Part 01: The Vatican, December 1499

Part 01: The Vatican, December 1499

Escape from the Vatican

The excitement sets in before the game even starts, as you slot the disc and wait for it to load -- instead of quickly mashing the Start Button, wait a few moments and the title screen with its awesome drum-beat music will change to a CS in which Ezio will appear in Rome, in 1503.  After an awesome cinematic panning moment we see Ezio's arch enemy in his carriage and then, oh yes!  The man himself!

Walking through the crowd of blood-red cardinals he takes out the rear guard of armored troops and then confronts his enemy -- a fight ensues and Ezio demonstrates why facing one Assassin means you are pretty much outnumbered.  Just as you think he may have bitten off more than he can chew, his buds pit in an appearance, the two groups head towards each other, and the CS ends!

This type of CS is what they call a static display, and it is created so that stores like GameStop or EB can slot the game in the machine whose display is in the window of their store, and people walking past will see either the start screen with its ominous music, or that wicked cool CS piped through an expensive sound system to draw them inside, where they can purchase a copy.  But you do not have to worry about that, right?  You already have your copy!  And it is time to put it to use, so what are you waiting for>!  His the damn Start Button!

And so it begins...

I am going to presume that you have played the other games in the series and are already fully aware of the three subplots and main plot -- you NEED to be aware of those, so if in fact you have NOT played at least the previous game, Assassin's Creed 2, you should pause the game right now and head over to the Wiki and read the full plot and game play sections for it.  Do not do that for Brotherhood though, as it gives away information you not only should now know, but that will ruin the game for you!

OK are you back?  Good!  Now that you are totally hip to what has transpired to bring us to this point, it is time to delve into the barrel of entertainment that is ACB!  Drink deeply, Grasshopper, for rarely does a game story of this caliber come along.  Savor every moment of this, it really is worth the effort to appreciate it in a manner that it so clearly deserves.

Getting Started

Start by entering the name that you want to use in the game and, after you do that, watch the CS that will fill you in on the back-story -- well, it is not really detailed, more of a highlights sort of thing -- but you get the idea of what has come before if you did not read up on it earlier when I suggested it.  Really you should read the details for AC2, because it links a lot of the subplots together.

Desmond talks about Lucy, and the Rebel Animus that the Assassins have managed to construct.  Desmond concludes the retrospective and the screen transitions to a loading sequence that shows you his confrontation and the massive battle, prompting you to perform a button-sequence in order to kill your enemy!

The screen faces to white, you are briefly back in the lab, and if you are a U-Play Member you should now unlock your first U-Play Reward and 10 points!  You will also unlock your first Achievement / Trophy, Technical Difficulties, which is worth 10 Gamer Points as well.  Good on ya mate! 

Ezio is confronted by a glowing woman in the Vatican in 1499, and is quite confused because he is himself rather than you possessing him.  Not having the whole back-story or your memories, he has no idea what is going on.  You are now in full control of Ezio, so run towards the opening ahead to discover the costume and the staff poking out of its slot.

When you try to remove it your actions set off a chain of events that causes the staff to sink back into the safe that protects it, and the room to begin to fall and close in on you!  Your Uncle tells you that it is better that the staff has become trapped in the safe than it would be for it to have been taken by a man, and then urges you to climb out of the pit, which you can accomplish by finding the hidden handholds on the wall.

Eagle Vision

The best method for doing this also exposes you to Eagle Vision -- the special vision mode that allows you to see concealed objects, including hand-holds, which glow in a fire-like neon blue.

You are now given a mini-tutorial on how to climb -- basically you hold the Right Trigger and hit the A Button when you are near the object that you want to climb up, and after you have jumped up and grabbed it, you can release those buttons and just use the Right Joystick to complete the climb (in fact you should make a  habit to release the trigger and climb button to prevent yourself from unintentionally launching yourself into space which can happen if they remain pressed). 

Once you reach the top you will climb out and meet up with your Uncle, who will chat with you for a bit and then lead you on a chase that includes the mini-tutorials for running and fighting, and how to make it through crowds without being knocked down by holding down the B Button to gently shove people out of your way.  During the fight remember that when you hold down the right trigger while fighting it will prevent you from walking around the fight, which allows you to concentrate upon defending against the enemy who are actually attacking you, and using more precise attacks yourself.

Work on getting comfortable with the attack commands and styles, as you will be using them quite a bit in this game, so their mastery should be a priority for you.

Your Uncle leads you on a chase through the rooftops that culminates on top of a tall tower, where you make the decision on what to do with the apple artifact, and then jump off of the tower, ending this chapter!

The game then shifts to the white and blue loading screen that will become very familiar to you as you play the game.  Congratulations mate, you just completed your first chapter in the game!  Well done!