The game is set in the 21st century, 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 which is more advanced than the original Animus, the Animus 2.0, and relives the genetic memories of ancestral nobleman Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who lived during the Renaissance period of the late 15th 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.
Assassin's Creed II was met with widespread acclaim, garnering aggregated scores of 91% for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and 86% for PC, from review aggregator Metacritic. 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.More grievous injuries require visiting a street-side doctor or use of medicine which can be purchased from doctors or found on bodies.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.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. Within the game, the player will be able to use Leonardo's flying machine (based on real-life plans by Leonardo) while on one mission. The player also has the ability to control a carriage on one level, but can row gondolas, as well as ride horses at any point in the game where they are readily available.The setting of the various places the player may go to have been made relatively more detailed and in-depth. Civilians can carry objects and sometimes sneeze. Additionally, one can hire different groups of NPCs such as mercenaries or thieves.
The combat system is more complex than that of its predecessor, with the ability to disarm opponents using counter attacks while unarmed. If the player steals an enemy's weapon, it is possible to follow up with an attack that instantly kills.Leonardo da Vinci provides the player with specialized weaponry, such as the hidden dual blades, poison blade and the miniature firearm. Generic swords, cutlasses, maces, axes, spears and daggers can all be purchased from vendors in each city or otherwise looted from corpses. In addition, players are able to purchase artwork for their villa, obtain new armor as the game progresses and even dye Ezio's clothing with a number of different colors. Other equipment includes: larger pouches to carry more throwing knives and medicine. Six additional weapons can be unlocked by connecting a PSP with Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines to the PS3.
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 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.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.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.There are many ways to interact with non-player characters, with some NPCs available for hire, they serve as a distraction, and groups of thieves 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 seal, six of which allow the player to unlock the armor of Altaïr in a concealed section of the Villa.
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.
Locations in the game include the Tuscany region (Florence, Monteriggioni and San Gimignano), the Apennine Mountains, the Romagna region (Forlì), Venice and Rome. Specific landmarks include St Mark's Basilica,the Grand Cana, the Little Canal, the Rialto Bridge, Santa Maria del Fiore, the Sistine Chapel, Santa Croce, Palazzo Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio, and Santa Maria Novella
Plot
The game continues shortly after the events of Assassin's Creed, where, in 2012, Desmond Miles (Nolan North) is still a prisoner at Abstergo Industries after searching the memories of his ancestor, the Assassin Altaïr, in the Animus. Abstergo, the modern-day Knights Templar, had been using Desmond to locate powerful out-of-place artifacts called "Pieces of Eden." Using the "Eagle Vision" ability he gained as a result of the "bleeding effect" (from overexposure to the Animus), Desmond is able to see messages and symbols written in blood on his bedroom wall, written by the former test subject, named "Subject 16 (Cam Clarke)". Lucy Stillman (Kristen Bell), a former researcher for Abstergo and an Assassin, frees Desmond and brings him to a secret hideout used by herself and two other Assassins, historian Shaun Hastings (Danny Wallace) and computer expert Rebecca Crane (Eliza Schneider). With their own version of the Animus, dubbed the 'Animus 2.0', they invite Desmond to help them discover the memories of his ancestor, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, for two reasons: to train Desmond in Assassin skills through the bleeding effect, and to find other Pieces of Eden.
Ezio, residing in Italy during the Renaissance in the late 15th century, finds his family in Florence the victims of a political plot, and is unable to prevent the hanging of his father and the both of his brothers, Federico and Pettrucio (Federico appears throughout the game as an assassin, but ends up hanging). His father's final instructions lead Ezio to a chest containing Assassin garments and tools. Ezio's uncle Mario allows Ezio and his mother and sister to shelter in his countryside villa, and trains Ezio in the art of combat. Mario further provides leads to those in on his family's betrayal, and Ezio follows the trail of clues, leading from Florence to San Gimignano, Forlì, Venice and eventually to Rome. Along the way, he encounters several allies that assist in his pursuit, including Leonardo da Vinci, who is able to help decode pages from Altaïr's Codex, creating new equipment. After assassinating many people involved in the plot, Ezio is able to identify Rodrigo Borgia as the leader of the conspiracy, aimed to bring down the Medici family in Florence with the help of the Pazzi family and the Doge of Venice. Borgia later arrives in Venice with the "Apple," the Piece of Eden that Altaïr originally had found. Borgia believes himself to be the "Prophet" that would lead to the discovery of "The Vault", supposedly containing more Pieces of Eden and other knowledge the Templars seek. Ezio, joined by his allies, stop Borgia, who flees without the Apple. His allies, including Niccolò Machiavelli, reveal they are all members of the Assassins, and bring Ezio into their ranks, telling him that they believe him to be the Prophet that will lead them to the Vault.
