Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is the direct sequel of 2009's Assassin's Creed II picking up right at 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 you are taken through his time in the Italian capital of Rome. It is here that he discovers new and old allies alike, founding a new Assassin's brotherhood in order to battle the tyranical Templar family, the Borgia, and helps the city experience the true wealth and wonder of the Renaissance. It also continues the modern day Assassin's journey, where Desmond Miles and the team look through Ezio's memories in order to discover the location of a Piece of Eden.

Story
The story commences in the Animus 2.0 with Desmond attempting to relive a memory of his ancestor Ezio Auditore in 1507 that would reveal the location of the Apple, however he is forced into a different memory occuring at the battle of Viana. And so he returns to the 1499 memories of Ezio in the Vault beneath the Vatican, at the end of Minerva's message. Following the experience, Ezio discovers Rodrigo Borgia gone, and when he attempts to take back the staff, it is retracted into the floor and sealed away. Mario Auditore shows up and he and Ezio fight their wat out of the Vatican. Ezio, unable to decide whether or not to cast the Apple into the river, gives it to Mario for safe keeping. The two ride back to Monteriggioni on horseback. After Ezio explaines to Mario what Minerva had said, Mario replies that, since the events she had spoken of would occur many years in the future, it was not of their concern. Once in Monteriggioni, the people greet Ezio and Mario, praising them for their actions. Ezio assists a few citizens before relaxing in a tub in the Villa, where he is greeted by Caterina Sforza.

However, he soon learns that the Templar threat had diminished little, when Cesare Borgia, the son of Rodrigo Borgia a high ranking Templar, lays siege to Monteriggioni. Cesare's army of soldiers, towers, and cannons attack in full force, destroying much of the city and Villa. Ezio, who was sleeping with Caterina at the time of the attack quickly gets dressed and meets with Mario to discuss a plan of counter attack. Mario tasks Ezio with keeping the Templars from the city walls, whilst Mario himself leads a frontal assault against the Borgia soldiers.[8]

Ezio makes his way to the city walls and, using the cannons, destroys several of Cesare’s siege engines. However, Cesare's army breaches the city gates, bringing a mortally wounded Mario Auditore and a captured Caterina Sforza with them. Seeing his uncle injured and lying on the ground, Ezio runs across the rooftops to reach Mario before Cesare can kill him. Standing at the city gates, the Apple of Eden in hand, Cesare "[invites]" Ezio to come to Rome, murdering Mario Auditore by shooting him in the head. Cesare then returns to Rome whilst Ezio, who had been shot by a Borgia arquebusiers atop the city walls, blacks out and falls from the building which he had been observing from.[8]

Ezio regaines consciousness while being dragged by Mario's mercenaries. He, along with the others, evacuate the city via a secret passageway behind the statue of Altaïr in the Sanctuary. After escaping, Ezio tells Claudia and Maria to leave for Firenze, while he rides on horseback for Rome. Tired, injured and weak, Ezio passes out on the road in the night.

Desmond wakes from the Animus 2.0 stationed in the back of the Assassins' van, having arrived at the Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni, their last safehouse in Italy. Lucy explains that they need to recover the Ezio's Apple of Eden as she suspects that Minerva altered it somehow when she touched it in the Vault. Rebecca explains that when Desmond tries to access the corresponding memory it results in him remembering something else instead, described as a "memory within a memory". Desmond, Lucy, Shaun and Rebecca then head for the Villa, but are cut off from the hidden chamber bellow, so Desmond and Lucy head off to discover another way in. After making their way through the secret passage that Ezio and the citizens used to flee from the Borgia attack, they let Shaun and Rebecca in. Desmond sees an aged Ezio standing with them due to the Bleeding Effect and deduces that he must have returned many years after the attack, but for an unknown purpose. He also finds a symbol drawn on the wall by Ezio and using Eagle vision sees a series of numbers underneath. The four of them then set up the Animus 2.0 and Desmond returns to Ezio's memories, Lucy believing that improving synchronization with Ezio will allow Desmond to access the memory revealing the location of the Apple.

