Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood drops the player into Rome in 1503, a city ruled by the corrupt Borgia family, and hands them control of a full Brotherhood of Assassins. That single change sets the tone for a game that wants to feel bigger and busier than the series has been before, and it delivers on that promise in almost every way except combat.
Trailer, via Assassin’s Creed.
Rome as a Working Base
Rome is the star of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. The streets run wide and open, packed with citizens who move through them like living traffic. The view from the top of the Colosseum still holds up, and the way light falls across the Forum is the kind of moment the series built itself on.
The city also carries a political layer. Players can recruit new Assassins, send them out on missions, and call them back for backup at any time. This system turns Rome into a working base as much as a place to walk through, and it gives the game a sense of scale that the previous entries lacked. Every mission Ezio sends out expands the network of people he commands, and that expansion shapes how the player moves through the city — not just physically, but politically, as the Brotherhood gains ground against the Borgia.
Combat and Movement
Combat remains the weakest part of the package. Enemies still fall fast once a chain of strikes starts, and the dodge-and-strike rhythm feels familiar rather than new. The addition of multiple Assassins helps in large groups, since calling in help breaks up fights that would otherwise drag.
Movement gets a few upgrades. Ezio can now cling to ledges, climb faster, and glide between buildings with more freedom than before. These changes smooth out the motion between points, even if they don’t make the parkour feel truly different. The result is a traversal system that feels more generous than the one before it, giving the player more ways to get from rooftop to rooftop.
Side Content and Story
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood piles on side content, and some of it lands better than others. The main plot follows Ezio as he works to bring down the Borgia, and it leans on character moments over spectacle. The pacing dips in the middle stretch, where side missions and fetch quests fill out the hours between set pieces.
| Feature | Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood |
|---|---|
| Setting | Rome, 1503 |
| Main protagonist | Ezio Auditore |
| Core mechanic | Full Brotherhood of Assassins |
| Key additions | Recruitable Assassins, ledge clinging |
The game also brings in multiplayer modes, letting players hunt each other online in a mode that borrows from the series’ own lore. It’s a small addition, but it adds variety for players who finish the campaign early.
What Works and What Doesn’t
The strengths of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood are easy to list:
- A dense, detailed Rome
- A Brotherhood system that rewards exploration
- Smoother movement and climbing
- A strong cast of supporting characters
The weaknesses are just as clear:
- Combat that doesn’t change much
- A middle stretch filled with filler missions
- Some side content that drags on too long
None of these issues sink the game. They simply keep it from reaching the heights of the best entries in the series.
Final Word
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood succeeds because it commits fully to its central idea: a Brotherhood that works together rather than alone. The city, the systems built around it, and the characters Ezio gathers along the way all point toward that same goal. The game’s ambition shows in the sheer amount of content it offers, and in how tightly the Brotherhood system ties that content to the world around it.
The rough edges — combat, pacing, and some side content — don’t undo that success, but they keep the game from being essential. It’s a strong entry in the series, not a defining one.
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