.
Despite some DirectX 10 experimentation in Assassin’s Creed 1, Ubisoft has once again decided to stick with DirectX 9 only rendering in Brotherhood, as with AC2. This may once again disappoint those who think the game would benefit from the newer technology which has become common on the PC platform. Still, the visuals are stunning despite this, and once one has become immersed in the game, the minor details of missing rendering effects are forgotten.
MyGaming has had plenty of hands-on time with preview code of Brotherhood for PC. The code is of course not in a state of completion, but for the most part the game was fully functional. While Brotherhood looks good on consoles, a decent PC can just trump them in performance and ability. The scalable settings include: environment; texture; shadow; reflection; and character. This is coupled with MSAA, AA, post processing effects (SSAO), and vertical sync.
The higher resolutions, anti-aliasing, draw distances and advanced graphical processing effects make for a stunning PC game. We fiddled with scalable detail settings to have a look through the range of graphical ability, and when on low to medium, things are comparable to the PS3 version which was close at hand.
When maxed out, the detail was excellent. Textures were sharp and clear, making their console counterparts look flat and blurred in comparison. Likewise the detail draw distances were great, with the cityscape of Rome rendered quite clearly far into the distance. The higher detail carried over to all aspects of the game, from small decorative touches, to the pedestrians roaming the streets. Clothing fabrics look realistic, and armour is etched with fine detail. Even roofing tiles seem more realistic in the PC version, which is nice because you’ll be spending quite a bit of time dashing across the roof tops.
Now this isn’t an attempt to bash the graphical prowess of a console – the game just looks better on a PC. Unfortunately I was unable to capture screenshots, so you’ll just have to take my word on it. On that note; the screenshots sprinkled around the article are from the console version, just to give a taste. With this only being preview code, hopefully the final product will emerge even more polished and tweaked.
The prospect of running around in multiplayer matches with the additional levels of graphical detail is quite tantalising, and may just make the wait worthwhile for the PC gaming stalwarts.
The game is scheduled for release on 18 March 2011 in SA. The standard retail and digital versions of the game will receive access to the three updates release for the game thus far – Abstergo Project Update 1.0 and 2.0 and The Da Vinci Disappearance. There is also a Codex Edition, a Special Edition (MyGaming is awaiting confirmation on the local availability of these two) and a Digital Deluxe Edition.
Codex Edition
This limited collector’s edition of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood will come packaged as a Renaissance style chest containing:
o Main game + Abstergo Project Update 1.0 and 2.0 and The Da Vinci Disappearance
o The Original Codex written by the hand of Altaïr: a quality 60 pages book revealing all the history of the Assassins and presenting the artworks of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood.
o A detailed map of ROME
o Multiplayer Characters Collectible Cards: a set of trade cards presenting all the characters of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood Multiplayer, their kill moves and biography
o Assassin’s Creed Lineage DVD: discover the story of Giovanni Auditore, Ezio’s father, by watching this three-part short movie.
o An Bonus DVD containing the Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood original soundtrack, galleries…
o Exclusive unlockable content:
-One Multiplayer Character: The Harlequin, a deadly assassin lying behind a gaudy costume and a twisted smiling mask
-One Multiplayer Character: The Officer, a stealthy assassin who can assassinate his targets with a swift and powerful attack
-One exclusive single player indoor map: The Trajan Market
-One exclusive single player outdoor map: The Aqueducts map
-Ezio “Drachen Armor”
Auditore Edition
This special edition comes in cold foil packaging and contains:
o Main game + Abstergo Project Update 1.0 and 2.0 and The Da Vinci Disappearance
o Exclusive unlockable content:
-One Multiplayer Character: The Officer, a stealthy assassin who can assassinate his targets with a swift and powerful attack
-One exclusive single player indoor map: The Trajan Market
Digital Deluxe Edition
o Main game + Abstergo Project Update 1.0 and 2.0 and The Da Vinci Disappearance
o Assassin’s Creed Lineage: discover the story of Giovanni Auditore, Ezio’s father, by watching this three episodes short movie.
o Exclusive additional content featuring the Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood original soundtrack, galleries, Making-of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood…
o Exclusive unlockable content:
-One Multiplayer Character: The Harlequin, a deadly assassin lying behind a gaudy costume and a twisted smiling mask
-One Multiplayer Character: The Officer, a stealthy assassin who can assassinate his targets with a swift and powerful attack
-One exclusive single player indoor map: The Trajan Market
-One exclusive single player outdoor map: The Aqueducts map
-Ezio “Drachen Armor”
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood system requirements
Minimum system requirements
Operating System: Windows XP (32-64 bits) / Windows Vista (32-64 bits) / Windows 7
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHZ or AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4GHZ
Memory: 1.5 GB RAM (or 2 GB RAM in Windows Vista/7
Hard Drive: 8 GB Hard Disk space
Video Card (graphics): 256 MB DirectX 9.0c–compliant videocard with Shader Model 3.0 or higher
Sound Card: DirectX compatible Sound Card
DirectX: DirectX 9.0c
Keyboard & mouse
Recommended system requirements
Operating System: Windows XP (32-64 bits) / Windows Vista (32-64 bits) / Windows 7
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 2.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ or better
Memory: 1.5 GB RAM (or 2 GB RAM in Windows Vista/7
Hard Drive:
Video Card (graphics): GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 4700 or better videocard
Sound Card: 5.1 soundcard
DirectX: DirectX 9.0c
PC Gamepad or Xbox 360 Controller for Windows controller
Supported Video Cards at Time of Release: ATI RADEON X1950, HD 2000/3000/4000/5000 series, NVIDIA GeForce 7/8/9/100/200 series.
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