War in Rome
Ezio woke up being tended by a woman in a small house in Rome. She 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 met Niccolò Machiavelli. Through Machiavelli, he discovered that Rome is in disrepair and the citizens oppressed by the Borgia. Later, Ezio would also stumble across the Followers of Romulus, and explore one of their lairs, the Hall of Nero.

Basing himself on Tiber Island in the center of the city, Ezio rebuilt the complex, and began his mission to rid the city of Cesare Borgia and his father. 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, Ezio's sister), Thieves (led by La Volpe) and Mercenaries (led by Bartolomeo d'Alviano).

In 1501, Ezio took in other Assassins as understudies, such as Francesco Vecellio, who joined him after the latter's former master Perotto Calderon had betrayed the Assassins and was subsequently killed. After the recruits had completed their training, he placed them in teams and sent on missions across Europe.[9]

After Ezio received intelligence reports from his fellow guild leaders that Cesare Borgia, Rodrigo Borgia, and Caterina Sforza would be in the Castel Sant'Angelo, he infiltrated the heavily fortified fortress. However, Cesare had already left and Rodrigo was nowhere to be seen. Despite this, Ezio managed to rescue Caterina from Lucrezia Borgia, sister of Cesare and guardian of the Castel.

After the ordeal in the Castel, where Ezio barely held off the Borgia guards that pursued him (only an explosion in the Castel prevented more guards from pursuing him), Ezio decided that he should rebuild the Assassin Brotherhood. Ezio aided distressed citizens who became Assassin Apprentices to rid Rome of the Borgia influence. Ezio sent them on missions all over Europe to help them become better Assassins. Ezio then assassinated two Templar agents, the doctor Malfatto, and the nobleman Silvestro Sabbatini.

Later, Ezio received a surprise visit from Leornardo da Vinci, who offered him upgrades to his equipment, such as the double hidden blades, a climb leap glove and poison darts. Leonardo also informed Ezio of the war machines he had been forced to build for the Papal Army, such as a Chariot machine gun, a Boat cannon, an advanced Flying Machine, and a Tank. Ezio destroyed these war machines, further weakening the Borgia.

Ezio found out that the Banker, Juan Borgia the Elder, was financially aiding Cesare Borgia in his campaign to conquer all of Italy. Claudia told Ezio that a senator, Egidio Troche, was in debt to Juan. Ezio decided to help Egidio by fending off attackers and raising money to settle Egidio's debt. In return, Ezio discovered the location of Juan. Ezio tailed Egidio to a Borgia Captain, to whom Egidio turned over his money. Ezio then assassinated the Captain and took his place, and was able to infiltrate the pagan party held by Juan. Undetected, he was able to assassinate the Banker from a bench before escaping.

Next, Ezio visited Bartolomeo d'Alviano and his mercenaries, who were hard pressed by the French forces led by Baron Octavian de Valois. To make matters worse, Bartolomeo's wife, Pantasilea Baglioni, had been kidnapped by the Baron. Bartolomeo had decided to surrender, until Ezio came up with another plan. Ezio killed a large number of French infantry, while Bartolomeo's men collected their armor. Afterwards, Ezio and the mercenaries infiltrated the Baron's fortress, disguised as French troops delivering Bartolomeo to the Baron. When the Baron attempted to kill Bartolomeo, Ezio intervened and blew his cover. He then assassinated the Baron de Valois, who had been threatening to shoot Pantasilea at the first sign of trouble.

Ezio visited La Volpe after the events of the Baron. La Volpe suspected that Machiavelli had betrayed the Assassins by guiding the Papal Army to Monteriggioni, and by informing Rodrigo and Cesare to stay away from the Castel when Ezio infiltrated it. Ezio then helped La Volpe by fending off the Borgia troops who were attacking the thieves.

