"It'll never work!" many a naysayer cried when first announced that II follow-up Brotherhood would introduce to the streets of Renaissance Italy, but clearly, those very people failed to visualise how the developer would tackle a game of assassination between several players. We have to admit that initially, so did we, but we had faith. Honest.

Well, you can immediately put any reservations you might have had aside when you first heard the words 'Assassin's, Creed and multiplayer' mentioned in the same breath, and keep your mind open, because on this relatively early showing, it looks like the team at Ubisoft have created an innovative and interesting multiplayer component entirely separate from the new single-player campaign.

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It's pretty clever stuff too - deceptively simple, but with hidden depths. The closest touchstone that springs to mind is Kane & Lynch's Fragile Alliance multiplayer or more specifically 2's Undercover Cop mode, but less about screwing over your teammates, more about behaving discreetly and pouncing at the right moment.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood's story apparently involves the Templars, who are experimenting with the Animus, thus providing a neat premise for multiple assassin's to stalk each other through the labyrinthine Roman streets. Each match begins with you selecting an assassin from the eight on offer, from the doctor who executes his victims with a hypodermic syringe, a courtesan who slashes the throats of her prey with a razor-edged fan to the less subtle executioner who wields a huge axe and the Ezio-like hooded hunter with concealed daggers.

There's also the claw-armed banker, the robed priest and nobleman to choose from and another fellow dressed in brown leather duds, glasses and a beret whose name escapes us. So, try to imagine a game world filled with numerous versions of these same characters wherein your task is to pinpoint your target and dispatch them with extreme prejudice. Sounds odd, yes? Well, the fact that this all takes place inside the Animus means suspension of disbelief is straightforward enough, and once you're trying to act with a minimum of suspicion, you'll be focused purely on your victim, your pursuer, and little else.

The on-screen HUD can seem fairly overwhelming at first, with a large light blue ring at the bottom centre, which directs you towards your quarry and gradually fills the closer you get to them. In the top left corner is your position in the rankings and how many pursuers you have on your tail. If you're racking up kill streaks and pulling ahead, you might find yourself being tracked by maybe three or more players and you have absolutely no idea who they might be. Not knowing who's after you breeds paranoia, and you'll be keeping an eye on the periphery of your surroundings, looking at the edges over your shoulder for any sudden moves or anything that looks suspicious.

You might then be prompted to run if you happen to spot your pursuer, in which case you can sprint and potentially hide to escape, or most of the time it'll be too late and you'll be subjected to a brutal execution animation as you're sliced asunder. Initially, there's quite a lot to take in, and you'll need to keep your wits about you when weaving through the bustling populous of cloned characters. Thankfully, you can tap L1 to lock your aim on whomever you suspect to be your target and in the top right corner of the screen, you'll be shown a portrait of the character type to keep a keen eye out for. Couple this with your blue ring that keeps you informed as to the vicinity of your contract, and you should have ample visual feedback to make the right decision when going in for the kill.

Of course, there are various loadouts that combine a weapon and accompanying ability and are the same for each character. In the we played the loadouts ranged from a sprint boost and throwing knives, a disguise and hidden gun, the ability to 'morph' into a crowd and unleash a smoke bomb to distract a pursuer and a poison blade and decoy, which was a visible option that was sadly off-limits. There was also an inaccessible option to create a custom loadout, which hints at all kinds of potential for crafting your ideal assassin. Presumably, these options are unlocked as you level up.

We regularly favoured the disguise and hidden gun however, as temporarily switching to another character guise is a sure way to throw your hunter off the scent, although if they happen to see you using it, you're effectively painting a target on your back. As with pulling off kills, discretion is key when activating your abilities. Incidentally, managing to take out your prey without witnesses nearby will earn you a situational 'Silent +200' or 'Discreet +50' bonus, which is extra points towards your overall score.

Even running can give you away though, so the best you can adopt is to walk slowly and try and blend in with the crowds, especially if they all happen to be clones of your character. Sometimes, if your pursuer breaks into a run, you'll be warned that they're onto you, in which case the best thing to do is sprint to the nearest hiding place. Of course, if you have the smoke bomb and morph loadout, you can toss a bomb behind you and momentarily stop the pursuer in their tracks and make a break for safety by blending with a nearby crowd. There are plenty of ways to evade if you have the opportunity, such as running through archways with gates, which swing shut behind you to slow down the chase and put distance between you and your hunter. Or, alternatively you can quickly take to the rooftops by leaping onto one of the new weighted pulleys, which zip you up to the terracotta-tiled peaks in a split second.

The usual haystacks also provide perfect concealment to make good your escape, and if you remain out of view as the alert timer elapses, you'll earn points for successfully getting away and your pursuer will lose you as a contract, forcing them to hunt someone else. You also need to take care not to kill civilians as you attempt to weed out your actual target, although sometimes a 50/50 gamble when presented with two identical characters will pay off. If it doesn't, then not only do you get penalised for killing an innocent, you'll lose your contract and stick out like a sore thumb, which is about as subtle as jumping up and down, screaming, "kill me, kill me!"

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood's multiplayer is the ultimate game of cat and mouse that succeeds in not only being simple to pick up and play - especially if you're already familiar with the franchise - but potentially very compulsive. While we may have been somewhat sceptical about multiplayer Assassin's Creed at first, going hands-on with the mode is massively encouraging, as it's both remarkably well made and hugely inventive. With a few tweaks and overall refinements in all the right places leading up to Brotherhood's autumn release - and with a massive team on the case, the outlook is looking incredibly good - multiplayer has every chance of being something both genuinely unique and immensely worthwhile. If not, we'll eat our assassin robes.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is due for release in North America on November 16th, 2010 and the and on November 19th, 2010.

By Richard Walker