Assassin's Creed II

Assassin's Creed II cover art
Developer(s)	Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Director(s)	Patrice Désilets (creative director)
Producer(s)	Sébastien Puel (producer) Jade Raymond (executive producer)
Writer(s)	Corey May, Joshua Rubin, Jeffrey Yohalem
Composer(s)	Jesper Kyd
Series	Assassin's Creed
Engine	Anvil Havok (Physics Engine)
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 Microsoft Windows Mac OS X OnLive
Release	PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360 Microsoft Windows Mac OS X
Genre(s)	Action-adventure, Open world, Stealth
Mode(s)	Single-player (third-person view)

Assassin's Creed II is a historical action-adventure open world stealth video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It is the second video game installment of the Assassin's Creed series, and is a sequel to the 2007 video game Assassin's Creed. The game was released for video game consoles in November 2009, and for Windows in March 2010. Its direct sequel, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, was released in November 2010.

The frame story 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 their 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 the 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, Forlì, San Gimignano, 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) during one mission. The player also has the ability to control a carriage in one level, and can row gondolas, as well as ride horses at any point in the game where they are readily available between towns and cities. The setting of the various places the player may go to have been made more detailed and in-depth; civilians can carry objects and sometimes cough or sneeze. Additionally, the player can hire different groups of NPCs, such as mercenaries, courtesans, or thieves; these groups can be used to fight, distract, or lure guards, respectively. 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 NPCs. Money thrown to the ground, or a corpse carried and then deposited on the ground, may also serve as a distraction for both guards and peasants. There are also several different types of enemies, some more agile or stronger than others, and some of which will actively search hiding places where Ezio was last seen.

Ezio stealing a gondola from a small pier

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 the enemy. Da Vinci provides the player with specialized weaponry, such as the dual hidden blades, poison blade and the miniature wheellock firearm, which are all based on schematics found in Altaïr's Codex pages. Generic swords, cutlasses, maces, axes and daggers can all be purchased from vendors in each city or otherwise looted from corpses (some items, such as spears and brooms, cannot be acquired from vendors). 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, located in Monteriggioni, acts as Ezio's headquarters: 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 clothing dyes. When these shops are renovated, Ezio receives discounts at the shops on the goods they sell. Purchasing weaponry, armour sets and artwork also contributes to increasing the villa's overall worth, in turn generating more income for Monteriggioni.

There is now a broader array of methods for hiding or blending in the area. One can dive underwater to break 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 guards more alert to Ezio's presence depending on his behavior, location, and current mission. This infamy can be reduced through bribery, removing wanted posters, or assassinating corrupt officials.

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 the game; about half are part of the main storyline, while the rest are side quests which need not be completed in order to finish the game's main storyline. 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; the collection of all six Seals allows 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 Canal, the Little Canal, the Rialto Bridge, Santa Maria del Fiore, the Sistine Chapel, Santa Croce, Palazzo Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio, and Santa Maria Novella.

Synopsis

Plot

In the "Truth puzzles", certain historic paintings are used, such as the first depiction of a firearm.

Assassin's Creed II begins immediately after the events of the first game in 2012; Desmond Miles is still trapped by Abstergo Industries (the modern-day face of the Knights Templar) after being forced to use the Animus device to revisit genetic memories of the Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, and has discovered prophetic warnings from Subject 16 (a previous captive) describing the end of the world. He is soon rescued by Lucy Stillman, a mole for the Assassins within Abstergo, who takes him to meet two other Assassins, historian Shaun Hastings and computer expert Rebecca Crane. They request that Desmond use their version of the Animus, the Animus 2.0, to relive memories of another Assassin, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, to train Desmond in the ways of the Assassins through the "Bleeding Effect" of the Animus. During his exposure, Desmond finds himself briefly struck by a puzzling memory of Altaïr and his lover, a former Templar named Maria Thorpe, who became pregnant with his child. It is also revealed that apart from training Desmond as an Assassin, the Assassins also wish to find out more information about the foretold "Vault". Desmond also finds various glyphs left by Subject 16 in the Animus, which, when decoded and assembled, form a brief video of a man and woman, "Adam" and "Eve", running through a futuristic setting called "Eden". The video ends with the binary for "EDEN" (00100101 00100100 00100101 00101110).

