October 21, 2009 – In the two years since Assassin’s Creed was shipped, the team has been working full steam on the sequel and this time with the benefit of a proven engine. It’s one thing to address complaints from the first game, to maybe add a few new features, but Assassin’s Creed II does quite a bit more than this. We’re talking about new additions like upgradeable armor, a notoriety system, tons of weapons, and an entire villa to restore complete with shops and a brothel. Prepare to be overwhelmed.

That’s not to say there haven’t been technological improvements. You’ll notice straight away that Assassin’s Creed II (ACII) runs slightly more smoothly than its predecessor, with less noticeable frames dropped and a very cool new effect where environments spring forth from a three dimensional matrix. But having seen the trailers and the walkthroughs you already know that Assassin’s Creed II visually recreates the renaissance. But how does it play? Will it silence the critics of the first installment? I sat down with the game for numerous hours and we’re here to answer all of these pressing questions and more.

Disclaimer: The following discusses the ending of the first game. If you have yet to play it, you might want to skip ahead to the next section.

You may remember the ending of the first Assassin’s Creed raising more questions than it answered. Desmond, the main character in present-day, was still trapped by the evil company Abstergo in a sterile lab. The company had forced Desmond to relive his genetic memories in hopes of finding an ancient relic known as a Piece of Eden. By the end of the game you were trapped seemingly indefinitely, but also able to use your “eagle vision” to read a series of codes and glyphs written on the walls of your cell.

Without ruining the story, I can tell you that the writings on the wall and their mysterious author come into play throughout Assassin’s Creed II. Hidden glyphs imprinted on Desmond’s memories can be found throughout the game. The glyphs lead to picture puzzles showing pivotal points in history, which in turn lead to clues revealing the motives of Abstergo and the secret behind the Pieces of Eden. This is called “The Truth” and is a thread that runs throughout the story of Assassin’s Creed II. Needless to say, anyone who loved the conspiracy theories and historical references of the first game won’t be disappointed.

Assassin’s Creed II starts with a bang. Following the “disturbance” that distracted his captors at the end of the first game, Desmond is busted out of the lab by Lucy, the attractive Abstergo employee who was missing her ring finger — rightly indicating that she was an Assassin and on your side all along. Desmond and Lucy run through the futuristic office complex passing hundreds of work stations containing the same technology that allowed Desmond to relive the adventures of the Master Assassin from Assassin’s Creed I.

The duo make it to the parking garage, fight off a pack of guards, and Lucy is able to escape with Desmond hiding in the trunk of her car. They arrive at a loft apartment where Lucy introduces Desmond to the modern day Assassins and convinces him to help them in their fight against Abstergo, the modern-day Templars. Desmond agrees, and enters the Assassin’s version of the Animus to train for the inevitable battle. In the first game Desmond was forced to live as Altair for reasons beyond his understanding, now he is reliving the life of Ezio Auditore da Firenze to learn from him — to become a master assassin.

In Venice you'll be helped by a band of thieves.

As Desmond re-enters the animus, we’re introduced to Ezio’s life from the very beginning. Players are birthed into a tutorial where they tap corresponding buttons to wiggle baby’s Ezio’s limbs, only then does he issue his first cry. The Assassin’s have an improved animus, they refer to it as version 2.0, and it allows Desmond to communicate with people outside of his genetic memory. From what I played, which was extensive, I never left Ezio’s body. Although it’s certainly likely that other segments take place back in modern times, the glyph hunting and puzzles I mentioned above keep players rooted in Ezio’s life.

After birth the story jumps ahead to Ezio’s exploits as a young man, a shiftless lay about who makes the Italian city-state of Florence his playground in the late 1400s. Players learn hand-to-hand combat in a street brawl where Ezio beats down and then loots his opponents. The hand-to-hand combat is similar to the first game if a bit more “punchy.” It wasn’t until I jumped ahead in the game, to Venice, where the true highlights of the refined combat system revealed themselves.

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Assassin’s Creed II Screenshots

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Developer(s) Blue Castle Capcom
Publisher(s) Capcom
Platform(s) Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows
Release date(s) TBA 2010[1]
Genre(s) Survival horror, Action adventure, Sandbox, RPG
Mode(s) Single player, Multiplayer

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Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising Eagle Offense Trailer [HD]
Release: 10/9/2009
Genre: Shooter
Platform: PS3/X360/PC
Publisher: Codemasters Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising Co-op Trailer [HD]
Website: www.flashpointgame.com

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Bayonetta TGS09 Trailer [HD]
Developer: PlatinumGames
Release: 1/5/2010
Genre: Action
Platform: PS3/X360
Publisher: Sega
Website: www.sega.com/platinumgames/bayonetta

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Some humans, living within the safety of the barrier, learned how to harness some of the same energy as the Empyrean Lords, known as aether. Such humans were called Daeva and, like the Empyrean Lords, had wings. With time, enough Daevas were born to form an army. Ten of the Empyrean Lords led these Daevas into battle against the Balaur, while the remaining two were the guardians of the Tower of Eternity, the embodiment of the god Aion. The war with the Balaur lasted for hundreds of years until one of the guardians of the tower announced that they should find a way to make peace with the Balaur. Five of the Empyrean Lords vehemently disagreed. However, the second guardian of the tower was swayed to peace. The Balaur were invited into the tower for peace talks. It is unclear what happened at that point. One of the Balaur lords lay wounded on the floor and the rest proceeded to attack the tower. The two Guardians attempted to raise the shield by going to opposite ends of the tower. However, they were unsuccessful and the tower, along with the world, shattered in two. As their final act, the two guardians sacrificed their lives in order to protect a part of Atreia. With Atreia severed, the survivors banded together to face their new world. Of the original twelve, ten of the Empyrean Lords survived. Five who had opposed peace and claimed that the weakness of the rest of the lords had allowed the Balaur to attack them reigned over the dark part of the world, becoming known as the Shedim Lords. The other five reigned over the light-covered bottom part of Atreia and claim that it was the Shedim Lords’ actions that caused the breaking of the tower. They are known as the Seraphim Lords.

The new shape of the world also reshaped its inhabitants. Those that lived in the light part of the world saw little change except for an increase in their beauty. These followers of the Seraphim Lords called themselves Elyos and created the city of Sanctum. The inhabitants of the upper part of the world saw many changes. Having to walk on ground strewn with fragments of the tower, their feet became talons. Having to fight against beasts, their hands became claw-like. Furthermore, the darkness made their complexion change and their eyes grew red adapting to the absence of light. They call themselves Asmodians and live in the city of Pandaemonium under the rule of the Shedim Lords.

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Beautiful, graceful, brutal, and deadly. Rubi is a problem fixer. She fixes problems. She’s good at it. But when she agrees to fix a wealthy man’s problem by finding and bringing back his wayward son, she thinks it’s all going to be cut and dry. She thought wrong. The job wasn’t so simple. And the man who hired her isn’t who he appears to be. Now Rubi’s on the run, needing to find the man who left her for dead, leaving a massive body count in her wake.

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