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 2007's Assassin's Creed. It was first released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November 2009, and came to Windows in March 2010 and OS X in October 2010.
The plot follows the thousands-of-years-old struggle between the Assassins, who fight to preserve peace and free will, and the Templars, who want peace through control. The framing story is set in the 21st century, where Desmond Miles relives the genetic memories of his ancestor Ezio Auditore da Firenze to uncover the secrets of an ancient race known as the First Civilization. The main story takes place during the Renaissance in Italy from 1476 to 1499, as Ezio becomes an Assassin and seeks revenge for the death of his father and brothers.
The game is played from a third-person view in an open world based on late 15th-century Italy, with cities including Florence, Venice, Monteriggioni, San Gimignano and Forli. Play is nonlinear and centres on hack and slash combat, stealth, parkour and exploration. New in this game are swimming, a more flexible health system, a day and night cycle, hired groups of mercenaries, courtesans and thieves, and a more complex combat system with disarming and special weapons such as dual hidden blades and the hidden gun. A young Leonardo da Vinci helps Ezio by building weapons from codex pages and by supplying a flying machine used in one mission.
Development began shortly after the first game and used a newly updated version of the Anvil engine. Ubisoft confirmed the game in November 2008, and by May 2009 the team had grown to 450 people. A three-part live-action short film series, Assassin's Creed: Lineage, was released as a prequel, with most of the game's cast. The PC version was delayed to early 2010. Two chapters, The Battle of Forli and Bonfire of the Vanities, were cut for time and released later as downloadable expansions. They are presented in the game as sequences 12 and 13.
Several editions were sold. The Black Edition (Europe and Australia) had an Ezio figurine, three bonus areas, an art book and a soundtrack DVD. The White Edition had one bonus area and a white Ezio figurine. The Master Assassin's Edition was the North American limited edition, with an Ezio figurine, two bonus areas, an art book and a Blu-ray. Because the three Templar Lairs needed for 100 percent synchronization were only in the special editions, Ubisoft later released a Complete Edition with download codes, and then a Game of the Year Edition with everything on the disc.
On release the game received universal acclaim on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and was the highest-rated game in the series by review aggregators. It sold 1.6 million copies in its first week, 32 percent more than the first game, and 9 million by May 2010. It was named Best Action Adventure Game at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards and was included in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die.
The direct sequel, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, was released on November 16, 2010 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, continuing Ezio's story with a new online multiplayer mode. Remastered versions of Assassin's Creed II, Brotherhood and Revelations were released in The Ezio Collection for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on November 15, 2016, and for Nintendo Switch on February 17, 2022.
The text above is adapted from Wikipedia and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
What critics said
Metacritic 90 out of 100 (Xbox 360). Metacritic 91 out of 100 (PlayStation 3). Individual reviews: Game Informer 9.5/10, TeamXbox 9.5/10, Computer and Video Games 9.4/10, IGN 9.2/10, GameTrailers 9.2/10, GameSpot 9/10, Official Xbox Magazine 9/10, Edge 8/10.
Extra content
Two story expansions and three Templar Lairs were released for the Xbox 360 version in 2010. The Game of the Year and Complete editions include them.
- The Battle of Forli: Sequence 12. Ezio helps Caterina Sforza in Forli, with a replayable flying machine mission.
- Bonfire of the Vanities: Sequence 13. Ezio returns to Florence to deal with Girolamo Savonarola, and the southern district of Florence opens up.
- Templar Lairs (Palazzo Medici, Santa Maria dei Frari, Arsenal Shipyard): Three dungeons, similar to the Assassin Tombs, needed for 100 percent synchronization. Sold as DLC after being limited to special editions.
- Bonus skin: A costume dye unlocked by a code from the Assassin's Creed II 3D mobile game, also included in the Game of the Year and Complete editions.
Good to know
- The Battle of Forli and Bonfire of the Vanities were cut from the game for time and sold as DLC. In the story they are sequences 12 and 13, just before the final sequence.
- The three Templar Lairs needed for 100 percent synchronization were first only in the Black Edition, White Edition and Master Assassin's Edition. Fans complained, and Ubisoft then sold them as DLC and in the Complete Edition.
- The Black Edition came with 14 tracks of the soundtrack on a disc.
- The Master Assassin's Edition was the North American limited edition. The Black Edition was sold in Europe and Australia.
- This was the first game linked to Ubisoft's Uplay, where points earned in play unlocked extras such as the Auditore Family Crypt map, five extra throwing knives and Altair's outfit.
- The Xbox 360 list is 50 achievements for 1,000 gamerscore, with none for the DLC. Some can be missed in one playthrough but can be earned again on a replay.
Made by
Director Patrice Desilets, Producer Sebastien Puel, Producer Jamal Rguigui, Producer Vincent Pontbriand, Designer Benoit Lambert, Designer Patrick Plourde, Designer Olivier Palmieri, Programmer James Therien, Artist Mohamed Gambouz, Writer Corey May.
