Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

"I thought my work was done. I was wrong. Once more, I must venture into the fray. By recruiting enemies of the state, we arm those who have been disarmed by the Borgia. The greed, the corruption, the tyranny my enemies have spread will burn to the ground. From the ashes of vengeance, a new Rome will rise."

―Ezio Auditore da Firenze^[src]

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is a video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. The third main installment in the Assassin's Creed series, it is the direct sequel to Assassin's Creed II and was released in November 2010 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and in March 2011 for Windows.

The storyline picks up from the events of Assassin's Creed II and once again features Ezio Auditore da Firenze, now a legendary Master Assassin, as he strives to rebuild the Assassin Brotherhood in Rome by overthrowing the tyrannical Templar family, the Borgia, and bringing the city into the true wealth and wonder of the Renaissance. The modern-day narrative continues the story of Desmond Miles, who together with his team of Assassins, continues to explore Ezio's memories to find the lost technology of the First Civilization and use it to save the world from an upcoming disaster.

A sequel for Brotherhood was announced in May 2011, entitled Assassin's Creed: Revelations, and was released in November of the same year.

A remastered version of the game was released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as part of The Ezio Collection in November 2016, and for the Nintendo Switch in February 2022.

Gameplay

ACBPistol — Ezio, dual-wielding a sword and the Hidden Gun

Brotherhood retains the same gameplay from its predecessor, with many significant new additions. Combat with the knife, sword and mace is now dual-wielded, paired with throwing knives and the Hidden Gun respectively. This allows Ezio to seamlessly utilize the ranged weapons in the middle of combat. In addition, a new kill-streak feature allows Ezio to continuously move from enemy to enemy and perform multiple takedowns and executions using melee weapons. Utilizing dual-wielded weapons also allow Ezio to perform dual executions that work in conjunction to the kill-streak feature.

Ezio can now carry heavy weapons after upgrading his sheath, and is able to hurl them towards enemies to perform an instant kill, which can also be done with spears and halberds that Ezio picks up. The crossbow has also been added to Ezio's arsenal, allowing silent ranged takedowns. In addition, the poison darts have also been introduced as an extension to the Poison Blade, which can be gained through upgrades from Leonardo da Vinci himself, along with the second Hidden Blade and the Climb Leap Glove. Also, every utility in Ezio's weapon wheel can now be manually assigned to one of the four quick-access buttons, instead of being given a default setup.

Horse combat 1 — Ezio about to assassinate a guard on horseback

Horse mechanics have also been upgraded. Ezio can now take a horse through city districts rather than just the countryside, and can call for his horse at any given time while free-roaming. Combat on horseback now allows Ezio to utilize some of his ranged weapons, namely the Hidden Gun and the crossbow.^[1] Ezio can now also perform assassinations while on horseback, as well as assassinate enemies that are mounted on a horse in addition to being able to hijack them while on foot. Replacing the fast travel booths are the tunnels, which Ezio can access to go to fixed points in Rome.

The renovation system, limited only to Monteriggioni before, has now been updated to encompass all of Rome.^[1] Select areas of Rome are kept under watch by the Borgia with their towers, and in order to begin renovations, Ezio must eliminate the tower's captain, and then destroy the tower. Stores and stalls such as doctors, blacksmiths, art merchants, tailors, and banks, have to be renovated by Ezio in order to fully restore Rome. Other buildings include horse stables and buildings for mercenaries, thieves, and courtesans to occupy, as well as various landmarks, such as the Pantheon and the Colosseum.

People 5 — Ezio, recruiting a civilian as an apprentice

Some time later, Ezio is able to recruit apprentices into his cause. Several civilians being harassed by the Borgia can be rescued by Ezio, and will pledge their allegiance to him once saved. While in Rome, Ezio can command several apprentices to incapacitate guards on his command, and can call forth an arrow storm once he has recruited enough apprentices. Ezio can also send apprentices to other countries in Europe and Asia to take on contracts, wherein they can gain additional experience, as well as money and trade objects for Ezio. Apprentices gain experience while under Ezio, gaining better equipment as they go along, until they can be fully initiated into the Order, wherein they gain superior equipment and armor and becoming fully fledged Assassins. Apprentices also occasionally take part in Ezio's missions, such as assassinating major targets and acting as his backup.^[2]

Numerous side-activities are available all throughout Rome. Replacing the Assassin Tombs are the Lairs of Romulus, where the Followers of Romulus keep the keys necessary to unlock the armor and dagger of Marcus Junius Brutus, as well as his documents. Ezio had also been given special missions by Leonardo da Vinci, where he must destroy his War Machines, weapons of warfare located in undisclosed states, before the Borgia could utilize them. In addition to Assassination contracts, Ezio now has special assignments for both the Thieves and the Courtesans. After renovating a significant portion of Rome, several repressed memories of Ezio's past lover, Cristina Vespucci, can also be relived. Feathers return as collectibles, as well as Borgia flags.

