Brings back everything in AC2, with some tweaks and enhancements, making this the best experience Yet!
The Economy:
In the AC2 the economy was rather simple to generate money, where all you needed to do was invest in Montegronni. In Brotherhood, you'll be investing in the entire city of Rome, which will slowly open up shops as you destroy Borga's tower spread throughout the City. How much money you'll like to make, basically depends on how many shops you like to open up. The money you earn now can be spent on other things beside weapons and clothes. You can now renovate various Assassin hideouts, and famous landmarks throughout Rome to make it look better.
The Side Mission:
The side missions in this game is what separate it from all previous AC games and their are literally tons of them. While some mission seem similar to AC2, they are better this time, because each mission seems related to the main story. The Assassin Tombs are now replaced by Romolus Lairs. They're also several Davinci War Machine missions that will take you away from Rome, which was somewhat challenging because it required full stealth. You'll get a snippet of Christina Missions where you get a flashback replay in Florence. They have added several side mission not seen in AC2, like dispatching Templars, Thief Mission, Courtesans which usually involves hand to hand combat. The Assassin contract are also more better now, because most contracts are carried out within the vicinity of the hit, unlike AC2 where your force to travel to the other side of town in many cases.
The Main Mission and Story:
AC again retains a decent story line. With this being a revenge against the Borga's who destroyed Montegronni when the game started. Theirs not much conspiracy in this one, so it's pretty much straight forward. You get to more of an idea who the other characters are in AC2, like Makevelli, Caterina, many others.
The Gameplay:
This is the best part of the game. Ezio is even more deadly now than he was in AC2. He can now counter move with a kick, or throw guards over his shoulder if grabbed. You can now shoot the poisonous blades and slowly watch your victim die in agony, or stealthily dispatched guards with the arrow from far away. Ezio can also execute 4 or more guards in succession. You can also down a new combo where you stab a guard and finish him off with the hidden pistol. Doing this never gets old. Later in the game, you will be allow to recruit a bunch of citizen who you will eventually groom them to become Assassins. Having the Assassin are always great, because you will not ever have to worries about being outnumbered and having to fend off 10-15 guards by yourself. This also allows you to make your battles unnecessary time consuming. And calling for your assassin to take out a target from a far is always enjoyable to watch.
While I think this is the best in the series, the ending was probably the worst in the series. Their were a few missed opportunities down the stretch toward the end where you should of been able to use your Assassin's instead of making it to easy by allowing Ezio to easy dispatch his enemies with the Apple. The story again ends with many questions still needing to be answered, good thing Revelations comes out soon.