Assassin’s Creed II is without doubt one of the most exponentially improved sequels in modern gaming memory. Ubisoft Montreal have obviously listened to user feedback, made improvements in a multitude of ways and developed a sequel with pacing and depth that the first game unquestionably lacked. As someone who wasn’t a particular fan of the original, this game is probably the nicest surprise and best use of its source premise this year alongside the excellent Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Taking place in 15th Century Renaissance Italy this time as opposed to Third Crusade-era Israel, ACII casts the player as young ruffian nobleman Ezio Auditore on his various misadventures around the city; brawling with a rival family, running errands for his father and stealing illicit visits to his girlfriend. Before long his family is disgraced and his relatively carefree lifestyle is turned upside down as he uncovers his father’s legacy and takes the fight to their betrayers. While the original game was very structured in its design – ‘nine people must be killed, here is how it must be accomplished’ – ACII flows much more smoothly, with a more interesting plot concerning the Auditore family and their enemies, and far superior pacing which isn’t simply about killing faceless villains.

The game world is excellent, and like the first game, it’s encouraging to see the interpretation of such a unique and distinctive environment as historic Italy amongst all the po-faced modern day New Yorks. The major cities of Florence, Tuscany and Venice feature, with a smaller town acting as a hub of sorts where Ezio can train, invest in town regeneration and unlock both the family Auditore and the assassins’ secrets. The cities each sport an individual feel, with the golden architecture of Florence contrasting against Tuscany’s dull stone and Venice’s flamboyant visual style. There are some indoor ‘Assassin’s Tombs’ to be discovered around the countryside, which are linear and recall designs from Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, which again pleasingly juxtaposes with the open-ended environs elsewhere.

ACII most successfully sets itself apart from its predecessor in the small details. An economy is implemented which allows for a few different types of shop and introduces some RPG-lite elements — for instance, Ezio can purchase armour upgrades which increase his health meter, he can purchase maps which reveal locations of hidden treasure chests and he can carry medicine vials for use on the road. These options and details also manifest themselves in the combat; he can fight guards at the risk of prematurely raising the alarm, or alternatively he could hire a group of courtesans to use their womanly charms to distract them. The whole aspect is implemented on a fairly basic level, but it brings and element of depth and variety that the first game desperately needed, and searching dead guards for Florins to buy Ezio some new bracelets or a different coloured outfit is often compulsive and very welcome.

The plot in Assassin’s Creed was always structured to be the first part of a franchise, and the story picks up here exactly where that left off, with Desmond and Lucy escaping from Abstergo before meeting more assassin allies and delving into Ezio’s world to find more answers in the battle against the Templars. The voice work on the Italian characters is generally well done and feels authentic, but the modern-day characters suffer from poor scripting and largely uninterested or irritating voiceovers. To be honest the plot is still a load of implausible sci-fi nonsense and it would probably be more entertaining if they abolished the whole Animus aspect and just concentrated on the historical characters.

Technically speaking, ACII is very impressive in almost every regard. The stellar animation is its crowning glory, with lots of extremely detailed characters and excellent effects such as a day/night cycle and a stable frame rate. There is a fair amount of screen tearing, but the city feels busy and alive, with dozens of NPCs often on screen at any time. Enemy AI is often a little suspect, allowing the player to murder guards next to their fellows who take seconds to react, but at other times they can be fairly astute, following Ezio up to rooftops and calling to their fellows once he’s spotted. The horizon distance is excellent – get to a high point and you can literally observe the whole city, and although each area is broken by a fairly forgivable loading screen, the need for them is very infrequent.

Overall, there’s not a huge amount to criticise in Assassin’s Creed II, and I can’t remember the last time I played a sequel which had improved so successfully over its flawed-but-potential-laden predecessor. This game has clearly been the result of a tremendously talented development team listening to feedback and giving gamers what they wanted – namely more variety and more depth. The excellent gameplay of the first game has made the transition, and now it has the brains to go with its impeccable looks and presentation. It has been a busy year for third-person action adventures, but ACII can comfortably sit at the front of the pack with the likes of Uncharted 2 and Batman. An exemplary sequel.
Rating: 5 / 5

Rating: 5 / 5

You start off where the last game ended, and it all seems a bit strange espeically the part where you’re a baby which you can control, I saw no point to this yet got an achievment for pressing a couple of buttons.

Secondly the graphics are no where near as good as I thought they would be, the acting is wooden and I’ve seen more character expressions on South Park. To top it all scenes and characters load before your very eyes, and some of them even seem to teleport onto the screen, it appears as if they rushed the game to get it out before xmas. The game play is pretty much the same as the previous, look around for things to do, do them and then repeat.

Ive given it 4 hours worth of gameplay so far and I have to say I’m struggling to want to go back to it.

If you liked the first one and want to know how the story progesses then buy it. If you’re expecting an entertaining game that will keep you gripped then dont.

Very disapointed

Rating: 2 / 5

Assassin’s Creed 2 starts off exactly where it left us at the end of the 1st game, with Desmond still stuck in Abstergo. I don’t want to give out any spoilers, so I’ll just say that Desmond escapes to a new hideout, and enters a new Animus. He then lives the life of his ancestor, Ezio. Ezio is living in the Italian Renaissance in Florence, and when his Father and 2 brothers are betrayed and killed, he finds out about the war between the Assassin’s and Templars. He then embarks on a quest for vengeance to hunt down his family’s killers, and uncovers a plot deeper than he could have ever imagined.

So, when you first get into the Animus and into Florence as Ezio, you can immediatly see the graphical improvements. They’re not massive, but certainly noticeable. A new addition is swimming, which, although people might not think it a massive feature, definitely helps the game. In the first, the fact Altair, a fierce Assassin, couldn’t swim, was both annoying and quite laughable. But now that you can swim, adds a whole new place to hide from guards.

There are a lot more improvements, including a Monetary system, 2 hidden blades, a VERY cool weapon that I won’t spoil for you, and loads more.

Pro’s:

Every flaw that I can think of from the 1st game has been fixed.

The ability to swim.

The story.

The Monetary system.

The ability to upgrade all your armor, weapons, etc.

The depth of the game.

The Music. It really draws you in.

Cons:

The camera angles can still get very annoying. Sometimes you can fall to your death because of a bad angle.

The AI. Mostly the AI are brilliant, but sometimes they can get in your way. Also, instead of the beggars that pestered you from the 1st game, you get these annoying Lute players that really gets annoying.

Sometimes the voice acting is out of sync with the characters, but only occasionally.

All in all, Assassin’s Creed 2 is a massive improvement on Assassin’s Creed, and a fantastic game. But if you didn’t like the 1st game, maybe rent it before you buy. Ezio is a fantastic character, and really helps to draw you in to the game. I’m only about a 14 into the game, and I already love it.
Rating: 5 / 5

the below review sums it up, the below review is not my personal review that i have written but agree with everything word for word and sums up assassins creed 2

First of all this is an amazing game. Instead of a load of boring prose i’ll just give you the facts.

Pros:
- Exceptional free running and climbing aspect
- Better than the first in most areas
- Superb combat controls
- You can now attack people when you’ve grabbed them
- The ability to pick people up and lob ‘em off buildings or into the rivers.
- YOU CAN SWIM!
- Gameplay (not cut-scene) graphics are great
- Counter/finishing moves
- Storyline

Cons:
- Terrible cut-scene graphics
- Time it takes to get your first weapon
- Poor time of the year to release (will no doubt be overshadowed by MW2)

All in all this game is good but the review is only based on the first few hours of gameplay. So far, well worth the money and its looking like a must have for any gaming collection.

Rating: 5 / 5