In the modern day, Desmond is given more leeway in his activities, as he can exit the Animus at any time outside of missions. When outside the Animus, Desmond can interact with the team and certain objects in their hideout, as well as log in to his and the team's email accounts. Desmond can exit the Sanctuary in order to explore present day Monteriggioni for a set amount of time. While there are no civilians present and there are little to no objects for Desmond to interact with, Desmond can collect a total of five artifacts around Monteriggioni, all of which belonged to Ezio and his company while there. Once the timer has run out, Desmond will simply return to the hideout, and can leave again soon afterwards.

Multiplayer

Introduced for the first time in the series is a multiplayer mode. Online players are introduced as subjects taking part in the first stage of Abstergo's Animi Training Program, which allows them to assume the role of several noted Templars during the Renaissance.^[1] There, they can compete with each other to progress through the ranks of Abstergo, as well as develop their own skills through the bleeding effect. Subjects play on digitally recreated maps of several known areas, wherein they can participate in several modes to either compete or cooperate with each other. There are eleven playable maps; Rome, Florence, Venice, Siena, Forlì, Castel Gandolfo, Monteriggioni, San Donato, Mont Saint-Michel, Pienza, Alhambra, the last three being downloadable content included in the Animus Project Updates.

In order to progress in rank and experience, subjects had to score points in sessions, with the manner in which they did so depending on the game mode. At the subjects' disposal, aside from their avatars' weapons, are abilities which they can use on their targets to debilitate them, or utilize it themselves to gain the upper hand. Preset perks and streak bonuses give the subject a passive advantage in each session.

Synopsis

Plot

Using the Animus 2.0, Desmond Miles attempts to relive one of the later memories of his ancestor, Ezio Auditore, hoping that it will reveal the location of his Apple of Eden, which could allow the Assassins to prevent the disaster foretold by Minerva. However, instead of entering the memory set in 1506, he is forced into a different one, occurring during a battle in Viana. From there, as Ezio looks upon the besieged Viana Castle, he recalls the similar events of the Siege of Monteriggioni, subsequently forcing Desmond back further, into a memory from 1499.

Siege of Monteriggioni

Main article: Siege of Monteriggioni

Vilified 2 — Ezio using a cannon during the siege

As Ezio leaves the Vault beneath the Vatican after listening to Minerva's message, he discovers that Rodrigo Borgia has escaped. Noticing too that the Staff has been left behind, he attempts to extract it from where it had been impaled into the floor; however, it descends and is sealed away.

Mario Auditore then calls down to his nephew from the entrance, and he and Ezio fight their way out of the Vatican. Ezio, unable to decide whether or not to cast the Apple into the Tiber River, gives it to Mario for safe keeping. The two then ride back to Monteriggioni on horseback.

However, Ezio soon learns that the Templars still hold vast power and influence in Italy when Cesare Borgia, son of Rodrigo Borgia, lays siege to Monteriggioni. Cesare's army of soldiers, towers, and cannons attacks in full force, destroying much of the city and villa. The attack ends with Monteriggioni in ruins, Ezio wounded badly by arquebusiers, and Mario killed by Cesare himself. Though Ezio attempts to follow his uncle's murderer on horseback, he passes out on the road to Rome from his injuries.

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

Retrieval 19 — Desmond re-entering the Animus

Desmond, Lucy, Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane then head for the Villa, seeking the safety of the underground Sanctuary, which should keep them hidden from Abstergo's cell towers. However, as the door is locked, Desmond and Lucy leave to discover another way in. After making their way through the secret passage that Ezio and the citizens used to flee the Borgia attack, they open the way for Shaun and Rebecca.

Inside the Sanctuary, Desmond sees an aged Ezio due to the bleeding effect, and deduces that he must have returned to the villa many years after the attack, though for an unknown purpose. He also finds a symbol that Ezio drew on the wall and, using Eagle Vision, sees a series of numbers hidden underneath.

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

War in Rome

Main article: Liberation of Rome

As Good As New 1 — Ezio recovering in Rome

Ezio regains consciousness in a small house in Rome, where the woman who has been tending to him tells him that a man had brought him there, and supplied him with new armor and clothing. After leaving the house and receiving medicine from a doctor, Ezio leaves to meet with Niccolò Machiavelli.

Through Machiavelli, he discovered that Rome is in disrepair, and that the citizens are being oppressed by the Borgia. Later, he also stumbles upon the Followers of Romulus, an underground cult allied with the Templars, and explores one of their lairs, Nero's Golden Palace.

