The interactive nature of games is what defines the medium, so it's surprising to find that one of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood's most successful features involves relinquishing direct control. As returning protagonist Ezio Auditore da Firenze, one of the main tasks is to build an assassin army to do your bidding. The first time you call them down from the rooftops to eliminate a target with a subtle hand gesture is a curiously satisfying moment. Delegation has rarely felt quite so empowering.
As in Assassin's Creed II, the action is split between the near-future and the early 15th century, as Desmond Miles explores his genetic memory through a virtual reality interface known as the Animus. The majority of the game is spent with his Italian ancestor, as Ezio vows revenge upon the powerful Borgia family for the loss of his uncle and the theft of a powerful artefact known as the Apple of Eden. While the previous game explored Florence, Venice and Tuscany, the action here is spread across a single large area of Rome, though playable flashback sequences and additional missions take Ezio outside the city walls.
Again, the game blends stealthy pursuits with full-blooded combat sequences, but the quests this time offer greater variety than before. Additional – and entirely optional – objectives for each story mission encourage players to adjust their tactics: asking players, perhaps, to avoid detection entirely or to finish off a target using a specific move or weapon. Meanwhile, Ezio can build himself quite the property empire, trousering extra florins from any renovated shops or landmarks.
The introduction of the Brotherhood is the game's most significant new feature. Here, you can send budding assassins across Europe to learn their trade, poisoning guards in Constantinople, for example, or stealing documents in Cologne. Successfully completed missions gradually improve the trainees' skills, as well as swelling Ezio's coffers.
Beneath the wonderfully detailed and bustling streets lie the catacombs of a mysterious underground organisation, which offer a serious test of Ezio's parkour skills, while a wealth of other distractions extends an already healthy runtime. And with a fascinating cat-and-mouse online multiplayer mode to bolster the substantial solo game, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – initially viewed by some as a stopgap release – is as complete a package as any game you'll play this year.
