Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is the third installment in the Assassin's Creed series and released only a year after the second game, a cycle that would become the norm until after Syndicate. Could it better the excellent ACII despite such a short time in between games? This is what I think of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood.

Amazingly, it did just that in a number of areas. I always used to tell friends that they could be released every year if they maintained the quality and Brotherhood was the first of many to back up that statement. The graphics quality is a step up from ACII, with excellent character models and colour palettes. The city of Rome and the other areas throughout Italy you briefly visit are beautiful, as always. Jesper Kyd also returns with another enchanting soundtrack. Much improved. on all counts.

The story picks up right after ACII's cliffhanger ending, allowing us to play once again in Ezio's shoes. The story also forges ahead in the present day, with Desmond and company once again on the run from the Templars. Before establishing a new hideout, you get to play a decent sized section as Desmond, which was excellent. The back and forth between him and Lucy in particular is great. You also get to explore the area around the hideout whenever you like, as well as talk to the others a little more than in ACII. I liked that a lot.

Ezio's story starts with a bang, as the Borgia attack and the game introduces you to the new big bad in Renaissance Italy: Cesare Borgia, son of last year's villain. Ezio, wounded and holding a grudge, rides for Rome to exact revenge and rebuild the Assassin Brotherhood. It is a terrific story, with some memorable missions such as infiltrating the Castel Sant Angelo to rescue an ally. It was uneven in places, however, and I didn't enjoy it quite as much as ACII's story but when it hits its stride it is a great tale. Cesare is excellent in the game, generally stealing the show and being a more unpredictable and unhinged opponent than his father, who surprisingly takes a back seat here.

Gameplay is where the game improves the most. Brotherhood continues to include more variety in its mission design, with many different missions, side missions and things to do in the city that it can be a little overwhelming to begin with. This time around, after taking down Borgia towers around the city, you can renovate much of the city in a bigger slightly silly version of Monterrigioni in the last title. You now have a lot more to spend your florins on, which is great to see. Tombs make a welcome return, this time tasking you with retrieving keys to the Armour of Romulus, a nifty looking Roman set. As before, these are some of the best missions in the game. There is also a new feature that tasks you with optional challenges during every mission, something that would remain in the series in every entry after. It's a great idea and mixes things up during missions.

In this game, you are tasked with rebuilding the Brotherhood in order to take the offensive against the Borgia. This is a fantastic addition, allowing you to liberate certain citizens of Rome and enlist them in your Brotherhood, sending them all across Europe on missions to level them up and gain new equipment. They play a big part in the game, allowing you to call upon them at any time to clear out guards and cause distractions to enable you to remain undetected. Sadly, once they are leveled up there isn't much incentive to keep sending them on missions and you soon forget that particular part of the game. A great new feature if slightly overpowered.

Some old faces return in this one, including your uncle Mario, Caterina Sforza, Machiavelli, La Volpe, Bartolomeo D'Alviano and of course, Leo Da Vinci. All have slightly better models than last time, especially Caterina. She's excellent when she's in the game. A sad miss however is Da Vinci. He plays a much smaller role in this one and the game is poorer for it, in my opinion. He was one of the shining lights of the last game. The friendship between him and Ezio was downplayed this time around. The DLC, The Da Vinci Disappearance, is excellent and there's some great dialogue between the two at the end but again, you don't actually see the man himself that much. A pity.

Other things I liked was some expanded weaponry and customization. You have much more control of the dyes you can use on your clothes, and they all look excellent. The crossbow was a game changing addition and really helped make stealth a more viable option. However, some of the quests were a little by the numbers in what would later become a problem in the series. As said above, the story also wasn't as strong this time around, despite some great moments, missions and characters.

In all, Brotherhood is a fantastic game, and is better in many ways than ACII. There's almost too much to cover, and it's packed full of content to sink your teeth into. Brotherhood is a very slick experience, and one of the best AC games in the series. Step back into Renaissance Italy and you will have a great time. Don't miss out on this one.

