Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is the direct sequel of 2009's Assassin's Creed II, picking up right after the end of the last game.

The story once again features the titular character of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, now a legendary Master Assassin, as he strives to rebuild the Assassin Brotherhood in Rome, by bringing down the tyrannical Templar family, the Borgia, and bringing the city into the true wealth and wonder of the Renaissance.

Story
Using the Animus 2.0, Desmond Miles attempted to relive one of the late memories of his ancestor, Ezio Auditore, hoping that it would reveal the location of the Apple of Eden, which could allow them to prevent the foretold disaster. However, instead of entering the memory set in 1507, he was forced into a different one, occurring during a battle in Viana. From there, as Ezio looked upon the besieged Viana Castle, he recalled the similar events of the siege of Monteriggioni, subsequently forcing Desmond back further, into a memory from 1499.

Fall of Monteriggioni
As Ezio left the Vault beneath the Vatican after listening to Minerva's message, he discovered Rodrigo Borgia gone. Noticing too that the Staff had been left behind, he attempted to extract it from where it had been impaled into the floor; however, it descended and was sealed away.

Mario Auditore then called down to him from the entrance, and he and Ezio fought their way out of the Vatican. Ezio, unable to decide whether or not to cast the Apple into the Tiber River, gave it to Mario for safe keeping. The two then rode back to Monteriggioni on horseback.

However, Ezio soon learned that the Templar threat had diminished little, when Cesare Borgia, son of Rodrigo Borgia, laid siege to Monteriggioni. Cesare's army of soldiers, towers, and cannons attacked in full force, destroying much of the city and villa. The attack ended with Monteriggioni in ruins, Ezio wounded badly by arquebusiers, and Mario killed by Cesare himself. Though Ezio attempted to follow his uncle's murderer on horseback, he passed out on the road to Rome from his injuries.

At that point, Desmond woke from the Animus stationed in the back of the Assassins' van, they having arrived at the Villa Auditore in modern Monteriggioni, their last safehouse in Italy. Lucy Stillman explained that they need to recover Ezio's Apple of Eden, as she suspected that Minerva had altered it somehow when she had touched it in the Vault.

Desmond, Lucy, Shaun and Rebecca then headed for the Villa, seeking the safety of the underground Sanctuary, which would keep them hidden from Abstergo's cell towers. However, as the door was locked, Desmond and Lucy left to discover another way in. After making their way through the secret passage that Ezio and the citizens had used to flee the Borgia attack, they opened the way for Shaun and Rebecca.

Inside the Sanctuary, Desmond saw an aged Ezio due to the Bleeding Effect, and deduced that he must have returned to the villa many years after the attack, though for an unknown purpose. He also found a symbol that Ezio had drawn on the wall and, using Eagle Vision, saw a series of numbers hidden underneath.

The four of them then set up the Animus 2.0, and Desmond returned to Ezio's memories, with Lucy believing that improving his synchronization with Ezio would allow Desmond to access the memory revealing the location of the Apple.

War in Rome
Ezio regained consciousness in a small house in Rome, where the woman who had been tending to him told him that a man had brought him there, and had supplied him with new armor and clothing. After leaving the house and receiving medicine from a doctor, Ezio left to meet with Niccolò Machiavelli. Through Machiavelli, he discovered that Rome was in disrepair, and that the citizens were being oppressed by the Borgia. Later, he would also stumble across the Followers of Romulus, and explore one of their lairs, the Nero's Golden Palace.

Basing himself on Tiber Island in the center of the city, Ezio began his mission to rid the city of the influence of Cesare and his generals. To do so, Ezio reestablished relationships between his Assassins Guild and the other guilds in the city, namely that of the Courtesans (led by Madonna Solari, and later Claudia Auditore), the Thieves (led by La Volpe) and the Mercenaries (led by Bartolomeo d'Alviano).

Ezio then began to rebuild the Brotherhood by recruiting Apprentices, who were made up of both distressed citizens who wished to liberate their city, and young novice Assassins, such as Francesco Vecellio. After the recruits had completed their training, he placed them in teams and sent them on missions across Europe.

