Plot. The story begins with Desmond and Lucy escaping Abstergo Industries and returning to her hideout, where he meets two assassins as well, Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings. So once he gets to the hideout, he begins his adventure in the Animus, sending him into a Matrix like world. Then he is plunged into the time of the Renaissance in Italy, where he is reborn as Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who is the son of a legitimate banker and is known for his good looks, suave attitude, and being beset by the beautiful women of Florence. One day, his father and two brothers are locked up for treason. His father asks him to return home and find something in his office, and much to his surprise, he discovers that his father was an assassin. The next day, he attempts to save them, but things go wrong, and they are executed. Now, Ezio must flee with his family, and meet with his uncle Mario, who is also an assassin. His mission is to exact revenge on those who betrayed his family, and to uncover a horrifying conspiracy as well.
1st Impressions. I was really impressed that the game took place in the renaissance and having so many historical facts about the people of that time, the cathedrals, cities, churches, the Vatican and so on. Also in one of the scenes of the game when Ezio goes to visit his love, Cristina Vespucci, I was like thinking that the sex scene would be something out of God of War, but there was not much of it. The game also had it's funny and cheesy moments. Using prostitutes to entertain the guards was also kind of fun. Also in case to avoid fighting, thieves and some mercenaries are used to fight the city guard in order to cross through easily, and even enter the building to obtain codex pages, so you can give them to Leonardo DaVinci. What also impressed me were appearances of historical people such as Niccolo Machiavelli, Christopher Columbus, Caterina Sforza, and so on.
Concept. Players would play as Ezio Auditore, the assassin and hero of the game. Players would complete missions and assassinations in order to progress further in the game. Also, players would visit tombs of an assassin to obtain the keys to Altair's armor, the assassin of the first game. Taking a break from adventuring and missions, players would also have to find glyphs in order to solve many mysteries, and they can try to find the feathers of Ezio's younger brother Petruccio. Players can also go treasure hunting to get more money. In the villa, players can also speak with the architect to remodel buisnesses and even raise their taxes for easy money in places such as banks, hospitals, armories, art stores and so on. Also you can remodel the villa's mansion by finding missing statuettes, and even buying paintings to make it look like a palace.
Tips. Sometimes players would find themselves in trouble when they are notorious for the murder of soldiers or civilians. In order to decrease notoriety, they have to rip posters, kill corrupt city officials, or they can bribe priests to keep them quiet. Fighting over 10 soldiers cannot be easy, using smoke bombs can be a way out, giving you enough time to either run away or kill them all. Using prostitutes to entertain the guards can help you get through restricted areas, and you also have the choice of hiring thieves to make the guards chase them, and mercenaries to fight them. At one point of the game you'll have to disguise yourself as a courier to get to your target, the Spaniard, who is the main antagonist of the game, and the mastermind behind the death of your family.
Rantings. Some things in the game got me appalled such as the anti-Christian message in some of the missions. For example: Teodora, who was once a nun, and an adulteress, becomes the leader of Venetian Courtesans. Also the game makes Templars look as if they were Christians, but that is not true, most Templar Knights were not Christians since a lot of them were Pagans and Roman Catholics. What I hate the most about it, is that Atheists blame Christians for the Crusades as well. What also got me appalled is like if the world was created by aliens during in one of the games moments. In the game, those peasants that ask you for coins are no longer there, but musicians can be annoying. A way to dodge them is by throwing money, in which many people will be after. Also what bothers me is how many people believe in that 12/21/2012 thing, I really don't believe in something like that, because in my opinion only God knows when the world may end or not. Also you cannot equip weapons like in the first game because you have many of them. The gun was ok, but the problem is you could not move while aiming. I guess they were too realistic for that.
Good Aspect. The game has some good messages and historical references of the Renaissance. Also I really liked the new fighting aspects of the game, which I consider it to be better than the first game. Also the new jumping abilities made this game a lot more interesting than it's predecessor.
Overall. Assassin's Creed II, is a great game that like it's predecessor reminded me of Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, The Legend of Zelda, and Tomb Raider. This game is a must own for fans of the game, and my final score is a 10 out of 10