Say what you want about Ubisoft Montreal’s ability to churn out an Assassin’s Creed sequel in under a year, the fact remains that Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood definitely boasts enough content and innovation to be deemed a fully-fledged sequel. My insinuation that it could be seen as Assassin’s Creed 2.5 was met with palatable disgust by a Ubisoft representative at E3 2010, who then claimed the only reason it doesn’t have a 3 at the end of the title is because it would disrupt the structure of the franchise. After all, we’re taking hold of Ezio once again and not Desmond’s next ancestor.

Set in the city of Rome – triple the size of Venice from the second game – Brotherhood follows Ezio after the tragic invasion of Monteriggioni by antagonist Cesare Borgia. While the second in the series was pretty much a one-man show, Brotherhood shifts the focus from Ezio as an assassin to Ezio as a leader. That doesn’t mean he’s just recruiting assassins – of both sex, may I add – it means he’s got to train them, nurture them, “upgrade” them and send them on missions in order to develop a perfect army to take on the Templars of Rome.

The biggest noticeable change in Brotherhood, only shown to the press behind closed doors and not as part of the Ubisoft press conference, was something Ubisoft Montreal is calling BAM! - a Brotherhood Assassin Move – which will allow Ezio to call in his brotherhood’s assistance. In a short walkthrough, which mimics one of the earlier trailers, Ezio stands above a precession outside the Pantheon in Rome. With every press of the BAM! button, Ezio calls in his battlefield assistance. BAM! An assassin takes out an archer on an adjacent building. BAM! A barrage of arrows showers down on a group of 9-odd heavily armed guards. BAM! While in the Pantheon, 4 assassins drop from the rafters and take out your target’s bodyguards. BAM! When attempting to escape the scene of the crime, a crew of assassins drop in to help out, using smoke bombs as a distraction in the process. 

When the final game ships you won’t have the freedom to use them as just described, as Ubisoft had unlimited BAM setup at E3 for demonstration purposes, but it must be said, having a group of deadly assassins on tap is one of the coolest things you could ever have at your disposal.

While the focus of Assassin’s Creed II for Ubisoft Montreal was to fix the repetition issues of the original’s missions, the team is now looking to sharpen up the combat for Brotherhood. There are a few key ways they’ve attempted to do this, such as giving you the ability to throw weapons – like axes, not throwing knives; making the enemies more aggressive; and introducing a combo system that means you can effectively take out an entire group with as many hits as there are people. The combat system is now all about momentum, and you can point the stick in the direction of the next foe to continue the combo: even if they are outside the reach of his blade, Ezio will just bust out his gun. As a result, you can now expect greater numbers of foes attacking you at any one time. You can even get your hands on a crossbow this time too, something that fans have pleaded for ever since it showed up in an Assassin’s Creed 1 trailer.

The Ubisoft representative on hand was also keen to emphasise the game would be “more, more, more.” Not only does that mean things like new escape assistances in the environment, like elevators that can take you up 4 stories in a second, but also new additions like the ability to upgrade the whole of Rome – like you did with the villa in Assassin’s Creed II – to bring specific gameplay advantages. Of course, there will be more of the same established formula as well - so more tombs and more exotic missions, including the ability to replay missions (yay!) and the like.

While at the show we also went hands-on with the game’s multiplayer and although I may not have been convinced when it was first announced, I’m now a believer. Why? Because it’s fresh, manic, intelligent and innovative. Yes, it’s a bloody big bag of fun and confusion.

Thrown into a fairly large environment made up of the same 8 character skins, players will face off in a predator vs. prey game type, although here, whilst you are the predator, you are also someone else’s prey. Each character skin, whether it’s the courtesan, priest, doctor or the noble etc., has its own set of visual moves and animations.

You also select special ‘packs’ of abilities, such as the smoke bomb and the morph ability or the sprint boost and throwing knives, with some that can be unlocked over time. Once you’ve taken down your target by following the on-screen indicator and picking them out of a crowd, it’s a matter of moving onto the next, all of which are indicated with a portrait of your target in the top right corner. Spot a guy after you though, and you’ll have to outrun them by making effective use of ‘chase breakers’ which consist of gates that close behind you and so on.

It can be a frustrating experience at first, especially if you concentrate too much on your target and don’t watch your own back, but once you grasp that it’s about balancing the two it becomes an incredibly complex mind game as anyone around you could be an assassin looking to take you down. Points are gained by getting kills, performing silent kills and continuing sprees, etc., but more rival assassins get given you as their target as you become more formidable. Clever stuff.

It’s impressive what Ubisoft Montreal has added to the franchise in what has only been about 8 months of development, and after only seeing a small slice of the action – and more importantly, the new additions – it’s already shaping up to be a fine addition to the series. By their own admission, Ubisoft Montreal accept that this is the same engine as before and they’re pushing the consoles quite far already, so don’t expect much in terms of a visual upgrade.

Still, they’ve managed to add more content to the disc in an effort to make you whip out your wallet. Promising a 15 hour single player campaign and however much multiplayer you want, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is looking to shock the naysayers who say that a decent sequel can’t be churned out in a year. Those same naysayers said Left 4 Dead 2 wasn’t a worthy sequel either. BAM!

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is scheduled for a November 16th and November 19th release in North America and Europe respectively.