The Hidden Blade Assassin's Creed in Depth

Exposed Blitz Assassination
When rounding the corner onto the main street of Forli, stay to the middle to avoid being pushed by guards on either side. The biggest challenge is getting through the guard post at the city gate. As Ezio approaches, they move into another formation (chosen at random). Your job is to find a hole in the new formation and sprint through it. Sometimes one guard will hang back and raise his sword like a baseball bat. Go to the opposite side to stay out of his reach or tap the button to jump past him.

Ordinarily there would be a group of civilians next to the fast travel station. They don't have time to spawn during this blitz. This is true on both Xbox 360 and PS3. Stay close to the fast travel station to avoid early detection.

When Checco first sees Ezio the camera will pan towards him uncontrollably. Compensate by adjusting the left stick clockwise. Your goal is to reach the crate on the ground.

As Ezio steps on the crate, press the [Attack] button for a mini air to assassinate. This isn't just for show. Checco has the same sprinting speed as Ezio and already has a head start. If you pursue him on foot, he will remain just out of striking distance.

Silent Route
This shows a less hectic way to approach Checco without being detected by guards or archers. You can use it for all of the following assassinations.

Silent Checcomate
The idea of Silent Checcomate is to assassinate every guard in the red zone without being detected at all (no yellow arrows).

The next four assassinations start off the same way. Dive into the haystack and pull the seeker in. Wait until the archer reaches the white panel on the roof of the fast travel station. Run across (staying to the left to avoid being spotted by Checco) and walk up behind the archer.

Equip poison and do a lap blended with the monks. Fast walk over to the seeker and poison him while he's searching the haystack. This is the key time to poison him because he will expire among Checco's group, causing them to spread out and be picked off one by one. They don't always spread out the same way but Checco usually heads over toward the drawbridge.

Drawbridge Stunt
Do Silent Checcomate procedure above until poisoning the guard. His slow death gives you plenty of time to setup the stunt and get into position. Move the archer's body to the drawbridge from where it has slipped off the end of the fast travel station. Run into Forli and climb up on the cable over the drawbridge. None of the aggravated guard will follow Ezio up here.

After the poisoned seeker dies, watch for Checco to come around the fast travel station. The archer's body should lure him onto the drawbridge. Ezio's jump will land on the far edge of the bridge. Time it to intercept Checco there. If you land right in front of Checco, your Hidden Blade will be disabled for a moment while he scrambles around. You want to land behind or to the side of Checco to pull off this stunt.

Into the Moat
If you put the archer's body near an edge of the drawbridge, it gives Ezio an opportunity to do a ledge assassination pulling Checco into the moat. Simply grabbing and throwing Checco into the moat will also kill him.

There is no Bridge
This starts just like the drawbridge stunt. When you see Checco heading for the drawbridge, run 100 meters away as quickly as possible. Since the bridge is far away and not in your line of sight, the game will stop modeling it. Time it correctly so that Checco is on the bridge when it disappears and he will fall into the moat and drown.

Come to Ezio
If you approach from the right direction, Checco will run directly into the waiting arms of Ezio. Line this up by circling around to the south and positioning Ezio between a horse and a fence. Then walk straight towards Checco's group. The action starts when the distance between Ezio and Checco is 15 meters.

The Drive By
Checco is quite vulnerable while fleeing. One strike of the sword from horseback will finish him off.

Overkills
Just having some fun using large weapons against an unsuspecting Checco.