Assassin's Creed The Ezio Collection brings together three classic action-adventure titles centered on the legendary assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze. This compilation lets you experience his full story arc across Assassin's Creed 2, Brotherhood, and Revelations, all with enhanced graphics tailored for Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles. You step into Ezio's world, navigating historical settings while mastering stealth, combat, and exploration in a single-player format that emphasizes narrative depth and strategic assassinations.
Gameplay
The core loop revolves around third-person exploration in open-world environments, where you control Ezio as he climbs buildings, leaps across rooftops, and blends into crowds to avoid detection. Combat involves a mix of swordplay, hidden blades, and counterattacks, allowing you to take down enemies quietly or in direct confrontations. Mechanics include recruiting and managing fellow assassins in Brotherhood, which adds layers to missions by letting you call in support for distractions or kills. In Revelations, hookblade tools expand mobility, enabling faster traversal and new combat options like ziplining. Stealth plays a key role, with tools such as smoke bombs and poison darts helping you evade guards or eliminate targets without raising alarms. The games feature side activities like collecting feathers, solving glyphs, and upgrading equipment through a simple economy system based on looting and completing contracts.
Progression ties into Ezio's growth, starting from a novice in Assassin's Creed 2 and evolving into a leader who commands the Brotherhood. Factions like the Assassins and their rivals, the Templars, drive conflicts, with mechanics built around infiltrating strongholds and disrupting enemy plans. Controls can feel dated at times, with occasional glitches in climbing or enemy AI, but the focus remains on tactical decision-making rather than fast-paced action.
Game Modes
This collection sticks to single-player campaigns across the three games, without any multiplayer components. Each title offers a main story mode that spans multiple chapters, blending linear missions with open exploration. Add-on content expands these, such as the Battle of Forli and Bonfire of the Vanities in Assassin's Creed 2, or the Lost Archive in Revelations, which provide additional narrative segments and challenges.
Short films like Lineage and Embers serve as supplementary modes, offering cinematic insights into Ezio's backstory and later years. There are no competitive or cooperative modes, keeping the experience focused on solo playthroughs that can last dozens of hours when including all DLC.
Story and Setting
The narrative follows Ezio from his youth in 15th-century Renaissance Italy, through betrayals and quests for revenge, to his leadership in Rome and journeys to 16th-century Constantinople. Historical figures and events weave into the plot, creating a backdrop of political intrigue and ancient mysteries tied to the Assassin-Templar war.
Settings range from bustling Florence and Venice to the grand architecture of Rome and the exotic markets of Constantinople, all recreated with attention to period details. The story explores themes of family, legacy, and the Creed's philosophy, culminating in connections to earlier series lore through Altair's footsteps.
Is It Worth Playing?
For fans of story-driven action-adventure games with historical elements, this collection holds strong appeal, especially if you haven't played the originals. It runs at 1080p and 30 frames per second on Xbox platforms, preserving the essence of the games while addressing some visual aspects through remastering. Player feedback highlights the engaging narrative and character development, with a user score averaging 8.2 out of 10 based on hundreds of ratings, though critics give it a metascore of 72, noting that mechanics show their age without major overhauls.
The package offers substantial value with full campaigns and DLC included, making it suitable for newcomers seeking a complete Ezio saga or veterans revisiting favorites. However, if modern controls and higher frame rates are priorities, it might feel outdated compared to newer entries. Overall, it's a solid pick for those interested in the franchise's roots, provided you're okay with single-player focus and occasional legacy bugs. No ongoing updates or seasons keep it as a timeless bundle rather than an evolving title.
