Launched just one year after Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood was another chance for Ezio Auditore da Firenze to shine. Picking up immediately after the events of Assassin’s Creed II, the new adventure followed Ezio to Rome as he launched a clandestine war against the infamous, Templar-connected Borgia family – in particular its cruel scion Cesare. Following Ezio’s journey from Master Assassin to Mentor of the Assassin Order, it pushed the series’ gameplay forward and introduced a number of important “firsts” for the series.
It was the first Assassin’s Creed to be set almost entirely in a single city, for example, as Ezio explored and gradually conquered a beautifully realized Rome (with some visits outside the city to help a regretful Leonardo da Vinci destroy his ahead-of-their-time war machines). It was the first appearance of the titular Brotherhood, with Ezio now able to recruit other Assassins to help him during combat, or to be sent off on asynchronous missions. It introduced optional objectives during missions, giving players an incentive to replay for 100% synchronization. And it was the first to feature multiplayer, with an innovative cat-and-mouse approach that gave players targets to hunt, while themselves being hunted by other players.
Brotherhood also introduced a new approach to game creation that would come to define the series. The first two games had been developed by the same team at Ubisoft Montreal – and as that team began work on Brotherhood, another formed to simultaneously start work on Assassin’s Creed III. Other studios were then brought in to assist with different aspects of the games, enabling them to be completed on an annual schedule.
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood was proof that this approach could not only work, but could create amazing games. Twelve years later, it continues to be a fan-favorite entry in the series, and for many remains the most important chapter in Ezio’s journey.
