Assassin's Creed II

"Truth is Written in Blood"

―Giovanni Auditore

Assassin's Creed II is a sandbox-style action-adventure video game being developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is set to release on November 17, 2009 (US), November 19, 2009 (AU) and November 20, 2009 (Worldwide) on PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, and Xbox 360. A special version of the game will also be released on the Nintendo DS.

Plot

The game starts where Assassin's Creed ends. Desmond is staring at the blood message on the wall when Lucy tells him they only have a matter of time before they find out what she's done. Lucy takes Desmond to the Animus and tells him to get in. Desmond willingly lies in the Animus and he is thrust into a new ancestor's memory virtually as soon as he exits the womb. This ancestor is Ezio Auditore Da Firenze. All of a sudden Desmond is ejected from the Animus by Lucy and she tells him they need to leave. Before they leave Lucy takes the memory core of the Animus and the two escape Abstergo Industries. Desmond and Lucy fight their way through security in the parking lot. Lucy tells Desmond to get in the trunk and she takes him to a warehouse. Inside is a new Animus. The Animus 2.0. Desmond is introduced to Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings, two more modern day Assassin's. Shaun is an Assassin who will provide Desmond with history about his ancestors memories. Rebecca Crane is the tech behind the Animus 2.0 whom she has nicknamed Baby. Lucy gives the Abstergo Animus memory core to Rebecca and she gets to work installing it. Desmond says he's sorry for everything that took place within Abstergo, such as his unwillingness to cooperate, but he says that he wants to help the modern day Assassins. Desmond returns to the Animus 2.0, where he steps into the shoes (or mind rather) of a young Ezio living a life of luxury and privilege in Florence, Italy. He gets into a scruff with the son of a prominent family, Pazzi, who insults his parents. Reprimanded gently by his elder brother, Frederico and his father, Ezio becomes more involved with his family's affairs. His father, Giovanni, and another man, Uberto Alberti are discussing secret matters that Ezio can't make sense of, but seem urgent. Eventually, guards raid the Giovanni home and arrest Ezio's father, elder and younger brothers, Petruccio. Ezio delivers evidence that can prove his family's innocence to Uberto, who promises to defend them at the hearing. But it turns out Bernaldi is a traitor who destroyed the evidence and sentenced the three Firenze men to death. Swearing vengeance, Ezio has to hide his mother and sister and learn the ways of the assassin. He is first taught stealth by Paola of the Courtesans, and later combat, by his uncle Mario, of the Mercenary faction.

After assassinating Uberto, apparently a city official in charge of the law, Ezio has to balance his life between assassinations and protecting his sister and mother, who refuses to speak after Ezio's father and brothers were taken. Now wanted in Florence, Ezio has to flee Firenze to Tuscany with his family to the Auditore villa. He meets up with Uncle Mario, whose mercenaries save his family from an attack by Pazzi.

Gameplay

The May 2009 GameInformer article revealed that many new features would be added to the game engine. Ezio will be given two hidden blades, allowing him to eliminate two enemies at once. New weapons, such as spears, axes, halberds, and maces have been revealed as well. In order to obtain the weapons, Ezio must kill a guard wielding the weapon he wants but he drops his new weapon after he has killed one of his enemies. Ezio will have access to many weapons, but some enemies are only weak to certain weapons. The player can also buy and upgrade weapons and items at shops, as an alternative to scavenging them off of fallen foes. The enemies Ezio will face have also been expanded upon, so that now he will be forced to contend with both heavily armored swordsman, lightly armored foes wielding lighter weapons, and halberdiers who will seek to attack him from afar. The cinematic trailer also revealed that not only has Ezio hidden blades in his gauntlets, but also has a gun below his left hidden blade. There will be over 30 weapons in the game.

thumb|300px|right|The latest gameplay video from the Tokyo Game Show

New forms of cover will be introduced, including the ability to hide underneath the water (as long as you have enough oxygen). As it is, Ezio can kill guards via drowning them, and during an interview when the question was brought up, the reply was "the game's not finished yet". Possibly this game will feature the same 'leaps of faith', but rather than jumping into haystacks (which will now include carts of fish, wood and other things), you can also jump into water. This way Ezio will grab his enemies by either jumping out of the haystack or the water to kill them with his hidden blade. This tactic will of course compromise your position to other guards (Known as Seekers) and they will have the ability to check haystacks and other areas by stabbing their weapons into them. Ezio will automatically hide the dead bodies of his victims depending where he himself is hiding. To confuse guards you can use an explosive powder(known as a smoke bomb) that will further cover your tracks. Rather than blending in with scholars as Altaïr did, Ezio will also be able to blend with larger crowds. Climbing has a new feature. Not only is Ezio as fast a climber as Altaïr, but he can leap to a higher position while climbing a certain building. Guards positioned in towers, or other high buildings, can be grabbed and pulled down, so they will fall to their death, as Ezio climbs them.

