E3 '10: Impressions On Assassin's Creed Brotherhood's Multiplayer

I have not kept a very close eye on Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, because once I finished Assassin's Creed 2, I felt no particular urge to revisit it, even if I did enjoy my experience with it overall. Not having many multiplayer titles I play on ,my PS3, I may well change my mind, however.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood will have both single- and multiplayer components, as we've discussed previously. The multiplayer is a bit different than the current slew of over-the-shoulder games I have been playing and seen played, however. Sure, there is an option for a gun, but it is an ability you may have, and you sacrifice other abilities in order to use it--not to mention it's not entirely the best option.

The game is one of hunter and prey between Templar trainees, where you are put in a simulation by Abstergo and must find your target (there was a courtesan I was contemplating, but I played the doctor--I have a penchant for the plague mask and things that remind me of Commedia Dell'Arte), while evading a person who is pursuing you. The controls were fairly easy for me to pick up, and I found it easy to find my target. You are offered a small radar at the bottom of the screen, a circle that has a highlighted portion that tells you in which direction your target is, based on the direction you're facing; it grows larger as you get closer to the target. Once you get close, you can use the information at the top right of your screen, which displays a portrait of whom you're tracking--you select a character among certain archetypes (doctor, priest, executioner, noble, and courtesan that I can recall off the top of my head).

The game is more about stealth and perception--keeping an eye for suspicious characters, hiding when being pursued, setting traps for your target, and not giving away your position. Then come in abilities. The ones I tested were the ability to don a disguise, throw a smoke bomb that temporarily stuns your enemies, morph a crowd to look like me, and sprint away quickly--there also exist a hand gun and throwing knife options.

I was happy to have placed first in my round, which was done by adopting a strategy of killing my target and hiding in haystacks or crowd until I was given a new target. If I noticed my target moving closer to me, I stayed still and kept an eye on main traffic fairs. Running is a giveaway, and like in the single player portion, is considered a high profile activity that alerts you to surrounding assassins.

It had a nice pace that encouraged mixing slow and steady, versus high-tension chase and action sequences. There is no combat, just the game of whether or not you can assassinate your target.

Speaking of combat, the single player portion was not hands-on, but the demo I was shown explored the story--directly after the events of Assassin's Creed II, Ezio's city of Monterigoni is besieged by the Borgia family. Cannons, siege towers, and Ezio's improved combat as a master assassin were shown. The last portion intrigued me, because while they promised better enemy AI (did not notice it was any different), Ezio cut through his enemies with much more ease and style--his attacks became more vicious and it seemed to flow better than I felt it did in its predecessor (both of them, actually).

While the actual game is to take place in Rome, with you upgrading the Brotherhood and city, none of that was on display, unfortunately. The single player is supposed to offer at least fifteen hours, but I was much more intrigued in its multiplayer component, which is supposed to also have a skill progression, which was also not yet on display.

The game itself is set to release on November 16, 2010 for the PC, Xbox 360, and PC, at which point I hope to have a more thorough review for you.

Now back to writing and testing out more demos for you!