Ezio then began to break down the Borgia influence in Rome by destroying several Borgia towers and their captains. He also sabotaged Cesare's forces by striking at their arsenal, their military funding, and their support from the French forces. To do so, he destroyed the war machines of Leonardo da Vinci, and assassinated two of Cesare's key generals, his Banker, Juan Borgia, and the French general, Octavian de Valois.

Afterwards, he was informed that Pietro Rossi, an actor and Lucrezia Borgia's plaything, possessed a key to the Castel Sant'Angelo. Knowing that he would need it in order to assassinate Cesare and Rodrigo successfully, Ezio tailed after Micheletto Corella, Cesare's personal assassin, who had been sent to kill Pietro. After Ezio had rescued him, both from being stabbed with a spear during his play, and from the ailments of poison, Pietro handed the Assassin the key to the Castello.

Upon completion of these tasks, Ezio inducted Claudia into the Assassin Order, and was also elected by Machiavelli to be Il Mentore of the Brotherhood.

The Fall
Soon afterwards, Ezio infiltrated the Castel, where he witnessed the murder of Rodrigo by his son, Cesare. Cesare forced the location of the Apple of Eden from Lucrezia, and hurried to retrieve it from Basilica di San Pietro. However, Ezio successfully reached the Apple before Cesare, and subsequently used it to demilitarize the remnants of Cesare's army.

In one last battle, Ezio and his fellow Assassins fought Cesare and his surviving men at the gates of Rome. Cesare was arrested by Fabio Orsini by the order of the new Pope, though not before commenting that he would not be in chains for long and that he would never be killed by any man.

Sometime later, Ezio, troubled by Cesare's comments, discussed them with Leonardo, who suggested using the Apple to find out if what he said was true. Ezio was hesitant, but decided to take his advice, and discovered that Cesare would indeed free himself from prison. Ezio declared that he needed to leave at once, reassuring Leonardo's concerns for the Assassin Guild he was leaving behind by saying, "I built this Brotherhood to last, with or without me."

Viana
In 1507, Ezio finally tracked Cesare down at the Siege of Viana, Spain. Ezio fought through the infantry, and finally managed to corner Cesare on the castle wall. There, in a climactic battle, Ezio managed to destroy Cesare's armor and ultimately defeat him. Though Cesare insisted that he would not die in the hands of man, Ezio then left him to the "hands of fate," and threw him from the battlements to his death.

Afterwards, Ezio took the Apple of Eden into a Vault under the Santa Maria Aracoeli, within the Temple of Juno.

Recovering the Apple
Desmond emerged from the Animus shortly after reliving this memory, listening to his teammates deducing a way to get into the Vault. Just as Rebecca mentioned that they needed a spoken password to enter it, a blackout occurred, cutting them off from using the Animus to find out. However, Desmond realized that the symbol he had seen on the door of the Vault was the same one he had seen drawn on the villa wall. Shaun discovered that the sequence of numbers hidden behind the symbol referred to the seventy-two names of God, setting the password to be 72.

The Assassins then drove to the Colosseo in Rome, and Desmond separated from the others to find a way into the Vault. As he traveled the underground passageway, he encountered another of Those Who Came Before, Juno, who spoke at length of the downfall of humankind.

Arriving inside the Santa Maria Aracoeli, Desmond unlocked the door for his teammates and, shortly afterwards, witnessed a memory of Ezio free-running through the church. He followed him and activated a system of bars and levers, finally causing a small pedestal to emerge from the floor. Placing his hand on it, Desmond activated the floor, lowering the four of them down to the door of the Vault.

Desmond spoke the password, and the door opened to reveal a large empty chamber, with a tall platform raised in the middle, upon which the Apple awaited. Desmond activated the staircase up to it by jumping across a series of pillars; while Juno's voice echoed through the cavern as she spoke cryptically of humans, the Pieces of Eden and a "sixth sense." However, Desmond was apparently the only one who could hear her.