Assassin's Creed II's plot includes the fictional depictions of historical characters including Niccolò Machiavelli and Rodrigo Borgia, later known as Pope Alexander VI.

Ezio's memories begin during the Renaissance in the 15th century, where his family is ensnared in a political plot, and his father and brothers are hanged. Ezio, following his father Giovannis's last advice, finds his father's Assassin tools, and flees the city with his mother and sister to the safety of his uncle Mario's villa in the countryside. Mario assassinates Ezio in discovering the people behind the conspiracy, the search leading Ezio from Florence, to San Gimignano, Forlì, Venice and eventually to Rome. As he identifies and assassinates more and more political figures, Ezio also gains several allies, including Niccolò Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci, the latter of whom helps Ezio improve his equipment using schematics found in Altaïr's Codex pages. Eventually, Ezio identifies the mastermind of the plot: the Spaniard Rodrigo Borgia, who ultimately sought to bring down the Medici family in Florence with the help of the Pazzi family and the Doge of Venice. Ezio finds Borgia in possession of the Apple—a similar Piece of Eden that Altaïr had recovered centuries ago—and learns that Borgia believes himself to be "the Prophet" that will lead the Templars to a fabled "Vault". Ezio is able to confront Borgia with the help of his allies and recover the Apple, but Borgia flees before he can be killed. Ezio's allies reveal they are all Assassins, and see Ezio as their Prophet, allowing him to join their ranks.

After this memory, the modern Assassins discover that several years of Ezio's memories are inaccessible from the Animus. Desmond can only revisit those starting in 1499, where Ezio and the Assassins plan to attack Borgia (now Pope Alexander VI) at Vatican City. Ezio corners Borgia and strikes him down, but refuses to kill him, as he knows that it will not bring back his family. Ezio uses the Apple and the Papal cross (which is also a Piece of Eden called the Staff), and discovers the entrance to the Vault. Inside, he is astounded when a holographic figure, calling herself Minerva, appears. Speaking directly to Desmond and those monitoring him in 2012, she explains that she was part of a far more advanced society that initially co-existed along with the early humans on Earth before they faced each other in war. A global catastrophe occurred that nearly wiped out both sides, and the survivors joined together to construct "temples" across the Earth to allow humans to prevent a similar catastrophe in the future. Before the hologram disappears, she warns Desmond—by name—that "the rest is up to you".

Shortly after recovering this memory, Desmond and the others are forced to flee with the Animus 2.0 from their location as Abstergo troops surround it. There, they encounter Warren Vidic, who flees when Desmond and Lucy deal with the troops. As the team heads towards a new safehouse, Lucy explains that there are newly-discovered weaknesses in the Earth's magnetic field; a solar flare striking this weakness would cause a similar level of global destruction as described by Minerva. Desmond resolves to help the Assassins find these temples, and prepares to reenter the Animus, knowing that Ezio may hold the answers they seek.