Afterwards, he was informed that Pietro Rossi, an actor and Lucrezia Borgia's plaything, had the key to the Castel and that Cesare intended to kill Pietro. Ezio then tailed Micheletto, Cesare's personal assassin, who would infiltrate the play that Pietro would appear in, with his men. Ezio's recruits assassinated Micheletto's men to take their place in the play. After infiltrating the Colosseum (where the play was to be held), Ezio spared Micheletto's life because Pietro had been poisoned. After taking Pietro to a doctor and taking the key to the Castel, Ezio saw a thief that was present during the Fall of Monterriggioni. He caught the thief and discovered that he was the traitor, not Machiavelli. Ezio then raced back to Tiber Island to stop La Volpe from killing Machiavelli, after which the two friends walked off discussing the events of the passion play as if there had never been any mistrust.

Upon completion of these tasks, Ezio inducted Claudia into the Assassin Order, and was also elected by Machiavelli to the rank of Grand Master of the Assassin Order.

Ezio infiltrated the Castel once again and witnessed the murder of Rodrigo Borgia by his son, Cesare. Cesare forced the location of the Apple of Eden from Lucrezia, and hurried to retrieve in from Basilica di San Pietro. However, Ezio successfully reached the Apple before Cesare and recovered the Apple. He then used the Apple to demilitarize Cesare's forces. 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 order of the new Pope, but not before commenting that he would not be in chains for long and that he will 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 use the Apple and discovered that Cesare would indeed free himself form prison. Ezio declared he must leave at once, leaving a sum of money for Leonardo to continue his work. When asked what he plans to do Ezio responded "Plant a seed". Desmond then lives the memory that Ezio saw of his own future through the Apple, the same memory he was forced into at the start of the game.

Viana
In 1507, Ezio finally tracked Cesare down at the Battle of Viana, Spain. Ezio fought through the infantry in his way and finally pinned Cesare down. In this climactic battle, Ezio managed to destroy Cesare's armor. He then proceeded to throw Cesare down the city wall, after Cesare said that he will not die by the hands of man. It was presumed that Cesare died from the fall (historically he did indeed die from falling from the castle during the battle).

After this seeing these events to come, Ezio takes the Apple of Eden inside the Vault under the Santa Maria Aracoeli, within The Temple of Juno. He then presumably travels to Spain to enact what he had seen.

Desmond wakes from the Animus and they deduce that some kind of passphrase is needed to enter the Vault. However was is assumed to be a blackout occurs cutting them off from using the Animus to find out what it is. Realising that the symbol drawn on the wall by Ezio is the same as the one on the door to the Vault, Shaun at last decodes the numbers to mean the number 72.

The Assassins then drive to the Colosseum in Rome and Desmond splits from the group to find a way into the Vault. Here he encounters another holograpic member of Those Who Came Before, Juno, who speak to him. Desmond ends up in the Santa Maria Aracoeli and lets the others in. Shaun mentions that the church was built on top of the ancient Temple of Juno. Desmond seeing Ezio free running through the bleeding effect, follows him and activates a system of bars and levers that naturally only an Assassin can scale. Once dealt with, these cause a small pedestal to emerge from the floor. Placing his hand on it, Desmond activates the floor lowering the four of them into the Temple of Juno, and to the door of the Vault. Speaking the words "Seventy two" the door opens. Inside the Apple awaits on a platfrom which Desmond must activate the path to via jumping across a series of pillars, all the while Juno speaking cryptically of humans, the Pieces of Eden and a "sixth sense". Desmond appears to be the only one who can hear this.

Once they access the platform, Desmond asks the Apple where the other Temples are, and a series of holographic symbols appear. Shaun speaks of the only place where two of them, the Phrygian Cap and the Masonic Eye, come together, but when Desmond touches the Apple, his body is taken control of and the other three freeze in motion. Desmond struggles against Juno's control, but she forces him to draw his hidden blade and stab Lucy in the abdomen. The two then fall to the ground unconscious, blood pooling around Lucy.

Over the credits, two unknown voices are heard, one ordering the other to put Desmond back into the Animus in order to stablize him, thus allowing the player to explore Ezio's memories after completing the game.

