Those not completely satisfied with the character choices in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood's multiplayer mode will be pleased to hear that two new characters have been announced as pre-order bonuses. The uptight and fancily pantalooned soldier will be available through pre-order with Best Buy. Details on how to obtain the mean-spirited (due to oddly manifested weight gain, I would imagine) Blacksmith are practically nonexistent, but I'm sure we'll learn that it's an exclusive for some online retailer or other soon enough.

Add this, of course, to the fact that you have to pre-order the game anyway just to receive the multiplayer beta key, and you can see that Ubisoft is doing everything possible to shove the idea down our throats. Well, unfortunately for my pride, their scheme is working -- due to the fact that the game (and especially the multiplayer mode) looks bad-effing-ass.

Personally, out of these two new characters, I'm inclined to lean more towards the Blacksmith. Running around like a six foot Gimli with a big-ass hammer and wailing away on the poor souls who cross my path just sounds like fun. However, the character I'm really excited about is definitely the previously announced Harlequin you get by pre-ordering with Gamestop. Something about chasing my foes as a psycho clown seems hilarious (not to mention completely antithetical to the concept of remaining inconspicuous).

For those of you who haven't seen the multiplayer trailer yet, check this out:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtDLFtBvka4

As I mentioned earlier, if you want to play the beta you're going to have to pre-order the game anyway, so I'm actually kind of glad they are throwing in a little something extra to appease us players. Blacksmith, Soldier or Harlequin? Let the strongest survive in the comments!

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is due for release November 16 on the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.