Assassin's Creed Ezio Trilogy

Note: My review will not include the multiplayer modes for AC Brotherhood and Revelations and most of the DLCs. I will provide a list however of DLCs included in this edition (refer to cover above).

Assassin's Creed II is the direct sequel of Assassin's Creed, while Brotherhood and Revelations follow up on the story of the trilogy's lead character Ezio Auditore.

The gameplay is similar to the first game. Memories are accessed through the Animus. These memories form sequences and must be completed by performing the necessary objectives of each mission. Ezio's abilities are pretty much the same as Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's in Assassin's Creed but with several improvements. The wall climb and roof run, Leap of Faith, and tracking targets by stealth or gathering information are basically the same. 

At the start of Assassin's Creed II, Desmond Miles is rescued by Lucy Stillman out of Abstergo Industries, the Templars, and brought to a secret, temporary hideout where he is introduced to assassins Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane. Their mission is to explore Desmond's genetic memory of ancestor Ezio Auditore da Firenze with the use of a new Animus. They have to locate the remaining Pieces of Eden before the Templars can find them. Desmond will also learn techniques from Ezio by exploiting the bleeding effect. A self-confessed terrible fighter, he can already use eagle vision at the end of Assassin's Creed so it won't be long before he learns the other tricks.

Assassin's Creed II

Set in the Renaissance, AC II introduces the Auditores who live prosperously in Firenze (Florence). The head of the family, Giovanni, is a banker and is also an assassin with various powerful connections. Giovanni and Maria have four children, namely Federico, Ezio, Claudia, and Petruccio.

Giovanni had stumbled onto some conspiracy while working secretly for Lorenzo de' Medici. There is a scene in the game of a brawl involving Ezio and another young man Vieri de' Pazzi after Vieri said some nasty things about the Auditores following Francesco de' Pazzi's arrest, Vieri's father. Giovanni found evidence pointing to Francesco's involvement in a murder. In an amazing turn of events however, Giovanni, Federico and Petruccio were later arrested by the Gonfaloniere Uberto Alberti. While in captivity, Giovanni instructed Ezio to deliver some letters in order to save himself and his sons. Ezio was away when they were arrested. The letters however only served as more evidence for Giovanni's supposed crime. Betrayed by Alberti, Giovanni, Federico and Petruccio were hanged for treason.

On the platform from left: Alberti, Rodrigo Borgia, Federico, Giovanni, Petruccio and executioner

Ezio with Claudia (left) and Maria

With nowhere to go and seething with the desire for vengeance, Ezio, Maria and Claudia were given help by friends and family. The ladies are given refuge by Mario, Giovanni's brother, while Ezio trained to finally become an Assassin. Ezio was completely ignorant of his father's secret work but Mario, also an assassin, had some ideas who betrayed Giovanni. Ezio's task was to track down the perpetrators by following a trail that he later realized leads to a conspiracy even bigger than he first thought.

Set in Renaissance Italy's Venice, Florence, Forlì, San Gimignano, the Tuscany, and some of Vaticano, the game includes several additions and improvements of the previous game. While exploring these places, players are provided some background about the landmarks and the people by the Animus. 

Some of the additions are the character's ability to swim; use of eagle vision while walking; carriage chases and gondola rowing; use of a flying machine sometime in the game; and more interaction with NPCs particularly in shops. There are also more ways to hide from pursuing guards and a notoriety system which can be reduced by several ways.

AC II also features an economic system that allows Ezio to gather funds which can be used to renovate Monteriggioni. Ezio can also purchase artwork, armor and weapons, upgrade pouches, and dye his clothes in different colors.

Combat system has improved and gives the player different choices in dealing with opponents. Ezio can use a firearm, poison blade and other upgrades that Leonardo made by consulting Altaïr's codex pages. He also has an ability to pick up and use weapons dropped or taken from opponents by disarming.

Besides collecting feathers for Petruccio or looking for Assassin's Seals, players can also look for glyphs to complete the puzzles and watch The Truth video of Subject 16.

DLCs included in this edition are The Battle of Forli, Bonfire of the Vanities, and Templar Lair.

More than half of the game was about Ezio growing up and discovering his father's secret work. Whereas Altaïr was a trained, skillful assassin at the start of the game, Ezio has to work his way up. A young man in his prime robbed of his father and his brothers, you could almost claim he was a victim. It is easy to like Ezio because it was like I saw him grow up (especially after you play all three games). His quest for vengeance instead became his life's work. His decision regarding Rodrigo showed how far he had come from the rowdy, young man that he was.