Characters
Below is a list of known characters to appear in-game:

Renaissance Assassins

 * Ezio Auditore da Firenze
 * Mario Auditore
 * Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli
 * Bartolomeo d'Alviano
 * La Volpe
 * Claudia Auditore da Firenze
 * Assassin apprentices

Modern-age Assassins

 * Desmond Miles
 * Lucy Stillman
 * Shaun Hastings
 * Rebecca Crane
 * Subject 16

Templars

 * Rodrigo Borgia
 * Cesare Borgia
 * Lucrezia Borgia
 * Juan Borgia
 * Micheletto
 * Duke de Valois
 * Il Carnefice
 * Malfatto
 * Lanz
 * Gaspar de la Croix
 * Silvestro Sabbatini
 * Fiora Cavazza
 * Brother Ristoro
 * Il Lupo
 * Baltasar da Silva
 * Augustine Oberlin
 * Donato Mancini
 * Lia de Russo
 * Faustina Collari
 * Rocco Tiepolo
 * Teodor Viscardi
 * Cahin
 * Caha

Allies/others

 * Leonardo da Vinci
 * Caterina Sforza
 * Nicolaus Copernicus
 * Fabio Orsini
 * Egidio Troche

Enemies

 * Papal Guards
 * Brutes
 * Seekers
 * Agiles
 * Arquebusier
 * Militia Guards
 * Horsemen
 * Crossbowmen
 * Followers of Romulus
 * Cento Occhi

Multiplayer characters
''Note: Ubisoft stated that some of the multiplayer characters will make an appearance in the Single-player game as targets for Ezio to kill. These targets are marked with asteriks (*) after their name.''



Each character in Multiplayer will also have several options for customizable appearances that can be unlocked.
 * The Doctor *
 * The Courtesan
 * The Executioner *
 * The Noble *
 * The Priest *
 * The Prowler (Hunter)
 * The Barber
 * The Engineer *
 * The Blacksmith *
 * The Captain (Soldier) *
 * The Smuggler *
 * The Harlequin (limited edition/pre-order exclusive)
 * The Officer (limited edition/pre-order exclusive)
 * The Footpad *
 * The Thief *
 * The Mercenary
 * The Hellequin (Uplay exclusive)

Singleplayer

 * Rome
 * Monterrigioni
 * Monte Circeo (Leonardo's Machine mission)
 * Napoli (Leonardo's Machine mission)
 * Colli Albana (Leonardo's Machine mission)
 * Valnerina (Leonardo's Machine mission)
 * Tivoli (Templar Lair mission)
 * Viana
 * Florence (Cristina missions)
 * Venice (Cristina missions)

Multiplayer

 * Rome
 * Florence
 * Venice
 * Siena
 * Forli
 * Castel Gandolfo
 * Monteriggioni
 * San Donato
 * Mont Saint-Michel
 * Pienza

Weapons
The weapon wheel 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. Another new feature is that players can manually choose shortcuts from the weapon wheel, for example, the Hidden Blade is initially located by pressing Up on the D-pad for the Xbox 360 and PS3 but by opening the wheel, highlighting Smoke Bombs and pressing Up with the D-pad, they will instantly be assigned to that shortcut. This allows greater customisation and freedom for the individuals play style whether you are an all-rounder, weapon-focused or ranged-focused player. Also, there are smaller symbols added to the set weapon symbols, such as the Hidden Gun paired with the Longsword, the Throwing Knives with the Short Blade, and the Poison Darts with the Poison Blade. These symbols represent the weapon that can be combined with the current weapon, and used by holding in the Attack function. This combination allows for more fluid combat, whereby the player does not need to, for example, open the weapon wheel when facing a horseman to switch from having the Sword equipped and change to the Hidden Gun to shoot the guard, instead this can be done without any interruptions in battle by simply holding in the Attack function to fire the Hidden Gun.
 * Singleplayer

Note: Weapons with an asterisk (*) next to them are introduced in Brotherhood as usable items.