Once the Assassins had access to the platform, Desmond asked the Apple where the other Temples were, and a series of holographic symbols appeared. Shaun mentioned that two of the most distinct ones, the Phrygian Cap and the Masonic Eye, only came together in one place; however, when Desmond picked up the Apple, time seemed to stop and he found himself controlled by Juno. Though he struggled, she forced him to draw his hidden blade and stab Lucy in the abdomen. The two then fell to the ground unconscious, with blood pooling around Lucy.

Later, William M. and another unknown male could be heard speaking, saying that Desmond had gone into shock. William ordered the other to put Desmond back into the Animus, despite the other's protests on how badly the Animus had affected Desmond already. Later Desmond entered a coma, though William claimed that Desmond would live through it.

Singleplayer

 * Rome
 * Monteriggioni
 * Monte Circeo (War Machine mission)
 * Napoli (War Machine mission)
 * Colli Albani (War Machine mission)
 * Valnerina (War Machine mission)
 * Tivoli (Templar Lair mission)
 * Viana
 * Florence (Cristina memory)
 * Ferrara (Da Vinci Disappearance mission)
 * Venice (Cristina memory)

Multiplayer

 * Rome
 * Florence
 * Venice
 * Siena
 * Forlì
 * Castel Gandolfo
 * Monteriggioni
 * San Donato
 * Mont Saint-Michel (DLC)
 * Pienza (DLC)
 * Alhambra (DLC)

Weapons
The weapon wheel feature in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood remains largely the same as in Assassin's Creed II, but with several new features, such as the addition of the Crossbow.

Also, a dual-wielding option has been added, which are marked by a smaller symbol over the primary one. For example, the Hidden Gun is paired with the Longsword, and the Throwing Knives with the Short Blade.

Note: Weapons with an asterisk (*) next to them are first introduced in Brotherhood as usable items.
 * Longswords
 * Crossbow*
 * Dual Hidden Blades
 * Poison Darts*
 * Hidden Gun
 * Daggers
 * Spears, Halberds and Pikes
 * Throwing Knives
 * Warhammers and Maces
 * Heavy Weapons
 * Apple of Eden*

Multiplayer

 * Multiplayer Abilities
 * Multiplayer Characters                      Assassins-CreedBrotherhood.jpg
 * Multiplayer Gametypes
 * Multiplayer Perks
 * Multiplayer Streak Bonuses
 * Multiplayer Weapons

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is the first Assassin's Creed game to feature a multiplayer mode. In it, the players are Templars in training at the Abstergo facility, who use Animi and the Bleeding Effect to train in combat, stealth and free-running. The simulation consists of stalking and killing one another in areas set to mimic countries and cities of the Renaissance era.

Singleplayer

 * Copernicus Conspiracy (2010) (PS3-exclusive)
 * The Da Vinci Disappearance (2011)
 * To be announced. (2011)

Multiplayer

 * Animus Project Update 1.0 (2010)
 * Animus Project Update 2.0 (2011)
 * Animus Project Update 3.0 (2011)

Codex Edition

 * Renaissance Collector Chest.
 * Altaïr's Codex.
 * Strategy Map of Rome.
 * Multiplayer character cards.
 * DVD of the Assassin’s Creed: Lineage short-film (European version only).
 * Game Soundtrack.
 * Bonus Disc.
 * Making-of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood Video.
 * Digital Sneak Peak at the comic book series.
 * Trailers.
 * Two exclusive singleplayer maps (Aqua Gear & Trajan Market).
 * Two exclusive multiplayer characters (The Harlequin & the Officer)
 * Helmschmied Drachen Armor.
 * Three ubiworkshop artcards.

Auditore Edition

 * Transparency box with 3D thermoformed portrait of Ezio.
 * Multiplayer character cards.
 * Aqua Gear exclusive singleplayer map.
 * DVD of the Assassin's Creed: Lineage short-film.
 * Helmschmied Drachen Armor.
 * Three ubiworkshop artcards.