Basing himself on Tiber Island in the center of the city, Ezio begins his mission to rid the city of the influence of Cesare and his generals. To do so, Ezio re-establishs 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 begins to rebuild the Brotherhood by recruiting Apprentices, most of whom are distressed citizens who also wish to liberate their city from the Borgia's oppression. Once a recruit completes their training, Ezio places them in teams and sends them on missions across Europe.

New man 4 — Ezio walking away from a destroyed Borgia tower

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

Afterwards, Ezio is informed that Pietro Rossi, an actor and Lucrezia Borgia's plaything, possesses a key to the Castel Sant'Angelo. Knowing that he will need it in order to assassinate Cesare and Rodrigo successfully, Ezio tails Micheletto Corella, Cesare's personal assassin, who ordered to kill Pietro. After Ezio rescues him, both from being stabbed with a spear during his play, and from the ailments of poison, Pietro hands the Assassin the key to the Castello.

Upon completion of these tasks, Ezio inducts Claudia into the Assassin Order, and is appointed by Machiavelli to become the new Mentor of the Italian Assassins.

The Fall

Soon afterwards, Ezio infiltrates the Castel, where he witnesses the murder of Rodrigo at the hands of his own son. Cesare forces the location of the Apple of Eden from Lucrezia, and hurries to retrieve it from the Basilica di San Pietro. However, Ezio successfully reaches the Apple before Cesare, and subsequently uses it to demilitarize the remnants of Cesare's army.

Roads lead to 3 — The Assassins standing against Cesare

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

Later, Ezio brings up Cesare's remarks with Leonardo since he is worried by them. Leonardo suggests utilizing the Apple to see if what Cesare stated is accurate. After some hesitation, Ezio decided to follow his friend's advice and finds that Cesare is indeed going to escape from prison. Ezio declares that he needs to leave at once, reassuring Leonardo's concerns for the Assassin Guild he is leaving behind by saying, "I built this Brotherhood to last, with or without me."

Viana

Main article: Siege of Viana

In 1507, Ezio finally tracks Cesare down at the Siege of Viana in Spain. Ezio fights through the infantry, and finally manages to corner Cesare on the castle wall. There, in a climactic battle, Ezio manages to destroy Cesare's armor and ultimately defeat him. After Cesare insists that he will not die by the hands of man, Ezio leaves him in the "hands of fate" by throwing him from the battlements to his death.

Following this, a memory of Ezio locking away the Apple of Eden in a Vault under the Santa Maria Aracoeli is shown, revealing the artifact's whereabouts.

Recovering the Apple

Desmond emerges from the Animus as the Assassins decide to head to the Vault and retrieve the Apple. Just as Rebecca mentions that they need a spoken password to enter it, a blackout occurrs, cutting them off from using the Animus to find out. However, Desmond realizes that the symbol he saw on the door of the Vault was the same one he had seen drawn on the villa wall. Shaun discovers that the sequence of numbers hidden behind the symbol refers to the seventy-two names of God, setting the password to be 72.

The Assassins then drive to the Colosseum in Rome, and Desmond separates from the others to find a way into the Vault. As he travels through the underground passageway, he encounters another of Those Who Came Before, Juno, who speaks at length of the downfall of humankind.

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

Desmond speaks the password, and the door opens to reveal a large empty chamber, with a tall platform raised in the middle, upon which the Apple awaits. Desmond activates the staircase up to it by jumping across a series of pillars; while Juno's voice echoes through the cavern as she speaks cryptically of humans, the Pieces of Eden and a "sixth sense." However, Desmond is apparently the only one who can hear her.

Retrieval 13 — The Assassins inside the Vault

Once the Assassins have access to the platform, Desmond touches the Apple, and a series of holographic symbols appear. Shaun mentions that two of the most distinct ones, the Phrygian Cap and the Masonic Eye, only come together in one place; however, when Desmond picks up the Apple, time seems to stop and he finds himself controlled by Juno. Though he struggles, she forces him to draw his Hidden Blade and stab Lucy in the abdomen. The two then fall to the ground unconscious, with blood pooling around Lucy.

Later, William Miles and Harlan T. Cunningham can be heard speaking, saying that Desmond has gone into shock. William orders Harlan to put Desmond back into the Animus, despite Harlan's protests on how badly the Animus has affected Desmond already. Desmond is now in a coma, though William claims that he will live through it.