The mission design in the first game was thought to be too repetitive, so the developers are adding at least 16 new mission types, so missions don't seem to run together. This is a large increase over the number in the original, as there are now over 200 missions in Assassin's Creed II. Missions like eavesdropping or pick pocketing (Ezio can however steal from any citizen and can also be stolen from) have been removed from the list of quests in this game. Yet another new feature is a notoriety system in which Ezio will become recognized as he takes on more quests in each town; higher notoriety will result in civilians and guards becoming increasingly wary of the player's movements.This level of notoriety will be set within each city, so that while the player may be completely unknown in some cities, he may be infamous in others. The player may take on quests to bribe or kill informants and remove wanted posters in order to decrease his notoriety level. Updated is also the quest to collect flags, but also mini-statues and golden coins. But unlike the first game, you will be given bonus features if you succeed in collecting them. Ezio will also be aided by famous Renaissance figures, such as Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolò Machiavelli. Caterina Sforza and Lorenzo De' Medici will also make an appearance. Ezio's synchronization bar will fill normally like in the original game, but more major injuries must be treated by street-side doctors. A day and night cycle will also be added.

A big annoyence in the first game was that all enemies could follow you where ever you went, on top of buildings, and sometimes across the entire city, making losing their sight long enough to hide almost impossible. In Assassin's Creed II only a new, lightly armored, more agile, scout like enemy will have the ability to follow you.

Another new feature is Ezio will own his own villa (which, during the time was a fortified town.) It's role will be like that of Masyaf from the first game. Through out the game, Ezio will be able to add and upgrade shops that will give him discounts and place where people will pay Ezio rent (brothel's, etc.). There will be secret places here too that Ezio can access by paying money. Ezio will have his own house where he will have a room full of the portraits of the assassination targets he has killed, a treasure room, an armory to hold his weapons and armor, and a room full of statues of great assassins (one of the statues has been confirmed as Altair, the assassin from the first game) which Ezio can get plaques for. When a plaque has been put on a statue, Ezio will receive a reward (e.g. when Ezio put the plaque on Altaïr's statue, he will receive Altaïr's armor.)

Assassin's Creed 2 will also have a system mildly similar to the "glitches" from Assassin's Creed in which pressing a button during a cutscene will give you a new vantage point. Assassin's Creed 2 has improved on this in a quick time reminiscent way during cutscenes, as pressing the right button at the right time will produce a reward.

Special Editions

Black Edition Xbox 360

The Black Edition retail price £70:

• “Master Assassin” upgrade Ezio figurine with black collector box
• 3 in-game bonus quests, allowing the character to explore the following:
  • Palazzo Medicis in Florence
  • Santa Maria Dei Frari In Venice
  • Arsenal Shipyard Warehouse In Venice
• "Conspiracy book": A book from the developers, describing development, and the storyline (with extra commentary on the "conspiracy"). 64 pages, hardcover, "leather style".
• DVD with all videos, behind-the-scene interviews and "e-goodies" about Assassin's Creed II and game soundtrack by Jesper Kyd (British Academy of Film and Television Arts nominee for "2009 Best Original Score in a Game").
• Black packaging with unique holographic signature

This edition of the game will be made available for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC. It is confirmed for Europe, as well as Australia.

The White Edition:

White Edition PS3

• Ezio figurine
• Collectible White Packaging
• Bonus in-game content

This version is in only available in parts of Europe, as well as Australia.

The Master Assassin Edition:

The Master Assassin’s Edition Xbox 360

• Ezio figurine
• Artbook: The art of Assassin's Creed
• Premium Collectable Metal Case
• Two In-Game Maps: Palazzo Medici and Santa Maria Dei Frari
• Additional Content DVD with Behind the Scenes of Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed II Soundtrack

This edition can be bought in North America.

Development

File:Signature.jpg

The end of the trailer. It shows a signature that is backwards like Da Vinci's writing.

File:Signature right.jpg

This is the signature forwards.

On January 22 2009, it was confirmed by Ubisoft that Assassin's Creed II was in production, but no details were revealed. A promotional video was released by Ubisoft on April 6 showing a map of Italy, some hidden blade designs, and DaVinci's flying machine on a scroll. On the official site after the teaser is viewed a symbol is given to print and show in front of a webcam. Doing this will unlock a picture displayed on the site. 4 of the 5 symbols have been given by Ubisoft, and the other was found by a fan. Later, on April 10, Game Informer magazine released details on the game, as well as pictures of Ezio. There are about 240 team members, some of these members were sent to Italy, traveling through Venice, Florence, Tuscany, and Rome. ScrewAttack also released a video with some of the pictures from the magazine. In early May, Ubisoft has stated that they are putting full emphasis on the game and that 450 team members are now working on the title. 75% of the original developers for the original game are now working on the second.

Case of Ezio Screenshots

• A Side By Side Comparison of Assassins Creed and Assassins Creed II Gameplay
• Assassins Creed II Trailer and Gameplay Information! First Screenshots of Ezio!
• Assassins Creed II Gameplay - E3 including dev comments

External links

• Official Website
• VIDEO: Electric Playground Interview with Assassin's Creed 2 Creative Director Patrice Desilets
• ARTICLE: Electric Playground Preview of Assassin's Creed 2

Special thanks to Jay Stillinger and his team of ajax developers for making this content available