| Assassin's Creed series fictional chronology |
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| Altaïr's Chronicles Assassin's Creed Bloodlines Lineage Assassin's Creed II II: Discovery Assassin's Creed II (continued) Brotherhood Lost Legacy |
When Desmond returns to Ezio's memory after he fought off Borgia, they find several corrupted memories, and are only able to return Desmond to Ezio's memories in the year 1499 (The memories comprise the semi-historical siege of Forli by the Orsi family and the Bonfire of the Vanities), where Borgia has since become Pope Alexander VI at Vatican City. Ezio's memories reveal that he and his allies have completed the Codex and discovered that "The Vault" lies in Rome, and realize that the Papal Staff is another Piece of Eden; Borgia's plan, upon deposition of the Medici family, would allow him to become Pope and gain access to the staff and the Vault.
Ezio travels to Rome; while his allies distract the rest of the city, Ezio discreetly enters the Vatican and attempts to assassinate Borgia inside the Sistine Chapel (while he preaches the Nicene Creed in Latin). Borgia manages to escape with both the Apple and the Staff, and attempts to use them to open the Vault, but Ezio catches up and defeats him but does not kill Borgia, since revenge will not bring back his family. In Ezio's hands, the Apple and Staff open the Vault; inside, he finds a holographic figure that identifies him as The Prophet that has brought Desmond and the 21st century observers to the Vault, much to Ezio's confusion. The figure, calling herself "Minerva" and addressing Desmond directly, reveals that she and others of her kind were part of a far more advanced society (Those Who Came Before) that lived on Earth and created humans in their own image (it is hinted several times throughout the game that humans were created as a slave race). Eventually man freed themselves and the two races went to war against one another, soon halted by a natural celestial catastrophe involving a massive solar flare which resulted in the destruction of most life on Earth. The remaining people of both races rebuilt society. The few remaining Ones Who Came Before constructed several "temples" around the world (one being located within the Vatican) that would help the human race to prevent the same disaster from reoccurring once the Ones Who Came Before had become extinct. Minerva insinuates that records of the existence of the Ones Who Came Before, as well as their warning, had been misunderstood and had, over time, evolved into various myths, legends and religions throughout the modern world. As the hologram vanishes, Minerva says "the rest is up to you, Desmond", confusing Ezio.
As the memory ends and the credits begin to roll, Desmond wakes to find that Abstergo has discovered their hideout and, with his assimilated skills from Ezio and Altaïr, he manages to escape with Lucy and the others. As the scene fades to black with the credits still rolling, they take a van with an Animus 2.0 built inside. Lucy then explains that Minerva was referring to a great celestial catastrophe. She goes on to explain that a weakness in the Earth's magnetic field has been discovered, and that a single solar flare could cause worldwide disaster. This hints towards the 2012 Doomsday prediction. Desmond prepares to re-enter the Animus as the game ends, which allows the player to continue as Ezio after the game has finished.
Downloadable content
On December 1, 2009, Ubisoft announced the first of several downloadable content (DLC) expansions for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Assassin's Creed II. The first, entitled Battle for Forlì, continues the story of Caterina Sforza and was released on January 28, 2010. It also includes a special memory that allows users to pilot Leonardo da Vinci's flying machine over Forlì. The second expansion, entitled Bonfire of the Vanities, concerns the mass burning of sinful objects in Florence and was released on February 18, 2010. These were both initially planned to be included as part of the main game, but were later cut due to time constraints.The retail PC version includes the following packages as part of the main storyline.