Cast

• Roger Craig Smith as Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a Florentine nobleman and a key figure in the history of the Assassin Brotherhood
• Kristen Bell as Lucy Stillman, a modern-day Assassin
• Nolan North as Desmond Miles, Ezio's descendant
• Fred Tatasciore as Mario Auditore, a condottiero, ruler of Monteriggioni, Mentor to the Italian Assassins, and Ezio's paternal uncle
• Carlos Ferro as Leonardo da Vinci, an artist and scientist of the Italian Renaissance
• Manuel Tadros as Rodrigo Borgia, a Spanish aristocrat who is both Grand Master of the Templar Order and an important figure in the Catholic Church
• Romano Orzari as Giovanni Auditore da Firenze, a Florentine nobleman, banker, leading member of the Assassin Brotherhood, and Ezio's father
• Ellen David as Maria Auditore da Firenze, a Florentine noblewoman, Giovanni's wife and Ezio's mother
• Claudia Ferri as Paola, a Florentine courtesan, brothel owner and Assassin
• Angela Galuppo as Claudia Auditore da Firenze, a Florentine noblewoman and Ezio's younger sister
• Elias Toufexis as Federico Auditore da Firenze, a Florentine nobleman, Assassin and Ezio's older brother
• Carlo Mestroni as Antonio de Magianis, an Assassin and leader of the Venetian thieves' guild
• Lita Tresierra as Rosa, a member of the Venetian thieves' guild
• Michel Perron as Uberto Alberti, a Florentine lawyer and statesman who sides with the Templars in their attempt to seize control of Florence
• Roc LaFortune as Carlo Grimaldi, a member of the Council of Ten
• Alex Ivanovici as Lorenzo de' Medici, a.k.a, "Il Magnifico", an Italian diplomat, statesman and patron of the arts
  • Ivanovici also voiced Bartolomeo d'Alviano, an condottiero and Assassin
• Arthur Grosser as Jacopo de' Pazzi, the head of the Pazzi family and their banking business
• Arthur Holden as Emilio Barbarigo, a Venetian merchant and noble
• Danny Wallace as Shaun Hastings, an analyst and researcher responsible for compiling and maintaining the knowledge archives of the Animus 2.0
• Eliza Schneider as Rebecca Crane, a tech-savvy Assassin
• Cam Clarke as Clay Kaczmarek, a.k.a. "Subject 16", no longer human, but an AI recreation within the Animus
• Harry Standjofski as Silvio Barbarigo, a.k.a. "Il Rosso", Venice's state inquisitor
• Tony Robinow as Marco Barbarigo, Silvio's cousin and the Templars' intended candidate to replace the doge of Venice, Giovanni Mocenigo
• Vito DeFilippo as Gilberto, a.k.a. "La Volpe", an Assassin and leader of the Florentine thieves' guild
• Yuri Lowenthal as Vieri de' Pazzi, Jacopo's grandnephew and one of the youngest Pazzi conspirators
• Andreas Apergis as Francesco de' Pazzi, Jacopo's nephew and the main driving force behind the family's involvement in the Pazzi conspiracy
  • Apergis also voiced Checco Orsi, a noble of Forlì
• Margaret Easley as Minerva, one of Those Who Came Before, the First Civilization
• Nadia Verrucci as Teodora Contanto, a Venetian courtesan, brothel owner and Asssassin
• Anne-Marie Baron as Annetta, the Auditore family's maid
• Cristina Rosato as Caterina Sforza, the duchess of Forlì
• Shawn Baichoo as Niccolò Machiavelli, a Florentine politician, philosopher, and Assassin
  • Baichoo also voiced Antonio Maffei, a Volterrani monk
• Amber Mullin as Cristina Vespucci, a Florentine noblewoman renowned for her beauty and sought after Ezio
• Phil Proctor as Warren Vidic, the head of genetic research at Abstergo Industries and the Animus Project

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; this issue was written into the game's story as the Animus corrupting several memory sequences. 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 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 Caterina 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 Orsi 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 Forlì'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 Forlì area. Unlike regular memories, the player is able 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 courier 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 with his hidden blade to spare him the pain. Ezio stands before the confused crowd and declares that all should follow their own path, as he was taught by his mentors.

Templar Lairs

These three dungeons/platforming puzzles, similar to the game's Assassin's Tombs but without special rewards other than treasure, were originally included in the Assassin's Creed II: Black Edition (European and Australian release), with one included in the White Edition and two in the North American Master Assassin's Edition. Ubisoft subsequently offered them as DLC via PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. They have since been included in Assassin's Creed II: Deluxe Edition and Game of the Year Edition.

Development

System requirements

	Minimum	Recommended
Windows
Operating system	XP, Vista or Windows 7, Mac OS X
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4 GHz	Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 2.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ or better
Memory	1 GB for XP 2 GB for Vista or Windows 7
Free space	8 GB
Graphics hardware	256 MB DirectX 9.0–compliant card with Shader Model 3.0 or higher	GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 4700 or better(512 MB)
Sound hardware	DirectX 9.0 –compliant sound card	5.1 sound card
Network	Non-Constant Internet Connection: Broadband connection with 128 kbps upstream or faster.

Ubisoft's Yves Guillemot officially confirmed that Assassin's Creed II was in development on November 26, 2008, during the company's financial performance report. This was followed by Michael Pachter speculating in GameTrailers' "Bonus Round" that game would change its setting to the events of the French Revolution, which turned out to be false.