Those who haven't played Assassin's Creed will find AC II not so complicated because you'll learn the trade through missions and tutorials. Running and climbing are fun but the game has more to offer than AC. Collecting, completing mini-missions or just exploring are just as addictive because of the detailed environment and beautiful scenery. You could just wander and look at people and buildings if you want. From just the animation alone, you could tell that a lot of research was done for the game. The clothing and the historical figures and landmarks can be a learning experience. 

The rewards you get from the little things in the game are just as satisfying as completing the memory sequences. In fact, I think that's the most addictive part of these three games. As for the difficulty level, the challenge in AC II and even Brotherhood and Revelations is in how well you perform the objectives in each mission and choosing the means on how to gather information and fight or assassinate people.

If you enjoyed AC, AC II is even better in most aspects. The gameplay, animation, voice acting, and storyline are all better. 

Rating for Assassin's Creed II: 10 out of 10

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

After his confrontation with Rodrigo Borgia in Assassin's Creed II, Ezio and Mario Auditore thought that the Borgias were no longer going to threaten them until Cesare Borgia attacked Monteriggioni. Barely escaping with his life, Ezio followed Rodrigo's son out of the ruined villa after witnessing his uncle's death. He received helped from a friend who also told him of Cesare's growing power.

Ezio with Leonardo da Vinci

Set mostly in Rome, Ezio sets out to diminish Cesare's and the Templars's influence by establishing his connections with other assassins, recruiting apprentices from the people of Rome, destroying Borgia towers and the war machines that are being developed, and assassinating the key people surrounding Cesare. Ezio will work closely with assassins Niccolo Machiavelli, La Volpe, Bartolomeo d'Alviano, Solari and Claudia Auditore.

Ezio with Assassins

Meanwhile, Desmond and the other modern assassins move to Monteriggioni for security purposes and to find the apple's location. At this point in the game, the player will notice that the bleeding effect on Desmond is more pronounced.

From left: Rebeca, Desmond, Shaun and Lucy in Monteriggioni hideout

In Brotherhood, dual-wielded weapons and short-range weapons can be paired with projectile weapons. Eliminating a lot of enemies faster is easier with the execution streak. Ezio can also use a crossbow and the poison darts, which are an improvement of the poison blade. 

Traveling is easier also because he can call his horse anytime. Plus he can use the crossbow and hidden gun while on horseback. Another means of escape and travel can also be done with parachutes. Ezio will also be taught how to use the climb leap glove to jump to previously unreachable ledges. 

In AC II, Ezio was able to renovate buildings in Monteriggioni. In Brotherhood, he can renovate shops and landmarks in most of Rome. These include not just doctors, blacksmiths, tailors, banks, and art merchants but also horse stables and he can assign empty faction buildings for mercenaries, thieves, and courtesans. Ezio can also purchase some famous landmarks in Rome. Income from shops, faction buildings, and landmarks can be used to buy armor, weapons, upgrades, maps, artworks, and dye clothes.

Recruited citizens are trained as apprentices and sent to missions. They are sent to missions pretty much like those of Ezio's. Each mission has a difficulty level. When the apprentices successfully perform missions, their weapons and armor are upgraded. Moreover, the apprentices can be used to assist Ezio in some missions.

One of the fun activities in the game is collecting. You can look for Lairs of Romulus and acquire special items, collect feathers, and play the Cristina memories.

Meanwhile, players can use Desmond to explore Monteriggioni with his new set of acquired skills.

Those who have not played Assassin's Creed II will easily get lost in the story in AC Brotherhood as it is a direct follow-up of the events of the former. Whatever Ezio has started in Firenze must be dealt with also in Roma where his most dangerous nemesis is gathering power. When I saw what happened to his uncle and the loss of some allies, I thought Ezio had to start all over again. That's partly what he did when he came to Roma. But Roma offers so many things than in the previous game. There's so much to do in the game that it's more time-consuming than AC II.

The gameplay and animation are just as good as AC II's. The only difference is the plethora of activities I can do in the game. Rome is big, and I mean big. Traveling by horse can even be tiresome sometimes. More than just the story, I enjoyed the other missions especially completing those involving Leonardo's machines (which I must say aren't easy). The downside however with having so many things to do (that is if you like completing them) is losing track of the main story. 

Plus there are the apprentices to train. At the start of the game I felt like Ezio was so alone in his fight even when he had allies, but recruiting people somehow changed that. Whereas AC II was like Ezio's personal fight, Brotherhood involved more people and Ezio was no longer just thinking about himself. A mature and wiser Ezio is now poised to take over the losing brotherhood.

