The Hidden Blade Assassin's Creed in Depth

(There is a lot of information here, so i've tried to break it down into topics for convenience.) Press CTRL+F then copy and paste one of the following to jump quickly to a specific part:

=Story=
=Characters=
=Gameplay=
=Multiplayer=
=Scans=

=Story=
-Ezio's older now, in his forties and has formed his own guild of assassins, hence the "Brotherhood" in the title.

-Machiavelli will be playing a "huge role".

-Rodriga Borgia has returned, this time aided by son Cesare and daughter Lucrezia.

-"The entire game takes place in Rome, which is divided into five districts, from the Templar controlled Vatican, to the poverty stricken medieval section." The city will be bigger than all of AC2.

-Patrick Plourde says: "There is a point in the single player with Templars, but I can't reveal what that is. It's going to be something that you might not forsee or imagine.

-This is Assassins Creed 3 "in terms of scope". The numbers are being kept for a new protagonist and a new area.

-There will still be Da Vinci inventions left to include, the developer says "you should read your history books, check out Wikipedia...and no comment"

=Characters=
Ezio: "Older, tireder, but now the master of killing people. He has to pass these uniquely vocational skills on to a new generation and get Rome smartened up, with a view to loosening the Borgia's grip on proceedings."

Rodrigo Borgia: "No, he's not dead, although Ezio will doubtless wish he'd taken the chance when he had it. Rodrigo is still Pope and still evil: the Borgias had a remarkable reputation for corruption and murder to name a few."

Cesare Borgia: "Son of the Pope and Ezio's nemesis: he's a fearless army man who will put up much more of a fight than the mollycoddled victims of AC2 We're hoping this means a bit more than just a really tough boss fight."

Lucrezia Borgia: "Cesare's sister, ruthlessly exploited by her father- she was betrothed twice before her 13th Birthday to secure political alliances. Raised around her father's debauchery, she was then taken under Cesare's wing."

Leonardo Da Vinci: "The natty-hatted genius will be reprising his role as a Renaissance-era version of 007's Q. It'll be interesting to see if he's still perpetually pleased to help Ezio after 26 years of fixing his stuff."

Machiavelli: "The man whose name became a byword for devious behavior is also appearing. Hopefully he'll do more this time although that may be asking too much for a man famous for working behind the scenes."

Desmond: "The hoody-wearer of the future will reappear and so will Lucy, in "major events that bring Desmond to unexpected places." We'd bet on at least one climatic showdown with the Templar forces."

=Gameplay=
-Over the course of the game, "you will recruit a team and use a chessboard style interface to send them off on missions. By choosing the tasks they do and their weapons, you're able to customize their abilities then call upon them in combat- to the extent where you'll just be able to point at someone you want to get rid of, and one of your proteges will magically appear from the crowd to gut them."

-You can also kill them yourself though, improved fighting system where you chain together moves and kill multiple enemies using them. Starting a combo means you go into a "rage mode" that chains together insta-kills until you are stopped by an enemy.

- As soon as you start a combo, you can kill every other guy until you get interrupted, so if you get the right rhythm, you can dispatch a group of guards very fast.

- Enemy AI is braver, will "wade in and cause trouble, rather than in AC2 where they would stare him out beforehand."

-The players that take the upper hand in fights will win them and get rewarded, both viscerally and visually.

-Rome starts off very run down and shabby, the whole of Rome can be improved, not just the villa, unlocking new groups and new missions, and of course, bringing in more money.

-You will now be able to use horses inside the city, partaking in mounted duels with guards who could also be on horseback, in the middle of the busy streets.

-You will be able to "pimp" your horse.

-The horse movements will be handled as "fluently as Ezio's rooftop acrobatics."

-The fighting system was changed as there was too much defense. It was too hard to exploit if you were really good, and they are trying to avoid moments where guards are standing around, waiting for their turn. Now your attacks can be interrupted, but you can react to that.

=Multiplayer=
-The animi lab from the beginning of the second game is the Templar training ground, they learn the tatics of the assassins here. This does not appear to directly connect with the single player storyline.

-There will be small maps set in cities like Florence and San Donato, as well as Rome.

- Eight different character models to play as in the multiplayer, the same models are repeated extensively throughout the level.

-Hunter gametype, you spawn in motion, wandering amongst an NPC group. A compass pointer and a distance readout shows roughly where your target is. Another number shows the total number of people after you, there's always at least one and the number will increase the more successful you are.

-Points are awarded generously for a successful hit, sparingly for a successful escape, and removed when you kill an innocent.

-AI programmed to make you mistake it for other players, characters will sometimes break into a brief sprint, before resuming strolling again, or stop at a corner and turn back.

-How you kill your target relies on style and equipment, there are no guards around.

-There are chase breakers, which will slow down anyone chasing after you for a short amount of time. Gates will slam shut, buttresses snap off and suspended platforms crash to the ground.

-You can use single player tactics in multiplayer, such as sitting on a bench or hiding in a haystack, and because you are identical to many of the people in the level, you can also blend in a crowd.

-Abilities include assuming a different disguise, transforming all characters nearby to your disguise, or scaring someone dressed the same as you into running, in the hopes that the person chasing you will mistake that character for you.

-Many more character models will be released later on, each with their own weapons and animations.

-OXM says the devs were waiting patiently for their targets, waiting for the right moment to strike, but they express some skepticism that other players would be as patient.

=Scans=