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 Giovanni.

It was also revealed that the humorist Danny Wallace would be voicing a new character in Assassin's Creed II: 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 three platforms, but Ubisoft announced on September 24, 2009 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."

Music

The score to Assassin's Creed II was composed by Jesper Kyd, who also composed the first game's music. 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

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Earth"	3:58
2.	"Venice Rooftops"	3:17
3.	"Ezio's Family"	3:57
4.	"Florence Tarantella"	1:51
5.	"Home in Florence"	4:29
6.	"Approaching Target 1"	3:35
7.	"Approaching Target 2"	6:06
8.	"Venice Fight"	2:01
9.	"Florence Escape"	2:49
10.	"Tour of Venice"	3:15
11.	"Flight Over Venice 1"	5:09
12.	"Back in Venice"	1:32
13.	"Dream of Venice"	4:23
14.	"Home of the Brotherhood"	3:26
15.	"Leonardo's Inventions, Part 1"	2:11
16.	"Venice Combat Low"	1:44
17.	"Venice Escape"	3:26
18.	"Darkness Falls in Florence"	4:05
19.	"Sanctuary"	4:05
20.	"The Madam"	1:04
21.	"Approaching Target 3"	5:52
22.	"Flight Over Venice 2"	5:18
23.	"Ezio in Florence"	2:18
24.	"Venice Industry"	3:09
25.	"Stealth"	2:22
26.	"Venice Combat"	2:03
27.	"Notorious"	1:14
28.	"Night Mission in Venice"	2:11
29.	"Chariot Chase"	3:20
30.	"The Plague"	3:30
31.	"Wetlands Combat"	2:28
32.	"Wetlands Escape"	2:36
33.	"Leonardo's Inventions, Part 2"	2:47
34.	"Hideout"	2:40
35.	"The Animus 2.0"	4:14

Assassin's Creed II [Black Edition]: Original Soundtrack

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 films, 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, collectively 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, in which the player could obtain and roam PlayStation Home in it. 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, Assassin's Creed: Renaissance (by Oliver Bowden), was published by Penguin Books in November 2009.

Reception

Assassin's Creed II

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	(PS3) 91.47% (X360) 90.49% (PC) 83.50%
Metacritic	(PS3) 92/100 (X360) 90/100 (PC) 86/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
1Up.com	A-
Computer and Video Games	9.4/10
Edge	8
Game Informer	9.5/10
GamePro	5/5
GameSpot	9/10 (PS3/Xbox360) 8/10 (Windows)
GameSpy
GamesRadar+	10/10
GameTrailers	9.2/10
IGN	9.2/10
M! Games	93% (PS3)
TeamXbox	9.5/10

Upon release, Assassin's Creed II garnered widespread critical acclaim. Review aggregator site Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version a score of 91 and the Xbox 360 version a 90.

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 sold 9 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, 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 complete 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 in the package are download codes for the two DLCs, Battle of Forlì 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.

Eventually Assassin's Creed II: Deluxe Edition was also released, containing the three bonus areas & missions and the downloadable content Battle of Forlì and Bonfire of the Vanities. This Edition, however, is only available via Digital Download.

DRM-related criticism

The PC version of the game contains Ubisoft Online Services Platform, a DRM system that initially required all users to 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 was 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 exactly the 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 dynamic-link library 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 DRM was modified in December 2010 as the game no longer requires a constant Internet connection while playing. Instead, the player has to be connected to the Internet every time the game is launched.

Sequel

Discussions about details of Assassin's Creed III were already present before the release of Assassin's Creed II, with the game staff's notion of possibly having a female descendant in England during 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. However, on March 1, 2012, the setting for Assassin's Creed III was revealed to be colonial Boston during the American Revolution, starring a Native American protagonist named Connor.

A direct sequel, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood was released on November 2010 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, continuing directly after the events of Assassin's Creed II. While not an expansion pack, the game once again features Ezio Auditore da Firenze as the primary protagonist, and includes a new online multiplayer mode. The game takes place primarily in Rome, the seat of power for the Borgia family and the Knights Templar. The game's primary antagonist is Cesare Borgia, Rodrigo Borgia's son.

External links

• Official website
• Assassin's Creed II at IMDb