About the game
Assassin's Creed II is a 2009 action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the second major game in the Assassin's Creed series and the sequel to the 2007 original. It came out on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November 2009, then on Windows in March 2010 and OS X in October 2010.
The framing story follows Desmond Miles in the 21st century as he relives the memories of his ancestor Ezio Auditore da Firenze in Renaissance Italy, from 1476 to 1499. Ezio becomes an Assassin while hunting those responsible for the death of his father and brothers. The open world includes Florence, Monteriggioni, San Gimignano, Forlì and Venice.
It is played from a third-person view and mixes combat, stealth and climbing. Compared with the first game, the combat is deeper, with disarms and counters, and Leonardo da Vinci supplies new gear such as dual hidden blades, poison blades and a hidden gun. Ezio's villa in Monteriggioni can be upgraded and earns money over time. There are roughly 150 missions, about two thirds of them part of the main story. On PS3, six extra weapons can be unlocked by connecting a PSP that holds a copy of Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines.
Development began shortly after the first game, using an updated Anvil engine. Ubisoft confirmed the game on November 26, 2008, and by May 2009 the team had grown to 450 people. A live-action short film in three parts, Assassin's Creed: Lineage, was released as a prequel. Two chapters, The Battle of Forlì and Bonfire of the Vanities, were cut for time and later released as downloadable content. Jesper Kyd wrote the score.
Assassin's Creed II got universal acclaim. Metacritic scored the PS3 version 91 and the Xbox 360 version 90. It won Best Action Adventure Game at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards and was named game of the year by several outlets. It sold 1.6 million copies in its first week and 9 million by May 2010.
Two direct sequels followed, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood in 2010 and Assassin's Creed: Revelations in 2011. A remastered version was part of The Ezio Collection for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on November 15, 2016.
The text above is adapted from Wikipedia and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
What critics said
Metacritic 91 out of 100 (PS3). Metacritic 90 out of 100 (Xbox 360). Individual reviews: Game Informer 9.5/10, GameSpot 9/10, IGN 9.2/10, GameTrailers 9.2/10, Computer and Video Games 9.4/10, Edge 8/10, GamePro 5/5, GamesRadar 5/5.
Extra content
Two story chapters, The Battle of Forlì and Bonfire of the Vanities, were released as downloads in early 2010. Three Templar Lair dungeons were also sold as downloads.
- The Battle of Forlì: Memory Sequence 12, a replayable flying machine mission over Forlì
- Bonfire of the Vanities: Memory Sequence 13 and the southern district of Florence
- Templar Lairs: Three dungeons: Palazzo Medici, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari and the Arsenale di Venezia
Good to know
- The trophy list has no trophies for Memory Sequences 12 and 13, because those two chapters were cut from the disc and sold later as downloads.
- The three Templar Lairs came only with the Black, White and Master Assassin's editions at first. Players who bought the standard game had to buy them separately or get a later edition.
- Six extra weapons can be unlocked on PS3 by connecting a PSP with Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines.
- Fly Swatter, a kick on a guard while using the flying machine, is the one trophy a guide lists as missable.
- Uplay points from playing could be spent on extras such as an Altair costume, extra throwing knives and the Auditore Family Crypt map.
- Ubisoft later sold a Complete Edition with codes for both story chapters and the Templar Lairs, and a Game of the Year Edition with all of it on the disc.
Made by
Director Patrice Désilets, Producer Sébastien Puel, Producer Jamal Rguigui, Producer Vincent Pontbriand, Designer Benoît Lambert, Designer Patrick Plourde, Designer Olivier Palmieri, Programmer James Therien, Artist Mohamed Gambouz, Writer Corey May.
