You know that feeling when you revisit a place from your childhood and it's smaller than you remember? That usually happens with games too. But Assassin’s Creed The Ezio Collection is different. It’s weird. It doesn't feel smaller; it feels more deliberate. While modern Ubisoft titles are bloated with thousand-mile maps and endless "question mark" icons, this trilogy—comprising Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood, and Revelations—reminds us why we actually liked this franchise in the first place. It wasn't about the RPG levels. It was about Ezio Auditore da Firenze.
Honestly, Ezio is the only reason this collection works as well as it does in 2026. Most protagonists get one game to show us their deal. We see Ezio literally being born. Then we see him as a cocky teenager in Florence, a seasoned Master Assassin in Rome, and finally, a weary, graying philosopher-king in Constantinople. It’s a life. It’s a complete arc that most modern "live service" games can't touch because they're too busy trying to sell you horse skins.
What’s actually inside Assassin’s Creed The Ezio Collection?
If you're picking this up on PS4, Xbox One, or Switch (or playing via backward compatibility on a PS5/Series X), you’re getting three full games and all their single-player DLC. You aren't getting the multiplayer from Brotherhood or Revelations. Some people hated that, but let’s be real—nobody is buying this for the competitive hide-and-seek modes anymore. You’re here for the story of the Auditore family.
The graphical jump isn't "remake" level. It’s a "remaster." This is an important distinction. Ubisoft boosted the resolution to 1080p and locked the frame rate at 30fps on the older consoles, though the newer hardware handles it much smoother. The textures on the doublets and the cobblestones of Venice look sharper. But the faces? Yeah, they can still look a bit "uncanny valley." There’s a notorious meme about a randomly generated NPC in the background of a cutscene with bug-eyes. It’s still funny. It doesn’t ruin the game, but it’s a reminder that these systems were built for the Xbox 360 and PS3.
The mechanical shift from II to Revelations
Playing these back-to-back exposes how much Ubisoft was iterating in real-time. In Assassin’s Creed II, the parkour is tactile. You actually have to hold buttons to run and jump. It’s not the "hold one trigger to parkour over everything" system of Valhalla. You can fail. You can miss a ledge. That's good. It makes the tombs—the platforming puzzles—actually feel like a challenge.
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Then you hit Brotherhood. This is where the game fundamentally changed. Suddenly, you weren't a lone wolf. You were a CEO. You recruit citizens, send them on missions to leveled up, and call them in with a whistle to rain arrows on guards. It’s satisfying. It’s also the peak of the "counter-kill" combat era. You can basically chain-kill an entire army of Papal guards just by timing your button presses. It’s easy, sure, but it makes you feel like the deadliest man in Italy.
Revelations is the black sheep. It added the Hookblade (it has two parts: the hook and the blade, as Yusuf Tazim reminds us constantly) and a weird tower defense mini-game. The tower defense is, frankly, annoying. Most players try to avoid it entirely by keeping their notoriety low. But the setting—Constantinople—is gorgeous. The warm oranges and deep blues of the city provide a massive contrast to the sterile whites and greens of the previous games. It’s the shortest of the three, but the ending is probably the most emotional moment in the entire series.
Why the "clunky" controls are actually better
People complain about the "jank" in Assassin’s Creed The Ezio Collection. They say Ezio jumps off a building when they didn't want him to. Usually, that’s because the player isn't being precise. The old "High Profile" and "Low Profile" systems gave you more control than the modern games. In Odyssey, the character feels like a floaty ghost that can climb any vertical surface. In the Ezio trilogy, you have to find handholds. You have to look at the architecture.
There’s a rhythmic quality to it. Hold R1/RT and X/A to sprint. Release X/A right before a ledge to stop. Tap it to jump. It requires your brain to be "on."
