Desmond and co. arrive at their destination(I'm not giving it away... it's a nice idea, and, well, Templars could be reading this. That last part was a joke), and over the course of this, Ezio gets the closure he's been needing since II(which this expands upon, if it leaves a lot intact... and that, I will not go into a lot of detail on, you can read my review on that one, instead) began. The story(that *again* leaves us with a cliffhanger and more questions than answers) is interesting(as is following what happened with the characters, who are so diverse, developed and varied that everyone will find someone to like and look forward to seeing more of), and for being less grand than the one before it, its beginning, middle and end are made of pure win and epicness. Prime examples are when you have to take care of the somewhat anachronistic war machines Da Vinci has been forced to create, where you literally get ahold of these vehicles(I'm not giving away what they are, it's too badass to spoil) and turn them on the other ones already completed, to even the odds in the battle. This also aids in distracting from this being the first in the series limited to a single city... Rome, and you have to rebuild her, by restoring shops(as well as the aqueducts, and a nifty tunnel system that, along with your ability to now whistle for a horse, allow you to get around much quicker) and buying famous landmarks(making your earnings go up), giving power back to the hands of its people, and you can do this in an area once you've cleared out the corresponding Borgia Tower(kill the captain running it, then *set it on fire so it explodes*), to limit their corrupt influence. Doing so also makes other missions in the area easier, and in addition to the ones you have to complete(making up maybe 20, 25 hours of play, roughly the same for the stuff that isn't mandatory), you again get assignments from the thieves(who can be upgraded to pulling enemies off their steed, by accomplishing the tasks they list; they are still distractions for hire) such as races(although now only with a set time, not against anyone running at the same time, the same course) and spy-ish ones, the courtesans(who will eventually lure away and *poison* guards... how awesome is that!; they'll have you beating up others; and they help you look like you're not up to no good) and the mercernaries(they'll tell ya who to kill; and they can fight alongside you). And that leads nicely into one of the new things this has, and one of the two that lends this its title. You're the leader of the resistance, so you're not alone. In this, you recruit, and then, through use and sending them out in the world(with objectives to deal with), train, assassins. You wind up with a total of 12, and their availability is represented by three meters(that refill over time) on the HUD. When all are full, you can use them entirely on a storm of arrows, that will take out every single foe that you can see at that time(we're talking, tens of them, no problem, if they're close enough to you), and if you use them one by one, it means 1-3 of them showing up to murder whoever you targeted when calling for them. As they gain XP, they will gradually reach the top level and be armed with the double-blades, pistol, smoke bombs and crossbow, just like you. Yup, they finally put it in, and somehow, along with the feature I just mentioned, they still manage to keep it from being just a walk in the park. In fact, for all their teeter-tottering on providing challenge or being excessively streamlined that these have done, we're finally reaching this giving you something to do that takes skill. 60% is the ratio of that, now, where it was 40, maybe sometimes 50, before. And finally, we're getting back to a Prince of Persia approach to how the climbing and parkour is done, at least on some of the more important buildings(you can still mindlessly roam about rooftops), meaning you don't just move into it and rush up it, you have to find the path that will let you scale it(and you may be under fire at this time!). And the other half of the duo? The unique multiplayer experience. Heck yeah. The range of rules and 7 or so modes boil down to basically: every player is out to eliminate others(with instantly lethal means, at first up close, later, as you unlock them by earning points, with slow guns, etc. - yup, like what you usually have in these) with and/or hide from those who are(sometimes, you are only to run and hide from them, you can "knock them out" briefly, but only if you take them by surprise), helped along by everyone(including the AI civilians, similar to SP - some stand in a group, others walk around) taking on the appearance of one of the dozen and a half models(all with their own animations for causing death of others) you can choose, meaning, you can literally blend in with others that look exactly the same as you, actually potentially tricking another human to snuff the wrong "person". Sometimes solo, sometimes on teams, one has crates to steal and another has VIPs that you either have to protect or attack. While you can do the physical feats that you are accustomed to in this, it will paint a huge bullseye on your clothes. Graphics haven't changed, nor has you buying bigger, better stuff in stores, or the gameplay being fun and you being able to take things very much at your own pace(except for when directly out to solve something specific). There is bloody, violent and disturbing content in this. I recommend this to any fan of the franchise, GTA, PoP and Hit-man. 7/10