Titan Quest: Ragnarok is the second expansion for Titan Quest, coming out nearly 11 years after Immortal Throne. THQ Nordic have done much to enhance the game since they acquired the rights but no one expected another expansion. But is it any good? This is what I think of Ragnarok.

Yes, I firmly believe so. I loved the new pantheon and setting, a lot of the new locations were brilliant and it had a decent story as ARPG stories go. It's also the largest Act so far and there's a lot of content to get your teeth stuck into. With new gods, a new mastery, craftables, gear and monsters, it really is a great time. But not a perfect one. It has issues, some more glaring than others.

First though, the story. Fresh from your heroics in the Underworld, you find yourself amongst revelers in the city of Corinth, celebrating the defeat of the monsters and the end to the dark times. Soon, you find all is not well. After clashing with roving pirates, you are called on for aid by a Princess from Scandia. The gods there are attacking, and they need you to put them back in their place. Being the hero you are, you do so and we have this expansion. I enjoyed the story here.

The graphics are lovely in the expansion, with some of the best environments from Titan Quest so far. A lot of variety within the levels and between the different zones is great and are a joy to explore. The soundtrack is fantastic, really fitting in with the new setting. Voice acting is...different. I'll touch more on that later but it's very so-so. Some of it is pretty good but it's a mixed bag I'm afraid.

The expansion also brings with it a new mastery, one that I haven't tried out yet. Runemaster sounds interesting enough and is more a complimentary second mastery than a main but as I never used it I really cannot comment on its effectiveness. Some of the new gear designs are great and others...are not so great. Especially the item images in the inventory, they look cheap and badly done. Most look better in action, however. The level cap is increased to 85, which allows more customization in builds which is nice.

A lot of new creatures are introduced for us to slay, which keeps things interesting. Some great bosses to fight along the way and there are plenty of quests to complete, more than I remember being in previous Acts in the main game. Although basic and don't evolve past "Go here and kill that" they are enjoyable enough.

Alas, the flaws in this expansion must be discussed. First up, the voice acting. A lot of it is laughably bad. I'm no expert on Scandinavian accents but I'm fairly sure they sound nothing like this. All through this expansion there is dodgy voice work everywhere, punctuated by the occasional good ones. Don't really know what they were going for there. Most of the new monsters are, like the main game and expansion, essentially re-skins with some new concepts thrown in there. New additions like the water spirits and the golems...oh my god. Some of the most frustrating enemies I've ever fought in a game. Water spirits often move around the battlefield and they are invulnerable whilst they do so. You can only hit them when they fire at you, and they can fire endless numbers of missiles at you all the while. Annoying in small groups, nightmarish in large ones. Horrendous design.

I also had problems with some quests not triggering properly or simply not completing, choosing not to spawn enemies that I needed to kill in order to finish them. Some quests require you to travel several zones and teleports ahead of them to complete, which is crazy. Keep it local, it's easier to keep track of. I don't mind quest that carry across, like Hades' treasure vault in Immortal Throne, that was great. I lost count the number of times, in Scandia onwards, where I would accidentally click on terrain around me that you can't access and my character would run to anyway, sometimes having to zoom right out to escape from getting stuck. It was often hard to see where I was going in some areas, which was disappointing to say the least.

There was a section late on in the expansion where there were no checkpoints for a long while, forcing me to keep playing to reach one. It was only in that one section and was jarring, as there were plentiful rebirth fountains all through the rest of the expansion. Guess they forgot that bit. There was also a late game section where the enemies would take no damage, forcing me to run past them all. A lot of the problems happened in the late game. Coincidence? I think not.

In conclusion, you may notice a number of flaws that I've mentioned and may deduce that I didn't enjoy this. I did, but it felt less polished in some sections than the rest of the game and bugs made it frustrating at times. Do I recommend this expansion to you? If you love Titan Quest, yes. If not, I doubt this will change your mind. With a myriad of problems, it's not as perfect as a fan would like but was an enjoyable journey through a new mythology and setting.