Development

A new Assassin's Creed installment featuring multiplayer was announced during Ubisoft's 2009 fiscal third quarter results while not revealing its name.^[3] The voice actor for Desmond, Nolan North, later confirmed his involvement in the project.^[4] In early May 2010, a GameStop employee published on the internet some images of a pre-order box featuring the Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood title while Ubisoft was teasing the game on Facebook and Twitter. Ubisoft then confirmed the authenticity of these pictures.^[5] Brotherhood was not numbered unlike Assassin's Creed II because players, and even developers themselves would have expected a new setting and a new ancestor while this is only the continuation of Ezio's story.^[6]

The game was developed primarily by Ubisoft Montreal in Canada. Montreal also worked on both of the other main Assassin's Creed games in the series and was thus chosen to lead production for the third installment. Production was aided in part by four other Ubisoft developers: Annecy, Singapore, Bucharest and Québec City. The multiplayer mode is mainly developed by Ubisoft Annecy, the studio responsible for creating multiplayer mode in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.^[7]^[8] Ubisoft also announced plans for downloadable content (DLC) after the game's launch. From the perspective of performance, Level Design Content Director Philippe Bergeron commented in an interview with IGN Australia that the lackluster PlayStation 3 port of Assassin's Creed II compared to the Xbox 360, would not be repeated and so the frame rate and quality issues were focused on first, the frame rate on the PlayStation 3 fares slightly better even.^[9]

While still in development, creative director Patrice Désilets left before the game's presentation at the E3 2010. Ubisoft and production manager Jean-Francois Boivin stated that he only took a "creative break" after completing his task on Brotherhood.^[10] A teaser trailer of the multiplayer mode was released on the official site before the E3.^[11] A cinematic debut trailer was diffused during Ubisoft's E3 2010 press conference along a walkthrough of the game's beginning.^[12]^[13] Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood reached gold status on 28 October 2010.^[14] The Microsoft Windows version uses Tagès copy protection, as well as Ubisoft online services platform, but doesn't require an always-on Internet connection to play.^[15]

Release

System requirements

	Minimum	Recommended
Windows
Operating system	XP, Vista or Windows 7
CPU	Dual Core 2.0 GHz	2.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 or AMD Athlon Phenom X4 + or better
Memory	1.5 GB for XP 2 GB for Vista or Windows 7
Hard drive space	8 GB
Graphics hardware	256 MB DirectX 9.0–compliant card with Shader Model 3.0 or higherSupported video cards: ATI RADEON X1950, HD 2000/3000/4000/5000 series NVIDIA GeForce 7/8/9/100/200 series	GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 4700 or better
Sound hardware	DirectX 9.0 –compliant sound card	5.1 sound card
Network	Non-Constant Internet Connection: Broadband connection with 128 kbps upstream or faster.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood debuted on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 16 November 2010, in North America, followed by releases in Australia on 18 November and in Europe on 19 November;^[16] later expanding to Microsoft Windows on 17 March 2011, in Australia, 18 March in Europe,^[17] and 22 March in North America,^[18] and finally releasing on OS X on 19 May 2011, in Europe and on 13 July 2011, in North America.

The downloadable content rollout for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood commenced with the Copernicus Conspiracy, a PlayStation 3 exclusive, was available at launch.^[19] Following this, The Da Vinci Disappearance expanded the experience, debuting on Xbox 360 on 8 March 2011 and PlayStation 3 on 9 March 2011, before arriving on Microsoft Windows on 17 March 2011.^[20]

Moreover, three multiplayer expansions enriched the game's online modes. The free Animus Project Update 1.0, introducing Mont Saint-Michel map and Advanced Alliance mode, landed on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 14 December 2010, followed by a release on Microsoft Windows on 17 March 2011.^[21] Subsequently, Animus Project Update 2.0, featuring the Pienza map and Chest Capture mode, launched on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 14 January 2011, before reaching Microsoft Windows on 17 March 2011.^[22] Finally, Animus Project Update 3.0, boasting the Spanish Muslim Palace of Alhambra map, Escort and Assassinate modes, and additional characters and achievements, coinciding with the release of The Da Vinci Disappearance.^[20]

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood was later included in the Assassin's Creed: Anthology, exclusive to PAL regions and released on 29 November 2012, alongside the compiled Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, and Assassin's Creed III.^[23] Around this time the Ezio Trilogy was also released, which only included Assassin's Creed II, Brotherhood, and Revelations. Released in Japan first in September as the Ezio Saga,^[24] an English release followed in November.^[25] A German-language Windows released had released exclusively some months prior.^[26] The Heritage Collection, a PAL-region exclusive released on 8 November 2013, contained the same as the Anthology apart from the DLC.^[27]

It was later included in a next-gen remastered trilogy for 8th generation consoles, Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 15 November 2016, with all previous single-player downloadable content included,^[28] while a Nintendo Switch port was released on 17 February 2022.^[29]

Editions

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.

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.

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).

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

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

Da Vinci Edition (Game Of The Year Edition) (Console exclusive)

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.

Gallery

An image gallery is available for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Credits

By type

Cast

Crew