The Battle of Forlì
The two downloadable content packs feature the corrupted memory sequences, which Rebecca is able to repair with a computer patch. Sequence 12, "Forlì Under Attack" (released as The Battle for Forli) is set in 1488, just after Ezio has recovered the Apple of Eden. Machiavelli, Mario Auditore, Ezio and Leonardo da Vinci meet to discuss what to do to protect the Apple, and it is decided that it will be sent to Romagna to be defended by Catarina Sforza. When Ezio arrives however, he finds that the city is under attack from the Orsi Brothers, who have been hired by Borgia to take a map featuring the locations of the Codex pages, made by Sforza's late husband. In an attempt to force Sforza to hand over the map the brothers kidnap her children. Ezio leaves the Apple in Sforza's protection; he rescues her children and kills one brother. When he returns, he discovers that Checco, the other brother, used the distraction to steal the Apple. Ezio gives chase, and kills Checco. As he stands over Checco's body, Checco stabs Ezio. Ezio falls to the floor bleeding, and before he passes out, he sees a man missing a finger and wearing monastic robes take the Apple.
Ezio wakes up with Sforza at his side. He sets out to reclaim the Apple, and Sforza gives him the map of the Codex page locations. He travels to a monastery in the wetlands, where he is sent to Forli's monastery. He attempts to speak to the abbot, but the abbot recognizes him as the assassin who killed Brother Stefano (one of the Pazzi conspirators) and flees. When Ezio catches him, the abbot names the monk who stole the Apple as Girolamo Savonarola.
The Pack also includes a bonus memory in which Ezio can pilot Leonardo's Flying Machine over the Forli area. Unlike regular memories the player is allowed to play this memory an unlimited number of times.
Bonfire of the Vanities
Sequence 13 begins in 1497, two years prior to Sequence 14 and nine years after Sequence 12. Ezio has tracked Savonarola to Florence, where the player can now explore the southern province of the city. After meeting with Machiavelli, Ezio devises that bringing unrest to the city will force Savonarola to come out and settle the unrest. In order to bring about this unrest, Ezio assassinates nine of Savonarola's lieutenants who preach within the city. The people become angry and a mob forms outside the plaza where Savonarola preaches to the mob to disperse. He exposes the Apple to bewitch the mob, but Ezio quickly throws a knife at the Piece of Eden and Savonarola drops it. The mob proceeds to take the monk away, but a templar quickly rushes in to retrieve the Apple. Ezio rushes after the guard and reclaims it. Afterward, the mob takes Savonarola to the Piazza della Signoria to burn him at the stake, but Ezio, believing no one deserves such a painful fate, jumps on to a wooden platform, leaps at Savanarola, and stabs the monk in the face with his hidden blade to spare him the pain. Ezio stands before the confused crowd and declares that all should follow their own path
Development
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A promotional video was released by Ubisoft on April 6 showing a skull, some hidden blade designs, and Leonardo's flying machine on a scroll. On April 16, Game Informer released details of the game, including pictures of Ezio,a new teaser trailer was released, and the game was "officially" announced by Ubisoft.
In an interview, in May 2009, Sebastien Puel stated that the development team working on Assassin's Creed II had increased to 450 members, and the development team's size had tripled since the first game.
On June 1, 2009, Ubisoft released a new four-minute cinematic Assassin's Creed II trailer at E3.On June 2, 2009, Ubisoft revealed the first live gameplay demo, lasting 6 minutes, at the Sony Press Conference.GameTrailers features an exclusive developer walkthrough from E3 2009. In an interview with GameTrailers Ubisoft Montreal creative director Patrice Desilets stated Desmond would be doing more than walking around and discovering clues.
It was announced at the Assassin's Creed panel at Comic Con 2009 that a mini-series of three episodes, Assassin's Creed: Lineage, would be released showing the events leading up to the game and the history of Ezio and his father.
It was also revealed that the humorist Danny Wallace would be voicing a new character in Assassin's Creed II by the name of Shaun Hastings, a sarcastic historian assisting Desmond. The character's face would also be modeled after him. Actress Kristen Bell returned for the character of Lucy Stillman.
