Product Description

Renaissance Italy isn't the usual sort of setting for a video game, but then Assassin's Creed isn't one to play by the rules. Ezio Auditore di Firenze is yet another ancestor of modern day Desmond Miles - a nobleman out to avenge the death of his family in the guise of a shadowy assassin.

Like the last game you're given total freedom to explore multiple cities, but with greatly improved parkour skills and the new ability to swim. There's also a lot more variety in the missions you undertake - the main complaint with the original game- so you'll never feel you're just doing the same tasks over and over again.

Combat has also been completely overhauled, with dozens of different weapons and a new health system. With no less than Leonardo da Vinci acting as your very own Q style gadget master this stunning sequel improves on every element of the original.

• Renaissance man: Play as an all-new character in 15th century Italy, with new abilities, new weapons and a whole new world to explore.
• The spice of life: Massively improved mission variety, with new freeform mission structures and many more random events.
• Tools of the trade: All-new combat system lets you steal weapons from your opponents, use dual hidden blades and even an early form of pistol.
• Real history: Meet historical figures such as Leonardo da Vinci, Niccol Machiavelli and Lorenzo de' Medici, all of whom can offer you their own unique brand of aid.
• Tourist spots: Explore real world locations including Rome, Venice, Florence and Tuscany, as well as specific landmarks such as the Grand Canal and St Mark's Basilica.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: UBI Soft
• Released on: 2009-11-20
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Platform: PLAYSTATION 3
• Format: Unknown format
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .26 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Renaissance Italy isn't the usual sort of setting for a video game, but then Assassin's Creed isn't one to play by the rules. Ezio Auditore di Firenze is yet another ancestor of modern day Desmond Miles - a nobleman out to avenge the death of his family in the guise of a shadowy assassin.

Ezio is just as dangerous an assassin as his forebear

Da Vinci's glider is just one of the gadgets on offer

The level of detail in the graphics is astonishing

The canals of Venice come in very handy for stealth attacks

Like the last game you're given total freedom to explore multiple cities, but with greatly improved parkour skills and the new ability to swim. There's also a lot more variety in the missions you undertake - the main complaint with the original game- so you'll never feel you're just doing the same tasks over and over again.

Combat has also been completely overhauled, with dozens of different weapons and a new health system. With no less than Leonardo da Vinci acting as your very own Q style gadget master this stunning sequel improves on every element of the original.

Key Features

• Renaissance man: Play as an all-new character in 15th century Italy, with new abilities, new weapons and a whole new world to explore.
• The spice of life: Massively improved mission variety, with new freeform mission structures and many more random events.
• Tools of the trade: All-new combat system lets you steal weapons from your opponents, use dual hidden blades and even an early form of pistol.
• Real history: Meet historical figures such as Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolò Machiavelli and Lorenzo de' Medici, all of whom can offer you their own unique brand of aid.
• Tourist spots: Explore real world locations including Rome, Venice, Florence and Tuscany, as well as specific landmarks such as the Grand Canal and St Mark's Basilica.

About the Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Ubisoft's huge development studio in Canada has created many of the French publisher's biggest hits, including the Splinter Cell series, the modern Prince of Persia games, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Assassin's Creed, Naruto: Rise of a Ninja and the Far Cry sequels and spin-offs.

Manufacturer's Description
Discover an intriguing and epic story of power, revenge and conspiracy set during a pivotal moment in history: the Italian Renaissance.

The lineage continues as this new chapter introduces Ezio, inheritor of the talents and creed of the Assassins. His family murdered by rival families, Ezio resolves to learn the ancient art of the Assassin in order to seek revenge. He will not do so alone though, allying with historical figures such as philosopher and writer Niccolo Machiavelli. You will also be able to master the art of the assassin with all new weapons and instruments created by the renowned inventor and genius of the Renaissance, Leonardo Da Vinci himself.

Experience the freedom and immersion of an all new open world and mission structure with settings such as the rooftops and canals of beautiful Venice. Your option in combat, assassination and escape are vast, with many new weapons, settings and gameplay elements.

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Customer Reviews

Live by the Creed... again
The original Assassin's Creed has been one of the most striking and divisive games of the generation so far. Some were won over by its unique setting, innovative controls and impeccable Free Running, whilst others chastised its lack of mission variety and the absence of an opportunity to meaningfully interact with the game world. A fair summary would probably fall somewhere in between the two, but there's no denying that it was one of the most potential-laden games of the last few years, driven by some of the most impressive and powerful tech to have graced the PS360.

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.

Sometimes frustrating but always brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The assassins tombs are the most frustrating thing in this game but the end reward makes all the shouting, swearing and controller throwing worth it, the main problem is that Ezio doesn't always do what you're directing him to do. The worst case of this was in the final one where an onscreen prompt tells you how to do a wall jump to a beam opposite, sometimes it just doesn't work and Ezio dives backwards straight into the water, meaning you have to go back and start the whole section again.
That's my only gripe and the assassins tombs are optional so you don't have to deal with the frustration if you don't want to.
The game is still brilliant despite the occasional frustration, the climbing is awesome, the graphics look fantastic and the story, while confusing at times, is very compelling.
If you like sandbox games and RPG's you'll love this. Although technically not an RPG it certainly feels and plays like one to me. The sign of a great game to me is when you're not playing it you're still thinking about it and what you're going to do next in this huge world.
This is now officially my favourite sandbox game, in my opinion it surpasses GTA IV in all areas, such as graphics and mission variety.
The mission where you take control of Leonardo Da Vinci's flying machine is the one i've enjoyed the most so far, it was just great fun and I wish you got to keep the flying machine after it was over.
This definitely gets 5 stars from me, even though some bits can be a bit too frustrating sometimes.

Wow Different.
Finshed game in 24 Hours- its such a awesome, non of this short gameplay stuff, stil got a lot of side missions to go as well which are pretty fun.

Well where can i begin, its a completely different game. now i can see how they can make assassin's creed 3 with guns.

Worried about florin's? don't worry you can get a infinitve supply of them with ease.

the fighting is looks different but is pretty much the same but with a lot of new stuff with it, e.g. some enemies, you can't counter strike so you have dodge them and strike for certain enemies, each enemy has a unique way of defeating them.
In this game, its based on unique different missions everytime. unlike the first one, its the same missions through out the game split into sections.

you have loads of side missions of people asking for jobs like assinations or mail or beating up someone, really good as well.

Eagle vision is used a hell of a lot more and it does pretty rock in this one.

It doesn't feel repetative at all as there is so much more variety than assassin's creed 1 also all the missions are completely different!

didn't liked assassins creed 1? get this one, its a completely different game. Simply amazing.

also altair is pretrayed as a legend in this one and his armour is the best. just a intreeging fact.

10/10

overall i think the creators, have taken all the advice from reviewers in the first one and made it a hel of alot better, definitely the best game i've played this year.


p.s. Reviewers don't give a review unless half way through the game, as the game hasn't really got going. In this game, it has such a massive tutoral, its quite annoying to be honest. and then finally it gets amazing.
Also people claiming there is horrible frame tearing, There isn't. only a one or two frame tears in the cinematic's which don't make any difference.