Brotherhood Impressions

So...Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood- WOW. Having played the first couple of sequences, I can already see this may well be Game of the Year material (watch out Reach and Mass Effect 2!) thanks to a much improved combat system, often epic campaign and interesting side quests. AC2 was no slacker, so beating it was always going to take a hell of a sequel, and that's why it is such a surprise that Brotherhood already seems to be eclipsing its predecessor just a few levels in! Desmond has a bigger role to play here should you let him, in that after a tense 45-minute segment roaming modern-day Italy you can choose to leave the Animus and find pieces of Ezio's armour in ten-minute play sessions at night. As I mentioned, the combat in both 15th and 21st century Assassin's Creed has been given an overhaul, with it now being harder to simply counter every attack as your enemies take the flank, grab you and force you to change tactics. That being said, the challenge still won't come from the main story (as with all AC titles) but achieving full synchronisation, to the point that you perform each mission in the unique way Ezio would have (e.g. throw this leader into the scaffolding to defeat him). This spin on regular AC game-play provides enough differentiation to offer vast replay value, but to see whether Brotherhood is as great as it should be (not to mention if the multi-player is worth it) come back later this week for the full review (apologies for the delay- it's a BIG game!).