The game was originally due to be released at the same time on all the three platforms, but Ubisoft announced on September 24, 2009 via Twitter that the PC version would be delayed to the first quarter of 2010 in order to have "a bit more time for the dev team to deliver the best quality game". In the course of March, Ubisoft sent an e-mail to their PC-customers to apologize for problems with the DRM (although some people never had problems), and granted them a code to unlock the three Templar Lairs that were playable in the Black edition for console.
Music
The score to Assassin's Creed II was composed by Jesper Kyd. It was recorded at Capitol Records with a 35-piece string ensemble and a 13-person choir, and featured vocals by Melissa Kaplan.A soundtrack was released via digital download on November 16, 2009. 14 tracks of the soundtrack were also released on the game disc available with the special pre-order Black edition of Assassin's Creed II.
In the marketing, "Genesis" by Justice was used in the "Visions of Venice" trailer.
| Assassin's Creed II Original Soundtrack | |||||||||
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| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Earth" | 3:59 | |||||||
| 2. | "Venice Rooftops" | 3:18 | |||||||
| 3. | "Ezio in Florence" | 2:19 | |||||||
| 4. | "Home in Florence" | 5:02 | |||||||
| 5. | "Ezio's Family" | 4:21 | |||||||
| 6. | "Sanctuary" | 3:56 | |||||||
| 7. | "Stealth" | 2:20 | |||||||
| 8. | "Florence Escape" | 2:50 | |||||||
| 9. | "Approaching Target 1" | 3:34 | |||||||
| 10. | "Approaching Target 2" | 6:07 | |||||||
| 11. | "Leonardo's Invention Part 1" | 2:22 | |||||||
| 12. | "Tour of Venice" | 3:16 | |||||||
| 13. | "Flight over Venice" | 4:50 | |||||||
| 14. | "Darkness Falls" | 4:05 | |||||||
Promotion
On October 20, 2009, Ubisoft announced a series of short movies to be broadcast via YouTube that would provide additional back story and the introduction of some of the characters found in the game. The shorts, called Assassin's Creed: Lineage, came in three parts and were developed by Ubisoft’s Hybride Technologies, who previously worked on the films 300 and Sin City. The series focused on Ezio's father, Giovanni Auditore, and contained live-action and computer generated imagery. The first of the films was released on October 27, 2009, with the remaining two released on November 13, 2009.On November 12, 2009, Ubisoft released Assassin's Creed II themed virtual items on PlayStation Home to promote the release of the game, as well as the game Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines for PSP. Assassin's Creed II virtual items and an Ezio costume were also released on the Xbox Live Marketplace for the Xbox 360's avatars. On November 19, 2009, more Assassin's Creed II virtual items were released in PlayStation Home, along with a costume for Ezio, which was released on November 26, 2009. On December 3, 2009, more 15th century Italian renaissance themed items were released in Home Ezio's "Purple Assassin" costume is available to download on LittleBigPlanet, as of December 8, 2009, on the PlayStation Network.
Assassin's Creed II is the first game to be linked to Ubisoft's Uplay feature. Progression through the game allows Uplay members to acquire points that can be redeemed for bonuses for use in the game, including a new crypt to explore and an Altaïr costume.
A novel based on the game, called Assassin's Creed: Renaissance by Oliver Bowden was published by Penguin Books in November 2009.
Reception
In an exclusive review by Official Xbox Magazine, Assassin's Creed II scored 9/10. Its second review was a perfect score from the Official PlayStation Magazine US, while the Official PlayStation Magazine UK scored the game a 9/10.
German magazine, Computer Bild Spiele, reported that the game's publishers offered to provide a pre-release copy of the game if the magazine would guarantee a review score of "very good". The magazine rejected the request and instead opted to delay their review.
GameSpot which reviewed the PC version of the game, said despite the game being "fun and beautiful" it was hard to justify the higher price point. It was also mentioned that the game was hindered by Ubisoft's DRM and the game "deserved better. For that matter, PC gamers deserved better too."
According to pre-official sales estimates, Ubisoft announced that Assassin's Creed II sold 1.6 million copies worldwide during its first week of sale, representing a 32 percent increase over the first week retail performance of the original Assassin's Creed. As of February 10, 2010, the game has shipped 8 million copies.