Collector's Edition

 * Collectible black package.
 * The Harlequin Jack-in-the-Box (GameStop only) or the Doctor Jack-in-the-Box (other participating retailers).
 * Harlequin multiplayer character (GameStop only).
 * Two exclusive singleplayer maps (Aqua Gear & Trajan Market).
 * Strategy Map of Rome.
 * Exclusive Art Book.
 * Bonus Disc.
 * Exclusive Making-of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood Video.
 * Digital Sneak Peak at the comic book series.
 * Trailers and Dev Diaries.
 * Game Soundtrack.
 * Helmschmied Drachen Armor (Amazon.com pre-order only).

Special Edition

 * Exclusive Packaging.
 * Trajan Market exclusive singleplayer map.
 * The Officer multiplayer character.

HMV Exclusive Edition

 * Exclusive Packaging.
 * Aqua Gear exclusive singleplayer map.
 * The Harlequin Multiplayer Character.

Digital Deluxe Edition (PC Only)

 * Trajan Market & the Aqueducts.
 * The Harlequin and Officer multiplayer characters.
 * Helmschmied Drachen Armor.
 * Altaïr's Codex.
 * Multiplayer characters cards.
 * Strategy Map of Rome.
 * Assassin’s Creed: Lineage
 * Making-Of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
 * Game Soundtrack

* Available through Steam for US$59.99

Da Vinci Edition

 * Free The Da Vinci Disappearance DLC download
 * Two exclusive singleplayer maps (Aqua Gear & Trajan Market).
 * The Harlequin, Officer, Dama Rossa, Knight, Marquis, and Pariah multiplayer characters.
 * Helmschmied Drachen Armor.

Trivia

 * The background of the game's title menu cycles between the blue of Abstergo's Animus (1.28), and the white of the Assassins' Animus 2.0.
 * In the multiplayer mode, despite all the characters being Templars and using Abstergo's Animi, the desynchronization animation with the numerous white lines, and the blend animation with the white lines at the character's feet are from the Animus 2.0.
 * Nolan North, the voice actor of Desmond Miles, had admitted to be working on a new Assassin's Creed game before any official announcement, and game developers said that his story would "take an interesting turn."
 * The covers of the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game show Ezio with dual Hidden Blades in an "X" pointing upwards, while on the PC version cover, the blades are facing downwards.
 * As seen in this video, the PC version of the game is able to support 3 monitor gaming.

Videos
Video:Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - Debut Website Teaser (HD)|Debut Teaser Trailer [[Video:Assassins Creed Brotherhood Weapons Trailer HD|Weapons Teaser Trailer Video:Assassin's Creed Brotherhood Rome Vignette|Presentation of Rome Video:Shaun Hastings Teaser|Shaun Hastings' Reveal Video Video:Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - Enter Rome Trailer (HD)|Enter Rome Trailer Video:Assassin's Creed Brotherhood Multiplayer Trailer|E3 2010 Multiplayer Trailer Video:Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - Multiplayer Beta Trailer (HD)|Multiplayer Beta Trailer Video:Assassin's Creed Brotherhood - The Story Trailer|The Story Trailer Video:Assassin's Creed Brotherhood - Exotic Gameplay Trailer|Exotic Gameplay Trailer Video:Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - Singleplayer-Gameplay|Singleplayer Gameplay #1 Video:Assassins Creed Brotherhood - Singleplayer-Gameplay #2|Singleplayer Gameplay #2 Video:What you get when you pre-order Assassin's Creed Brotherhood|Retailers Bonuses Video:Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood: Gameplay trailer - Character Desmond|Desmond In Asassin's Creed Brotherhood Video:Assassin's Creed Brotherhood - Codex Edition|Codex Edition Video:Assassin's Creed Brotherhood|Beta Gameplay Video:Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - launch trailer|Single Player Launch Trailer Video:Assassin's Creed Brotherhood Walkthrough Part III|Recorded Footage