Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Details Emerge
Between various leaks and promotional websites, the next entry in the Assassin's Creed series wasn't exactly a secret. However, today Ubisoft officially announced Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, a continuation of the saga with new features, characters, and a story chronicling another chapter in the life of Ezio Auditore.
Brotherhood will be set in the city of Rome, where players can expect about 15 hours of new adventures that involve striking at the heart of the Templar order. However, instead of the usual solo gig, Ezio will be recruiting and leading a team (one might even call it a "brotherhood") of assassins. These characters may assist players on a mission directly, but they can also be deployed to different parts of Rome. A few old allies will be showing up as well, including Caterina Sforza and Leonardo.
It also appears that a variation of the Villa-building in Assassin's Creed II will be making a reappearance in Brotherhood. You'll be able to invest your money in the crumbling districts of the city, getting the citizens on your side and gaining the allegiance of factions. Collecting art for you home and improving the surrounding town was one of the most engaging aspects of the last entry, so it's exciting to consider how the team will expand upon it.
So far, the most talked-about new feature in Brotherhood is the addition of a multiplayer feature. Assuming the roles of Templars-in-training, players will square off against other players using a variety of classes and signature weapons. How you'll utilize these classes and weapons is still a mystery; Ubisoft is currently only specifying that the multiplayer will have "different game modes."
Another hazy element is exactly how Brotherhood fits in with the series' larger mythology. Ubisoft hasn't clarified how (if at all) Ezio's continuing story in Renaissance Italy correlates to the near-future conflict involving Desmond Miles and Abstergo. Without spoiling the ending of Assassin's Creed II, it's safe to say that Ezio's role in the generation-spanning conspiracy seems to be complete, so I wouldn't be surprised if Brotherhood were set entirely in the past, with Desmond, Lucy, and Vidic not making appearances at all.
The team behind the game still has plenty of time to roll out the details, but we won't have to wait too long to play it. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood will be hitting store shelves this holiday season – just a year after Assassin's Creed II, which means that your assassination skills won't be too rusty when Ezio takes to the rooftops again.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
