Before Ubisoft introduces audiences to the character of Connor, the protagonist in Assassin's Creed 3, they are offering gamers the opportunity to look back on the franchise's former hero: Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Just announced is a new Assassin's Creed collection that would feature all three of Ezio's adventures: Assassin's Creed 2, Brotherhood, and Revelations.

Dubbed Assassin's Creed: Ezio Trilogy, this collection will be releasing on November 13th (a strange release date considering AC3 launches on October 30th), and will feature all of Assassin's Creed 2 and all of its respective DLC, as well as the full retail versions of AC: Brotherhood and AC: Revelations. Through these three games, players will not only be able to experience Ezio de Auditore's story, but witness the evolution of the franchise's multiplayer.

It's unclear who thought up the idea first, but it appears that Ubisoft and EA are borrowing from one another's lead with this new trilogy-focused collection idea. Whereas EA's Mass Effect Trilogy is meant to give Xbox 360, PC, and PS3 gamers a chance to re-experience the Commander Shepard trilogy all over again, this Ezio collection is PS3-only.

There's no clear indication from Ubisoft as to the exclusivity of the deal — as Assassin's Creed has enjoyed success on all three major platforms — but seeing as how the developer is touting the game as a single Blu-Ray disc release, we have to imagine storage played a part. It's actually quite ironic that as EA announces the Mass Effect trilogy will be delayed on the PS3 (it will be out in November on PC and Xbox 360), a major competitor announces a PS3-exclusive trilogy.

Since Assassin's Creed 3 is reportedly the last chapter in the Desmond saga, this trilogy provides gamers yet another opportunity to catch up on the franchise's rich (and sometimes convoluted) story. The three games included in the trilogy do place a majority of their focus on Ezio, and his transition into an Assassin master, but there are important morsels of information scattered across all three — morsels that should be important to understanding the Desmond story in AC3.

It might not be worth looking back once the highly anticipated Assassin's Creed 3 has released, but Ubisoft is releasing this collection anyways, presumably for die-hard fans of the Ezio chapters in the franchise. It's too bad that Altair and Assassin's Creed 1 couldn't make an appearance.

Would you be interested in this Assassin's Creed: Ezio Trilogy? Should they have made the collection available prior to AC3 releasing?

Assassin's Creed: Ezio Trilogy releases on November 13, 2012 exclusively for the PS3.