Rumor: Assassin's Creed 2 details uncovered

A trip to the high street may have resulted in an unexpected focus test for one of our tipsters, who says that he was shown very early footage of the next Assassin's Creed. It apparently looked similar to the first game, though set around the 15th century -- a few hundred years later. After the footage played, there was a Q&A session where it was revealed the story would incorporate a family feud and disguises would play a part in the game.

The focus testers were asked to decide on their favorite of three character designs. Each image had different colored costumes and varying numbers of pouches or bags for the main character, though the overall design was the same: Similar to Altair's, but more colorful and fitting for the time period. Under each image was the word "ezio," an Italian name derived from the word for "eagle." Fitting, for the series.

Our tipster also told us that he saw the protagonist swimming during the video -- something we've heard that Altair might've learnt since the first game -- and that he can "use gunpowder to propel items at people." The people conducting the focus test indicated that we might be seeing more of the game at E3 and that it will be in our hands late this year or early next. Of course, we've no way of confirming whether any of this is true, but it all sounds fairly plausable.

[Thanks, James]