Ezio's Weapons

 * Longswords
 * Crossbow*
 * Dual Hidden Blades
 * Poison Darts*
 * Hidden Gun
 * Daggers
 * Spears, Halberds and Pikes
 * Throwing Knives
 * Warhammers and Maces
 * Heavy Weapons
 * Apple of Eden*

Enemy Weapons

 * Longswords
 * Crossbow
 * Daggers
 * Spears, Halberds and Pikes
 * Warhammers and Maces
 * Axes
 * Arquebuses*

Assassin Apprentice Weapons

 * Daggers
 * Hidden Blade
 * Axe
 * Longswords

Multiplayer Weapons

 * Axe - used by the Executioner.
 * Fan - used by the Courtesan.
 * Syringe - used by the Doctor.
 * Shivs - used by the Footpad.
 * Holy Blade - used by the Priest.
 * Rondel - used by the Harlequin.
 * Switchblade - used by the Prowler.
 * Claw - used by the Noble.
 * Razor - used by the Barber.
 * Hammer - used by the Blacksmith.
 * Captain's Swords - used by the Captain.
 * Inverted Hidden Blade - used by the Smuggler.
 * Scissor Blade - used by the Thief.
 * Compass - used by the Engineer.
 * Epieu - used by the Officer.
 * Twin Daggers - used by the Hellequin.
 * Short Sword - used by the Mercenary.

Multiplayer Abilities

 * Morph
 * Disguise
 * Sprint Boost
 * Hidden Gun
 * Smoke Bomb
 * Poison
 * Throwing Knives
 * Firecrackers
 * Charge
 * Templar Vision
 * Decoy
 * Mute

Multiplayer Perks

 * Enhanced Autobash
 * Blender
 * Fast Getaway
 * Chase Expert

Multiplayer Streak Bonuses
Kill Loss
 * Streak Bonus +100
 * Silent Streak Bonus +300
 * Streak Bonus +250
 * Silent Streak Bonus +750
 * Extra Sensitivity
 * Reset Cooldowns
 * Score x 2
 * Boost Cooldowns

Other Tools
Other than the weapons, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood will include some old and new tools available to Ezio Auditore.
 * Horses
 * Advanced Flying Machine / Bomber / Flying Machine 2.0
 * Mounted Cannons
 * Merchandise Lifts
 * Chase-Breakers
 * Parachutes
 * Naval Cannon
 * Chariot Machine Gun / Armored Car
 * Tank

Singleplayer
Ubisoft claims (through conferences, videos and announcements) that Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood will include new features, especially small, "exotic" gameplay add-ons (i.e.: the flying sequence in Assassin's Creed II, different from the rest of the gameplay). New weapons such as the crossbow will be introduced, as well as new combat elements that reward those who take the offensive and strike first, for example. Additionally, enemies will more likely attack together, instead of just one or two at a time, as seen in previous installments. Ezio will also make use of a parachute throughout the game, most likely designed by Leonardo da Vinci himself. . They are maneuverable enough to land on horses and other specific spots. Unlike in Assassin's Creed II, you can re-play to a previous memory. While possible in Assassin's Creed II, it was only available for secondary memories such as courier assignments or Assassin Tombs. The player will be able to see how Ezio actually completed the missions and then can try and replicate his actions exactly to try to achieve 100% synchronization with that memory. Interrogation missions return in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, along with stalking targets and burning important information. This implies that the genres from Assassin's Creed have returned to the gameplay.

Ezio enlisted aid by recruiting rebellious citizens who were being bullied by Templars. Upon being saved, each knelt before him and swore their allegiance. Twelve Borgia Towers tyrannized Rome, and Ezio found more allies with their destruction.

