The series is experiencing a cultural paradigm shift right now, in that the general public seem to finally be tiring of Ubisoft's annual instalment release schedule, lamenting latest release AC: Syndicate from day one as something that really looks like last year's model with another coat of paint sloshed on top. However, the very reason Ubisoft got to such a place where the franchise could sell enough to warrant repeat instalments so soon, was off the back of a stellar set of entries in the original Assassin's Creed, II and Brotherhood. The latter in particular remaining the perfect realisation of stealth-based gameplay, the meshing of the modern-day aspects of the plot, building your own team of assassins on-hand to dispatch foes in your way - and above all the best combat the series had seen so far. Unlike 2014's Unity that stripped back your moveset to try and make things more 'intense' or 'streamlined', they ended up losing the unique power-play inherent to the franchise - something that Brotherhood had in spades. The Assassin Order was always supposed to be a powerful watcher in the shadows, taking out targets in broad daylight without the world even batting an eyelid, and when all that is taking place in Renaissance Italy with a city as loveable as character of Ezio himself, it's just icing on the cake.
