The Art of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood is more than just a game, it’s an experience. The sheer scale of the city of Rome, portrayed as it was in the 16th Century, makes it a delightful journey into a world populated by real historical figures and remarkable locations. The game actually serves as a unique encyclopedia of the architecture and people of that era – in fact, the gaming interface cleverly triggers a codex entry every time you stand near relevant landmarks and characters. Needless to say, I’ve spent much of my time playing ACB doing nothing more than sightseeing, discovering wonderful churches and temples, enjoying the exquisite sights provided by the city’s iconic hills and aqueducts, and stopping the game every now and then to read the latest codex information.

With ACB, Ubisoft’s designers decided to make a bold attempt into the realm of open world gameplay. You can resume the main quest at any moment, but you’re also free to go astray from the plot and explore its many secondary activities. Some of these tasks may be simple, like finding hidden secrets, but others actually evolve into complete missions. In the course of all these endeavors you’ll get to discover one of the most fascinating cities ever recreated for a video game. So lets take a look at some of the conceptual art that served as inspiration for Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, and the many landmarks that you can find therein.

Panoramic view of Rome in the early years of the 16th Century. Standing in the background – to the left – is the Basilica di San Pietro, often regarded as the greatest of all churches of Christendom. The basilica is located within the Vatican district, west of the Tiber River. It’s an iconic example of Late Renaissance style architecture with its characteristic dome – the tallest in the world. During the events of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, the dome is still under construction.

View of the Basilica di San Pietro’s central square as it was in the 16th Century.

Concept art of the Castel Sant’Angelo. Also known as the Mausoleum of Hadrian, this towering cylindrical building was commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. Built on the right bank of the Tiber between 135 AD and 139 AD, it was later converted into a castle in the 14th Century. The Papal State also used Sant’Angelo as a prison and executions took place in its small interior square. It currently serves as a museum and tourist attraction.

Views of the Pantheon. It was built under the command of Marcus Agrippa as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in 126 AD. It is a circular building with a striking portico composed of three ranks of Corinthian columns. Its concrete dome, with a central opening to the sky – the oculus – still stands as the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome. The Pantheon has been used as a Roman Catholic church since the 7th Century and is informally known as the Church of Santa Maria Rotonda.

Il Colosseo is probably the most famous landmark of ancient Rome and is featured extensively in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood as the setting for several dramatic sequences. It appears decrepit and dilapidated; in fact, parts of its structure were actually inhabited at the time. Despite being the largest amphitheatre ever built in the Roman Empire – with a capacity of 50.000 spectators – it ceased to be used for entertainment in the medieval era and was not regarded as a sacred site by the Christianity.

View of the Arch of Constantine – Arco di Costantino. A triumphal arch located between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill, it is the latest of the existing triumphal arches in Rome.

Campidoglio environmental art. The existing design of the piazza and its surrounding palazzi was created by the great Renaissance artist and architect Michelangelo. Standing atop of the Tabularium is the Palazzo Senatorio, once the house of the archives of ancient Rome. It now stands as the Roman city hall.

Atmospheric views of the streets of Rome during the night.

These are just a few glimpses into the amazing artwork of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. All the images featured on this post can be found on the game’s Official Guide, which I definitely recommend. Also, if you want to see what the gameplay actually looks like, take a look at this video or visit the game’s website.