Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood New Gameplay Details, Dated

Joel McHale once again hosted Ubisoft's press conference this year with a theme revolving around "Games You Can Feel," to which McHale joked: "most of the games I play involve getting stabbed in the neck or setting someone on fire." Early on in the conference Ubisoft gave us a look at the upcoming Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, revealing a fair share of neck stabbing, axe wielding, horseback riding, cannon firing, and more.

A video shows a vast Roman landscape set around 1503. A massive crowd forms in the town square in what appears to be a Papal procession. Ezio lurks in the background as Vatican snipers await for him to attack. Presumably dispatched by his allies, Ezio smoothly makes his way through guards, taking a few out without a hitch. Once he reaches his targe,t he is surrounded by guards wielding pointy swords. When all seems lost, faceless allies swoop in for the save. The assassin and his allies charge ahead and take down the guards as they approach their target, driving home the importance of the brotherhood theme.

In a gameplay demo, Ubisoft said new gameplay mechanics will be available to give the player "more memorable moments." "We want you to take the offensive," they said, and it seems you'll have plenty of options to do so. Players can now ride horses for advanced swordplay, man cannons, and more. During a large skirmish, Ezio held down the fort on a rooftop shooting cannon balls at the opposition below. An ally aides by manually reloading the cannon after each shot. Ezio took down several foes on a parapet with fancy melee attacks, and several others with more direct blows with a giant axe -- chopping dudes down like so many trees. Sweet. At the end of the live demo Ezio's newest adversary shoots him and our hero takes a dramatic fall off the bridge. While Ezio has lost this battle, Ubisoft tells us that "the war is far from over."

Finally, Ubisoft promises to introduce a "fresh and innovative multiplayer game" to the Assassin's Creed franchise, but doesn't tell us how they plan to do so. Maybe we'll find out once we get to check it out on the E3 show floor this week.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood will be available on November 16.