Ezio's ability to train and send other Assassins on jobs and missions may have a key gameplay element, in such that their success may have a small impact of the storyline, much like the progression of the game through upgrading Rome. This success will depend on abilities of the Assassins sent, where less experienced assassins will have a higher failure rate than more experienced ones. If your Assassins die on a mission, they will not return. Ezio also has the ability to call a group of Assassins to assist in his missions, wherein Ubisoft has said that, in Brotherhood, leadership is as vital a skill as the ability to use a sword. Also mentioned was the ability to select an Assassin as Ezio's "personal Assassin," though no further information about this was given. Ezio will also be able to visit Spain according to the Dev Diary 3. From a singleplayer gameplay video when Ezio is speaking to Machiavelli he buys some things from a Blacksmith, in the menu there is an option "Sell Items", although it was discovered in playing the game that this is merely for shop quests and making a little bit of cash on the side. Items that are found in treasure chests, such as: Tomatoes, Elephant Ivory, Buddhist Prayer Beads, Totems, and other trinkets, can be sold to tailors, doctors, artists, and blacksmiths for money, or saved up to contribute to shop quests.

Multiplayer
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is the first Assassin's Creed game to feature a multiplayer mode. The players are Templars in training at the Abstergo facility. They use the Animus and the Bleeding Effect to train in combat, stealth and free running. The simulation consists of stalking and killing one another. The area in which the Templar assassins train is selected manually, as pre-set maps all set in the Renaissance period of Italy.

Currently, there are 5 available modes in multiplayer which are Wanted, Manhunt, Alliance, Advanced Wanted and Advanced Alliance. More modes are expected, with one additional mode announced called Chest Capture, where two teams comprised of three players each partner with fellow Templars to either defend or capture Chests.

The first announced multiplayer game mode, called Wanted, was shown in the July edition of PlayStation magazine. Here, six to eight players are dropped on a map where they must find and kill each other. Each player is given another player as a target, and the goal is to find and kill them without being seen or killed by the player's own hunter. If you break cover and your hunter sees you, a chase sequence will commence, wherein they will try to catch and kill you, until you are able to hide or until your hunter assassinates you. This mode is intially open to all players at the beginning.

Manhunt is an additional mode in the Brotherhood multiplayer. It places players in two teams of three or four, in which one team hunts the other. Each round lasts five minutes, during which the sole goal of the hunted team is to hide and survive the hunter's onslaught. For the second round, the roles are reversed, and the hunter becomes the hunted. It is also initially available for all players.

Another mode is Alliance. In this mode players are assigned a double (both players have the same character) and both work together to kill their targets, whilst being hunted by a seperate pair of agents.

A fourth mode, Advanced Wanted, is the same as basic Wanted, apart from the fact that the compass to locate targets is reduced in effectiveness, such as not being told whether a target is above or below you and adds a greater emphasis on stealth gameplay as it will make your target harder to find you.

Advanced Alliance is the first free downlaodable mode added. It has the same basic concept in the regular alliance, where three teams of two players team up to both kill and evade a nother team at the same time, however in this mode, the compass does not show if the target is above or below your current position creating greater tension in discovering where your targets may be, emphasising stealth gameplay in order to surprise your targets and hide from your hunters.

Hunter mode was a rumoured mode that officially never ended up in the final edition of the game.

Players are able to customize themselves using a menu and more customizability is available as players raise in level, such as new aesthetic gears and colors unique to each persona

Physics and effects
After some criticism from PC gamers about the ragdoll physics in previous installments, Ubisoft has stated that the physics will be improved upon in Brotherhood, as well as several graphical effects in the game.

Ragdolls fall much more realistically due to the new, edited "Havok" engine. In previous games, ragdolls sometimes would convulse when hitting the floor after being thrown off a building. Although the new game has not completely fixed the issue, there are notable improvements on the realism of the death poses.

Controlling the Assassins

 * Main article: Apprentices



During the game, you will have the option of sending Assassins to different areas to complete tasks. Ezio manages The Assassins Guild by using the pigeon coop communication system set up by Machiavelli, to send messages to his apprentices. The Borgian Towers you destroy become Assassin Towers where you can also manage your assassins. You will have the ability to send new assassins to other European countries and complete missions to gain status. The cities you can send Assassins are Florence, Venice, Barcelona, Rome, London, Calicut, Lisbon, Constantinople, Cologne and Moscow. Once an Assassin has proven themselves effectively, they can accompany you on missions in Rome. The new Assassins are recruited when Ezio rescues them from harassing guards, which inspires them to join the Assassins. Before rescuing and recruiting the novice assassin's Ezio has to blow up an observation tower where a Borgia commander along with a bunch of soldiers rule and make sure the local area remains under their influence and power. Once the deed is done and the tower is destroyed "save missions" will be unlocked and shops will be available for purchase in that area.



