原文

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Dev Blog – Eigth Entry
“New Weapons”

The Renaissance is when war started to change. It’s when we start to see mercenaries and professional soldiers for hire appear throughout Europe and especially in Italy. Different city-states in Italy hired them, and even the Vatican got into it in by the end of the 15th century. In that context, the weapon of choice remained the sword, but the soldiers started to use pikes and firearms more frequently because they were more efficient.

We tried to depict that in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. For one, you’ll see more Seekers in Rome. They’re the ones carrying the long weapons (pikes, halberds, etc).

Remember the mercenaries you could hire in Assassin’s Creed 2? Well, they’re back. However, the Borgias, and therefore the Papal state, also hired some help: The Swiss Guards. These guys were the most fearsome mercenaries of their time and they are in the game. They can use matchlock firearms in one hand with a sword in the other hand, making them deadly opponents. They protect areas of high interest for the Borgias, so watch out for them in places like Castello St-Angelo. The Borgias have also given some new equipment to their archers, such as arquebuses, an early muzzle-loaded firearm.

Ezio also gets some major upgrades. We chose these weapons because they were either fan-favorites or additions that just made sense in our game. The integration of ranged weapons inside the fight system also shows that we are trying to reflect the greater availability of firearms during this era.

- The Crossbow: I think this was something fans wanted for a long time. In the first trailer for Assassin’s Creed, Altair was shown with a crossbow and we never had time to implement it properly. Well it’s now in the game! The crossbow is really useful for dispatching enemies that are far away, without attracting too much attention. We also implemented a new “upper-body” animation system that allows the player to aim with crossbow, while being able to move Ezio at the same time.  You can also use the Crossbow in fights, but it’s a bit harder to avoid being hit by enemies when you use it.

- Heavy Weapons: Heavy weapons were around in Assassin’s Creed 2, but the player wasn’t allowed to carry one around. Well we decided to fix that, and give the ability for the players to buy and equip heavy weapons. There are now 6 new heavy weapons in the game, and that includes axes. What’s even better is that there’s a new attack in which you can throw heavy weapon, it’s useful for dispatching of enemies that try to run away.

- Dagger of Brutus: This is a legendary weapon in our game. I won’t tell you how to get it, but I can tell you what it does. It’s the dagger used by Marcus Junius Brutus to kill Julius Caesar. So quite understandably, once Ezio gains possession of that famed weapon, any Roman citizen will be quite freaked out to see it in action. Enemies will flee faster if you use that special weapon, so it gives a different twist to the fight once you have it.

- Dual Wielding: Ok I agree this isn’t exactly a new weapon, but there is a new way to use weapons. Ezio can now wield a sword or a blunt weapon and use the gun in his hidden blade at the same time. Same thing when he uses a small weapon, like a dagger – he can throw knives. What it does is that it allows Ezio to do new moves in fights such as gun counter kills or dagger and knives executions. It also means that the gun and the throwing knives are now fully integrated into the fight system. We’ll address the dual wield system in a later entry!