assassin's creed 2 [coming soon]

Assassin's Creed II is a third person action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles, and Microsoft Windows. It is the second video game installment of the Assassin's Creed series and is a direct sequel to the 2007 video game Assassin's Creed. The game was released on video game consoles in November 2009, and will be released on Microsoft Windows in February 2010 in Europe and in March 2010 in North America.[2][6][7][8]

The game is set in 2012, with player-controlled protagonist Desmond Miles escaping from Abstergo Industries with an employee, Lucy Stillman, after being forced to relive the genetic memories of ancestral assassin Altaïr ibn La-Ahad through a machine known as the "Animus." After escaping from Abstergo, Desmond enters a device identical to the Animus and relives the genetic memories of ancestral nobleman Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who lived during the Renaissance period of the late fifteenth century in Italy. The player controls Ezio, who becomes an Assassin after his father and brothers are murdered by a traitor to the Auditore family. While controlling Ezio, the player can explore game renditions of Italian cities, regions and landmarks in open world gameplay. The gameplay is a mixture of action, stealth and platforming.

Assassin's Creed II was met with widespread acclaim, garnering aggregated scores of 91% for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, from review aggregator Metacritic. It has also garnered a score of 93% on review aggregator Moby Games. The game was praised for its stronger emphasis on open-world exploration and interaction, non-linear gameplay and greater mission variety compared to the first Assassin's Creed. The game was also credited with improved non-player character AI and combat mechanics, and its new economic system allowing players to purchase accessories, armor and improved weapons through the course of the game.

Gameplay

Assassin's Creed II takes place in an open world with nonlinear gameplay, allowing the player to roam freely within several regions throughout late fifteenth-century Italy such as Venice, Florence, and the Tuscan countryside. The Animus 2.0, a new version of the machine of the same name present in Assassin's Creed, provides in-game context for changes and additions to several game elements. A database is also available, providing extra historical information about key landmarks, characters and services that the player encounters. The health system has been made more dynamic, with synchronization to the Animus and causing the character to recover only from minor injuries.[1] More grievous injuries require visiting a street-side doctor or use medicine which can be puchased from doctors.[1]

The player may now swim in water, and eagle vision—the ability to identify specific people and landmarks—can now be used in third-person view and while moving.[1] A young Leonardo da Vinci is present in the game, aiding the player by creating new weapons from translated "codex pages" that Altaïr, the original game's main character, left behind for future assassins' analysis and insight.[1] Within the game, the player will be able to use Leonardo's flying machine (based on real-life plans by Leonardo) while on a mission. The player also has the ability to control a carriage, and gondolas, as well as ride horses.[1]
Ezio stealing a gondola from a small pier.

While Leonardo da Vinci provides the player with new weapons, such as a double hidden blade, a poison blade and a miniature firearm, there are also a variety of swords, cutlasses and maces, as well as axes, spears and daggers. The combat system is more complex, with the ability to disarm opponents, stealing their weapons.[1] Six additional weapons can be unlocked by connecting a PSP with Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines to the PS3.[9]

The Auditore family's countryside villa acts as Ezio's headquarters, and the surrounding property can be upgraded, drawing income for the player's use. There are several outlets for using currency, with vendors selling items such as medicine, poison, weapons, repairs, upgrades, paintings and colored dyes for changing the color of Ezio's outfit. When these shops are renovated, Ezio receives discounts at the shops on the goods they sell.

There is now a broader array of methods for hiding or blending in the area. One can dive underwater to break the guards' line of sight, and blending may be performed with any group of people, rather than only a specific type, as in the first Assassin's Creed.[1] The game features a notoriety system, with Ezio becoming more recognizable depending on his behavior, location, and current mission. This infamy can be reduced with bribery, removing wanted posters, or assassinating corrupt officials.[1] A day and night cycle has been added to the game, giving the game more of a sense of time, in addition to setting missions and events at certain times of the day.[1] There are many ways to interact with non-player characters, with some NPCs available for hire, to serve as a distraction, or to fight alongside the player. Money thrown to the ground may also serve as a distraction. There are also several types of enemies, some more agile or stronger than others.

The missions in the game now have an expanded variety, with different structuring. For example, a mission may have the objective to escort someone, but may change to a chase and assassination. Investigation is less explicit, and instead missions may follow people and/or a narrative. There are roughly 200 missions in this game; about half are part of the main storyline, while the rest are side quests. Cities also contain hidden locations such as catacombs and caves, the design of which have been compared, by the developers, to the Prince of Persia series, where the objective is to navigate the area. Exploring these locations eventually rewards the player with an Assassin's symbol, six of which allow the player to unlock the armor of Altaïr.

Like Assassin's Creed, characters based on historical figures are present in the game including Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolò Machiavelli, Caterina Sforza, Lorenzo de' Medici, the Pazzi Family, and Pope Alexander VI.[10]

Locations in the game include the Tuscany region[1] (Florence, Monteriggioni and San Gimignano[11]), the Apennine Mountains, the Romagna region (Forlì[11]), Venice and Rome. Specific landmarks include St Mark's Basilica[1], the Grand Canal, the Little Canal, the Rialto Bridge[1], Santa Maria del Fiore, the Sistine Chapel, Santa Croce, Palazzo Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio, and Santa Maria Novella.[11]