For a while, I regarded this as Assassin's Creed III, and it ultimately turned out to be a lot better than the actual Assassin's Creed III. But I digress.
In the framing story, Desmond Miles and his friends escape after Abstergo locate their hideout. To try and help Desmond keep focussed, they travel to what remains of the Auditore family's villa in Monteriggioni. Setting themselves up in the old sanctuary beneath the villa, they have Desmond continue re-living Ezio's memories in the Animus.
The historical side of the story begins immediately where the last game left off in 1499. Ezio has discovered a vault beneath the Sistine Chapel in Rome, where he met a being called Minerva who spoke to Desmond about a cataclysm. As the cataclysm is not in his lifetime, Ezio returns home with his uncle Mario, believing his days as an Assassin are coming to an end. Unfortunately, Monteriggioni is then assaulted by Papal forces commanded by Cesare Borgia and Mario is killed. Seeking to finish what he started, Ezio travels to Rome and sets out a plan to erode the influence of the Borgias.
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood largely has the same gameplay as its predecessor, it also takes opportunities to improve things. For example, you can have multiple items equipped at the same time, such as your sword and your Hidden Gun or your short blade and throwing knives (rather than having to go into the weapon wheel to equip them individually). Similarly, the previous game had shortcuts to certain items mapped to the directional pad - Up for the Hidden Blade, Right for the sword, Down for fists, and Left for Medicine - which can now be customised. You also get an upgrade on your Poison Blade that allows it to shoot darts, giving it more practicality.
While the previous game spanned multiple cities, this one is largely confined to Rome. You erode the influence of the Borgias by killing their captains and destroying watch towers. This, in turn, allows you to renovate shops in the area, which generate income that can be collected from banks. It makes a fresh change from having to constantly go back to the villa to collect the income and blow it on armour until you unlock the unbreakable one.
Another major new feature in this game is Apprentices. Ezio seeks to establish a new Assassin Brotherhood and recruits members of the oppressed populace. You can then press a button to summon apprentices to dispatch guards. You can also send the apprentices around the world to level them up.
The other major feature is "Full Synchronisation", which can achieve on a level if you fulfill a certain objective, such as not taking any damage or being detected. This adds an extra layer of challenge but can also be one of the game's biggest sources of frustration if you mess up, as it often means having to restart the mission from the beginning. Despite that, it wasn't exactly frustrating enough to stop playing.
All in all, there was a lot put into this game, creating an experience just as epic as the last.
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