Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood/Mechanics

In the multiplayer you are a pursuer, a target or both. As a pursuer you need to find and assassinate your target, and you receive a score when you do so, based on your style. Just as you get contracts to assassinate someone, other Abstergo agents will get contracts for your death, and you will be pursued as a target.

You will have some abilities and will earn others to help you in both roles as you level up your character. Become familiar with the maps you play in and how to best utilize the tools you are given to succeed.

Display
There is a lot of information on the screen to let you know what's going on, some of it permanent and some of it just showing up as things happen.
 * Permanent displays
 * Session time: At the center of the top of the screen is a black box with a countdown of the time remaining in the session. The box will turn red at 1:00 left on the clock.
 * Player info: At the top left corner of the screen is your information. This will show your current session rank and how many pursuers are after you.
 * Target info: At the top right corner of the screen you will see information on your target. It will show the player's name, their session rank and a picture. On the left side of the picture is the threat meter and below is an indicator showing how many agents have a contract for your target.
 * Abilities, perks and bonuses: At the bottom left corner of the screen, you will see your available abilities, the perks you've selected and any active streak bonuses.
 * Compass: The compass in the bottom center of the screen shows information on your target's location and your pursuer's location if you've identified them.


 * Contextual displays
 * Chase status bar: When you have entered chase mode, this bar will appear below the target information.
 * Pursuit status bar: When your pursuer has been identified, this bar will appear below your character information.
 * Session events: This small text appears above your abilities and perks, and shows information such as players being killed or escaping, sessions bonuses you're earning, players leaving or joining, and percentage completion updates for your current level.
 * Messages: These messages appear above the compass and give you information on your target and pursuer, such as when your target escapes or you do, when you kill your target or have been killed, and sometimes warnings will appear.
 * Special achievements: These are large messages that appear below the countdown timer when you have gained a level or completed a challenge.
 * Score: Any scores you are earning for an assassination, an escape, or other bonuses will pop up in the middle of the screen.
 * In-game tips: These tips and tutorials show up in the bottom right corner of the screen and can be turned off in options.

Pursuing
The main way to score points is to track down your target and assassinate them. When you've received a contract, your target's information will appear on screen and your compass will start keeping track of their position. Take a look at the character skin so you know who you are looking for when you get too close to use the compass. The compass will fill in with blue in the direction of the target, and the blue section will expand as you get closer.

As you approach your target, the compass will glow brightly when they are in sight, and any high profile actions you make will deplete their threat meter. If the meter goes below the first mark, you will lose points when you assassinate them and if it goes down completely, you will enter chase mode.

As you close in on your target without revealing yourself, your compass will expand until it is completely full. At this point you have to choose your target among the characters around you and assassinate them. Although you have a picture of your target, keep in mind that certain abilities and perks can change your target's appearance or the characters around them. If you kill a civilian, you will lose your contract and will be given another one.

If you alert your target to your presence, you will enter chase mode, and your compass will start to blink. Your target will flee from you or hide, and you will need to get to them before you chase status bar depletes. Whenever you have a line of sight on the target your status bar will refresh, giving you more time. When you can't see the target, the status bar will slowly deplete until you lose them completely and fail the contract.

Escaping
While you are busy tracking and assassinating your targets, others have contracts for your head. Any of the characters around you might be a hidden pursuer, so watch carefully for any high profile actions that might give them away. You can stand next to a character with your same skin or use different abilities to try and confuse your pursuer as well. If you can trick them into killing a civilian, they will lose their contract.

If your pursuer has performed too many high profile actions while in sight of you, your threat meter will deplete and they will be revealed. When a pursuer is revealed, they will have a red triangle over them and a red triangle will appear on the compass, showing you which direction they are in and will grow bigger or smaller to show you their distance.

You will see the pursuit status bar below your character information, and you will need to break your pursuer's line of sight and stay hidden until it completely depletes for them to lose their contract. When you break their line of sight, the status bar will change from red to yellow and begin to slowly go down. If you hide, by entering a hay cart, sitting on a bench or blending with a group, your status bar will turn blue and will stay blue even if your pursuer can be seen, and the status bar depletes much faster. Their compass still works, so if they know where you are they can still assassinate you, even if your status bar is still depleting.

Your other option is to stun your pursuer, which also makes them lose their contract. When your pursuer has been revealed, you can stun them when they are near you. Your pursuer's assassination action will overcome your stun, so it's only useful when your pursuer can't move or hasn't identified you yet.

Game modes
Wanted is a free-for-all where you try to complete your contracts and avoid being assassinated yourself. Try to get a high score by performing stylish kills, getting streaks and adding variety. The session ends at the end of the countdown or when there is less than four players remaining. When you kill someone you will be given another contract and when you are killed you will spawned elsewhere on the map.
 * Wanted
 * Players: 6–8
 * Time: One round of ten minutes

In Alliance, your team gets contracts for the members of one of the other teams and you spend the entire round assassinating them. The same mechanics apply from Wanted mode, but you can also get bonuses for cooperative play with your teammate. In the second round each team is assigned a new team to target.
 * Alliance
 * Players: 6 (three teams of two)
 * Time: Two rounds of four minutes

Profile sets
Profile sets are where you select your abilities, perks and streak bonuses. Once you've made it to level 2, you'll get your first profile set, and you can earn more as you progress. You can set two abilities in a profile set from among the ones you've unlocked. You can also set one passive perk and bonuses for kill streaks and death streaks. You have the chance to select which profile set you want to use at the beginning of sessions and after each death. You can manage your profile sets by going into the customize tab in the menu.

Map elements
The maps all feature normal elements such as places to climb and jump from, but there are some other things that will be directly applicable to performing in a session. Hiding places are spots where you can be incognito. They won't stop your pursuer from locating you with their compass, but if you're being actively pursued, going into hiding will accelerate the pursuit status bar's depletion. Hay carts and bushes have the added benefit of actually hiding you from physical view, but you can also hide by sitting on benches or joining a group of people.

New to the game are elements called chase breakers. These are doors, gates and lifts that will help distance you from your pursuers. You can spot them in the game by the sparkling Animus effect on them. For doors and gates, just run through them and they'll slam shut behind you. Lifts are boxes with a white sheet on them you can jump on, that will quickly carry you up to the top of a tall building, forcing your pursuer to climb up to find you. All chase breakers are reset after a certain amount of time and can be used by anyone, whether being chased or not. Chase breakers are a good way to escape pursuers by using one then quickly finding a hiding place before your pursuer catches back up to you.

Options
In the options tab in the menu, you have have a few choices to change how the game is presented.
 * General
 * Sound volume
 * Screen brightness
 * Toggle blood display


 * Controls
 * Invert camera (X and Y axes)
 * Camera rotation sensitivity
 * Toggle manual control of camera
 * View control map