I enjoyed Brotherhood as much as I enjoyed AC II. If there is one word to describe AC Brotherhood, it's addictive.

Rating for Assassin's Creed Brotherhood: 9 out of 10

Assassin's Creed Revelations

It was only a matter of time until Desmond would feel the worst of the bleeding effect. After a surprising end in AC Brotherhood, Desmond falls into a coma. He wakes up, well only in his mind, in Animus Island with Subject 16 who explains to him that the only way to save his sanity is to relieve the last bit of genetic memories of Ezio. In the background, the player could hear the events transpiring after Desmond's collapse. Rebecca and his father are taking him somewhere.

Subject 16 and Desmond in Animus Island

After many years as an assassin, Ezio decides to explore the secrets of the library at Masyaf built by Altaïr before his death. He did find the library after a fight with some Templars but it needed keys to be opened. After some investigation, he set out to Constantinople after obtaining the journal of Niccolo Polo which points to where the keys are hidden.

Ezio Auditore

He met Yusuf Tazim who introduced him to the city and taught him the use of he hookblade. Ezio also decides to help the local guild leader to take and defend the assassin dens from the Templars. He does this by recruiting and training assassins. During his search for the keys, Ezio also meets Piri Reis, Sofia Sartor, and the young prince Suleiman. Although he did not want to be involved in the quarrels and issues in Constantinople, it could not be avoided after meeting certain people.

In this game the player gets to experience the game from Desmond, Ezio and Altair. Aptly titled Revelations, 

players will experience Altair's final moments, witness some of Ezio's last important contributions to the brotherhood, and the determine the role Desmond has to play after all his discoveries. 

Local guild leader Yusuf with Ezio

Desmond Miles

Several changes are made in the gameplay in AC Revelations. The usual hidden blades are replaced by a hookblade which can be used to explore the city using ziplines. Ezio also has the ability to pickpocket the enemy during the fight and when he needs to escape he can always hook-and-run.

The eagle vision has been improved again. Ezio can now see tracks in gold or red and see ghost-like figures of the person/s he needs to track.

One of the features that I really liked are the variety of bombs. Remember the smoke bombs in the previous games? There are more in Revelations. There are three types of bombs Ezio can use; the Lethal, Tactical, and Diversion. Ingredients for these can be found all over Constantinople and can be crafted at bomb-crafting stations usually next to pigeon coops. Once you know the trick, combining different ingredients to see what you will create is the fun part.  

The equivalent of Borgia Towers in Revelations are the Assassin Dens. Unlike the former, the dens have more uses. Ezio has to attack the Templar-owned dens then train an assassin to defend them from Templars. While the assassins are still in their training however, Ezio has to organize a den defense every time the towers are attacked. Assassins are trained to the master rank and one is assigned to each den. Training assassins is pretty much similar to what Ezio did in Brotherhood.

Renovating shops and landmarks can still be done in Constantinople to receive income. The art merchants are replaced by book shops and there are no horse stables. Traveling can be done by tunnels and ferries or the usual means.

Animus data fragments scattered all over Constantinople can be used to access some of Desmond's past memories. These fragments are like passes to some portals for mini-games, replacing subject 16's puzzles in AC II and Brotherhood. Desmond's Journey is like a puzzle played in a first-person perspective. Players have to get past various environment obstacles and let Desmond recover some of his memories. 

Ezio looking at Altair

Compared to the previous games, the main story is shorter in AC Revelations. If not for that, I think Revelations would have been just as good as the previous games. There is no lack however of things that I can do while delaying the progress of the story. Collecting, renovating, and exploring are just as addictive. Not to mention the fun in bomb making, completing the difficult (Oh yes. If you have motion sickness you might find this frustrating) but intriguing Desmond's Journey, the challenging den defense and already familiar apprentice training.

All three heroes are also playable and finally the connection is made between Altaïr, Ezio and Desmond.

I don't recommend AC Revelations if you have not played AC II and Brotherhood. The story would be too confusing and the gameplay a bit difficult to appreciate even if there are tutorials. For AC fans however, some questions will finally be answered. Ezio wanted to make sense of his years of work at the start of Revelations and it seemed he was hinting that we might be seeing the last of his work as an assassin. I can't help but feel sad as a fan, but like they say all good stories have to end.

Rating for Assassin's Creed Revelations: 8.5 out of 10

Overall Rating for Assassin's Creed Ezio Trilogy: 9.17