In the debut of AC1 we saw a lot of potential for a stealth game that was great but not without it’s flaws. Majority of the criticism was to do with the repetitiveness of the missions. The general pattern was to sit on benches eaves dropping and steal a letter or interrogate a messenger. This would guide you to your next target to assassinate.

Ubisoft Montreal has heard the fans criticism and has promised that Assassins Creed 2 offers more content than players bargained for. You can say goodbye to all the niggling gameplay mechanics of the first installment as most of them have been removed or over hauled for AC 2.

Assassins Creed 2 takes place in the 15th century of renaissance Italy, Rome, Florence and the Tuscan Countryside. Players now take control of Ezio Auditore da Firenze who is a man of education and wealth occasionally pleasing the ladies. After his family are killed and betrayed he learns of his destiny to become a master assassin. Wearing the white cowl and duel blades you can bet Ezio is out for blood.

A new feature in AC 2 is to earn money either by looting it from people you have killed or pick pocketing from civilians as you walk past them. Money earned can be used to buy a bunch of new weapon types such as maces, axes, swords, hammers, spears, variant of daggers, hidden blades and dual blades to name a few. All weapons and armour (as well as upgrades) in the game can be purchased from blacksmiths scattered around the games environment.

You can now disarm enemies of their weapons and use them against them when Ezio is unarmed in battle. The sequence of animations after this are quite brutal, often plunging swords into guards that deep Ezio struggles to take the weapon out of their body.

Guards are a lot smarter now, no longer will they wait for you to do something in front of them to interact in a fight or chase sequence. If you’re in their field of view they will pounce on you like a pack of wolves. Hiding in a hay stack will no longer cut it, their AI has been notched up to have a poke into hay stacks and observe who’s sitting on a bench to be concise. To bring down the heat, you can always blend into groups of crowds or lay in stacks of leaves when the guards aren’t around. 

There are three types of enemies you will come across in battle. Staring with the Brute, he is perhaps the toughest and challenging of all. He’s not so quick on his feet and not very smart either, you might say he’s got more muscle mass than brain. 

The Seeker is more agile and determined to find you, interacting with blend spots or hay stacks you maybe hiding in. You may remember seeing this enemy in the E3 demo where Ezio dives into a haystack and a guard goes to investigate. Using one of the new gameplay features Ezio stabs the guard and pulls him into the hay.

Finally there’s the Agile who is the free running type, maneuvering in the same way as you along rooftops and bridges etc. If you ever feel you’re not ready for a fight, you can always hire a couple of thieves to fight for you, buying you enough time to escape from the guards.

Prostitutes or courtezans as the game like’s to call them can also be hired to hide or blend you into the crowd when you’re trying to avoid guards. Alternatively they can be hired to distract guards from their posts so that you can gain entry into a certain place.

Instead of blending in with monks as you did in AC1, you can now blend in with any group of civilians just by walking or standing next to them. To notify you that you’re blending in with a crowd, a white glow appears around your blended surroundings.

This time round you no longer heal automatically, you have health potions which can be purchased by a doctor to replenish your health anytime you wish. Alternatively the doctor can heal you straight away when you’re seen to.

Long gone are the missions where you’re sitting on benches eaves dropping conversations. Missions are now more dynamic and varied, which I’m sure is music to fans ears after criticizing AC1 for its repetitive missions.

Perhaps one of my favourite features in Assassins Creed 2 is the ability to swim and use a gondola around the games environment. You can even use a ship to fast track between the four cities within the game, if platforming is not your cup of tea. 

Looking at all the improvements and newly implemented features in AC 2, it seems as though Ubisoft has achieved everything that the first installment should have been and more. All the tiresome clichés of the first game have disappeared for the better.

Seeing some of the missions represented by Ubisoft such as the one where Ezio is in full control of Leonardo Da Vinci’s flying machine I can’t see mission’s in AC 2 being boring or repetitive at all.

Ubisoft has definitely stretched the mile to reward the fans with nothing less than a fantastic setting, compelling gameplay mechanics and an intriguing set of weapons in addition to moves. Be sure to watch this space as we get closer to date of 20th November.