Assassins Creed Brotherhood BETA

The multiplayer BETA for Assassins Creed: Brotherhood is now available to PSN Plus members.

The BETA is exclusive to PS3 and at the moment is only available to members of Playstation Plus. It may become available to regular PSN users soon.

After playing the BETA for around two hours I have some mixed feeling about the game mode on offer. Technically the BETA is great. I have come across no problems with glitches etc. The graphics are just as nice as Assassins creed 2 with maybe some improvement to character models especially in their face.

The BETA offers one game mode (I am unsure if there will be more in the full release) and the objective of this game mode is to assassinate other players, preferably without being spotted. You start the game and are given a target and you have a compass style disk which shows the direction of your target.
Things start to get a little more complicated when you are informed you now have a contract on your life and an assassin is after you.

While being the hunter is fun it adds some paranoia to the table when you know anyone in the crowds, you pass through, could be your killer. Anything you do apart from walking is classed as suspicious so approaching you target while running will give them a chance to run away, triggering a chase sequence where the target has chance to hide in the hay stacks, bench and crowds in the same way you could in Assassins Creed 2. If you approach them while walking then they won't be alerted to your presence unless you approach head on. Approaching head on gives the target a split second to respond with a press of the circle button. This is not easy though and I have yet to pull off this maneuver which apparently stuns your assassin giving you time to run.
With all this said it is worth saying that it is definitely easier to kill than it is to defend against a kill if you approach them inconspicuously. This is the main point that I feel ruins my enjoyment a little. I feel you should get a small warning when your assassin is close by, nothing too obvious and not when your assassin is too close but some warning so you can decide whether to blend in or carry on following your own target.

The two maps I played on the BETA where Rome and Castel Gandolfo. Rome is similar to the cities from AC2 and offer paths through busy squares, small alley ways and access to rooftops while the Castel level is primarily indoors with large staircases balconies and rooms.

Overall I think it will be an enjoyable game online, I feel that the problems I have with it may be cured with some more practice and learning the new environment moves such as disquises and the pulleys which transport you to roof tops in an instant.