If an Assassin fails to pass a mission, he or she can't be used again. You can also customize the assassins' armor and weaponry, and each one has a different personality. Later on, you can use experience points they've gained to upgrade their fighting and free-running abilities.
 * Ezio is able to train up to 12 apprentices, male or female.
 * The number of assassins you can have in your brotherhood depends on the number of Borgia Towers that have been burned. Once there is an empty slot for a new recruit, many different locations for the rebels will appear all throughout Rome.
 * In Assassin's Creed Brotherhood Dev Diary #1, it shows how effectively Ezio can use his apprentices.

Limited Editions
Three special Editions have been revealed so far for the game. Europe will have the 'Codex' and 'Auditore' Edition. The Codex Edition will only be available through Play.com or Ubisoft.com, while the Auditore Edition will be available through other retailers. North America will have the 'Collector's Edition' with the exclusive Harlequin figure available at Gamestop, while the Collector's edition with the Doctor figure is available at other retailers

The Codex Edition

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

The Auditore Edition

 * Transparancy box with 3D thermoformed portrait of Ezio Auditore and "Animus" effect.
 * Multiplayer character cards.
 * Aqua Gear exclusive single player map.
 * DVD of the Assassin's Creed: Lineage short-film.
 * Helmschmied Drachen Armor.

The Collector's Edition

 * Collectible black package.
 * The Harlequin Jack-in-the-Box Collectible exclusive to GameStop customers only, or The Doctor Jack-in-the-Box if purchased at other participating retailers.
 * Harlequin multiplayer character (exclusive to GameStop)
 * Two exclusive single player maps (Aqua Gear & Trajan Market).
 * Hard Copy 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.Ac_brotherhood_case.jpg
 * Trajan Market exclusive single player map.
 * The Officer Multiplayer Character.

HMV Exclusive Edition

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

Trophies/Achievements
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood will have 51 Trophies and 50 Achievements; the full list can be found here, http://www.ps3trophies.org/game/assassins-creed-brotherhood/trophies/

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game/assassins-creed-brotherhood/achievements/

One of the Trophies/Achievements for AC: Brotherhood which requires the player to "Solve all of Subject 16's puzzles" is titled in Morse Code ".. .- -- .- .-.. .. ...- ."; when translated spells "I AM ALIVE". It is unknown what relation this has to Subject 16, as he has long been thought to be dead.

Trivia

 * In the E3 2010 Single Player Walkthrough, the "Press Start/Enter" menu background keeps cycling every few seconds from the original Abstergo "blue" Animus (1.28) of Assassin's Creed to the "white" Animus 2.0 of Assassin's Creed II.
 * 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 is 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 officicial announcement, and game developers said that his story would "take an interesting turn."
 * The outfit of Ezio's apprentices look similar to that of the Assassin guards on the first game. Ezio's own outfit has also changed, being more plain and simple rather than flashier, nobility robes from Assassin's Creed II. And bears a resemblance to Altair's robes.
 * 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.
 * A list of the achievements can be found here:
 * According to Eurogamer, once a player has achieved 100% synchronization with a sequence/memory, a "cheat" will be unlocked. [9]
 * Apples seem to be very significant in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, as many civilians are seen eating apples, Cesare was poisoned with an apple whilst Rodrigo was murdered by one. This may be a reference to The Apple of Eden.

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

Other Videos

 * Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Videos
 * Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (Try replacing .uk with .es, .de, .fr, .us or .it to see unseen UK footage.)

Notes and references
es:Assassin's Creed:La Hermandad