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The music you can't get out of your head
Jesper Kyd’s score is the secret sauce here. "Ezio’s Family" is now the theme for the entire franchise, but it started in ACII. The blend of ethereal vocals, acoustic guitars, and weird electronic synths creates this atmosphere of "historical sci-fi" that the newer games have largely abandoned. When you're standing on top of the Giotto's Campanile in Florence and that music kicks in, it hits differently. It’s not just background noise; it’s an identity.
Acknowledging the flaws
Look, we have to be honest. These games have some "Old Ubisoft" baggage.
The "Tail" missions are a nightmare. Following an NPC from a distance for 10 minutes while they walk at a pace slightly slower than your walk but faster than your crouch is peak frustration. It was bad in 2009, and it’s still bad now.
Also, the "Present Day" story with Desmond Miles. At the time, we all thought it was going somewhere massive. Replaying it now, knowing how that story ends, makes some of the cliffhangers feel a bit hollow. But for new players? The mystery of Subject 16 and the First Civilization (the Isu) is still genuinely intriguing. It felt like a Dan Brown novel mixed with The Matrix.
The definitive way to play
If you're on a PC, you don't actually have an "Ezio Collection" bundle in the same way consoles do; you just buy the individual games. For console players, the Nintendo Switch port is surprisingly solid. It runs at 30fps, but having the entire Renaissance in your pocket is a great trade-off for the lower resolution.
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On the PS5 and Xbox Series X, the games benefit from faster loading times. You can fast-travel across Rome in seconds rather than waiting for a 30-second animus loading screen. It makes the "completionist" grind for 100% synchronization much more bearable.
Missing content and quirks
- Multiplayer is gone: As mentioned, you lose the cat-and-mouse online play.
- The Lost Archive: This DLC from Revelations is included. It’s a first-person puzzle platformer that explains Clay Kaczmarek’s backstory. It’s weird, but the story beats are vital.
- Short Films: The collection includes Assassin’s Creed: Lineage (a live-action prequel about Ezio’s father) and Assassin’s Creed: Embers (an animated short about Ezio’s final days). Don't skip Embers. It’s a tear-jerker.
Comparing Ezio to the "New" Assassins
Why do we keep coming back to this? Why did Ubisoft try to replicate this with Basim in Assassin's Creed Mirage?
Because the Ezio trilogy has a sense of place. The cities are the stars. Rome isn't just a map; it’s a character you're rebuilding. You invest money into shops, and the city literally cleans up. The ruins of the Colosseum start to look better. People start to populate the streets. Modern AC games are too big for that kind of intimacy. You don't feel like you "own" the world; you just feel like you're passing through it.
In Assassin’s Creed The Ezio Collection, you are a part of the world. You’re a noble, then a fugitive, then a mentor.
Actionable Steps for your Playthrough
If you’re diving in for the first time or the tenth, here is how to get the most out of it:
- Don't burn out on ACII: It’s the longest game. If you try to find every single feather, you might get exhausted before you even get to Rome. Focus on the story and the "Assassin Tombs" (the parkour challenges).
- Invest early in Brotherhood: As soon as you get to Rome, start renovating the banks and blacksmiths. This creates passive income. By the mid-game, you’ll have enough money to buy the best armor without even thinking about it.
- Watch the films in order: Watch Lineage before you start ACII. Watch Embers only after you finish the credits of Revelations. It provides the perfect emotional bookend.
- Try the Italian voice track: Seriously. Playing with Italian voices and English subtitles makes the immersion 100 times better. The English voice acting is iconic, but hearing Ezio shout in his native tongue while running across the rooftops of Venice is the "correct" way to experience it.
- Ignore the 100% Synch if it’s not fun: Brotherhood and Revelations introduced optional objectives (e.g., "Don't take damage"). Some are fun; some are miserable. Don't let a "Full Sync" requirement ruin the flow of a mission.
Assassin’s Creed The Ezio Collection is a time capsule. It represents an era where games were more focused and characters were allowed to breathe. It’s not perfect—the AI is sometimes dumb, and the mission design can be repetitive—but the heart of the experience is untouchable. Requiescat in pace.