At the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards, Assassin's Creed II was named Best Action Adventure Game, and IGN named it as the Action Game of the Year for Xbox 360 and Xbox 360 Game of the Year. Game Informer also named it as Xbox 360 Game of the Year. It also received Game of the Year from GamePro, Eurogamer and The New York Times. Assassin's Creed II has been nominated for the "Outstanding Achievement in Animation", "Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction", "Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering", "Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering", "Outstanding Achievement in Original Story", "Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition", "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design", "Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction", "Adventure Game of the Year" and "Overall Game of the Year" Interactive Achievement Awards from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.The game was also nominated for several Game Developers Choice Awards including "Best Game Design", "Best Visual Art", "Best Technology", and "Game of the Year".
Editions
There are several different limited editions of Assassin's Creed II. The Black Edition contains an Ezio figurine garbed in a black outfit and was released in Europe and Australia. Included also are three bonus areas and missions, an art book, and a DVD with part of the game's soundtrack, one premium PS3 theme, behind the scenes videos and 2 desktop wallpapers. The White Edition contains one bonus area/mission and an Ezio figurine in his white outfit. The Master Assassin's Edition is the North American limited edition, which contains an Ezio figurine, two bonus areas, an art book and a Blu-ray with music and behind the scenes videos.After much complaining from Assassin's Creed II fans that they were unable to complete the game due to the need to play the three Templar Lairs - only available on the White or Black Editions - to earn 100% synchronisation, Ubisoft released Assassin's Creed II: The Complete Edition. Included on the package are download codes for the two DLCs, Battle of Forli and Bonfire of the Vanities and the three Templar Lairs. Later Assassin's Creed II: The Game of the Year Edition was released, containing the extra content incorporated on the game disc.
Controversies and criticism
The PC version of the game contains a DRM system that requires all users remain connected to the Internet while playing. In the initial retail version, any progress made subsequent to the last checkpoint was lost if the Internet connection were severed. Ubisoft stated that if the disconnection was temporary, the game would pause. In addition, the company argued that there were numerous checkpoints spread throughout Assassin's Creed II.The company was also criticized by overseas members of the U.S. Armed Forces, who could not play the game while in locations with sporadic and expensive connections. Ubisoft has since published a patch to alter the DRM: after resuming their connection to the Internet, players are now able to resume the game from the exact same point.Shortly after the release of the Windows version, Ubisoft claimed that a cracked version of the game had not been created, and was confirmed by at least one website. During the following weekend, the DRM servers for Silent Hunter 5 and Assassin's Creed II were, according to Ubisoft, affected by a denial-of-service attack. Ubisoft later stated that "95 per cent of players were not affected, but a small group of players attempting to open a game session did receive denial of service errors." A server emulator to overcome the DRM has been developed. A cracked executable bypassing the connection requirement entirely was released in late April.
Following the series of server outages, Ubisoft offered owners of the Windows version all DLC from the Assassin's Creed II Black Edition, or a free copy of Heroes Over Europe, Tom Clancy's EndWar, Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X, or Prince of Persia (2008).
The PC version of the game was also widely criticized for being DirectX 9.0 only, whereas the original Assassin's Creed was a DirectX 10 title.
Sequel
Intended to be a trilogy, discussions on the details of Assassin's Creed III were already present before the release of Assassin's Creed II, with the game's staff noting talks of possibly having a female ancestor in World War II.However, co-writer Corey May has stated that the series will never take place during that period, as a major goal was to take players to settings normally unvisited in games. Ubisoft's Philippe Bergeron stated that potential settings could include England in the Middle Ages, during the era of King Arthur, and feudal Japan, the latter of which had been a "personal favorite" of many in the staff, although nothing has been confirmed yet.Ubisoft has confirmed a game called Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, which will be released November 16, 2010.While not an expansion pack to Assassin's Creed II, this game will again feature Ezio Auditore da Firenze, and will include a new online multiplayer mode. It has been confirmed that most of the game will take place in Rome, the seat of power for the Borgia family and the Knights Templar. However, Brotherhood is not the 3rd game in the series - though it features Desmond, it is more on par with Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines.
References : Wikipedia
External links
- Official website
- Assassin's Creed YouTube Channel
- Assassin's Creed II at the Internet Movie Database
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