Assassin's Creed II refines a trend started in platformer gaming that will hopefully encourage others to follow suit.

User Rating: 9.5 | Assassin's Creed II X360
The first Assassin's Creed game can be classified as a solid idea. However, despite the immersion provided from the first game, it wasn't executed very well. The missions were very repetitive, and most of the time weren't necessary to complete the game. Assassin's Creed II rectifies these problems in Renaissance Era Italy, and creates a beautiful game that refines a trend started by its predecessor.

The game's star Desmond Miles finds himself reliving the memories of an assassin ancestor via a machine called the Animus, and walks in the shoes of his Italian ancestor Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Having escaped from the evil corporation holding him in the first game, Desmond now works for his assassin friends in the modern day.

Not only does Ezio have a greater mission variety than Altair, he also has a lot more to do in general. Mission structure is no longer repetitive, and instead follows the structure of other sandbox games like Grand Theft Auto. Ezio will find his way to a way point and do story driven missions that involve assassinating, following, stealing, and even flying. In addition to the story missions there are several other types of missions like races, courier events, and fist fight events. Needless to say, players will find a hard time getting bored with the amount of variety in the game.

The story is a simplistic tale of revenge, but its the characters and setting that really make it shine. Players will be amazed to see how much Ezio grows during the game and the amount of history adding to the game's story is overwhelming. The main enemy is the pope, a rival group of templars are an actual Italian banking family, and one of Ezio's best friends is the Leonardo da Vinci.

The gameplay takes all the great parts of Assassin's Creed and further refines them. Assassinations are cooler than ever thanks to various new methods of assassination and the dual hidden blades that allow for two kills at once. New items and weapons including smoke bombs, poison, hammers, and even a pistol allow the player to feel like they truly do have a choice in how they take out their target. A downside to all of this is that gameplay is significantly easier than in the first game. Guards can be dispatched with ease and the smoke bombs can be regarded as exceedingly cheap. Most enemies won't pose as much of a threat as they did for Altair.

An economy surfaces in Assassin's Creed II and Ezio can earn florins, the currency, in a variety of ways by stealing, completing missions, finding treasure chests, and upgrading his villa. The villa acts as Masyaf did in the last game, where it is Ezio's fortress. By investing money into it, Ezio draws income whenever his comes back for a visit. With this money Ezio can stock up on ammo, buy new swords, and even deck himself out in various armors and dyed robes.

The game controls in the exact same way it did before with no problems. The targeting system automatically tells the player when an aerial assassination is possible, and battles progress smoothly with cinematic style action. Platforming can become a bit of a struggle at times when Ezio runs up a ledge when in fact the player wanted him to jump onto the next surface. Its a break in the more refined platforming gameplay, but it is only a small flaw that doesn't happen consistently.

Renaissance Italy has never looked more beautiful. From the Tuscan countryside to the canals of Venice, players will constantly be impressed by the beauty of the game. The cities feature historic buildings and flow together seamlessly, allowing the player to jump to and from building and rooftop without stopping. The people roaming the cities all look different enough to simulate an actual city, only adding to the immersion.

The sound is absolutely beautiful with many finely orchestrated pieces. Each track fits perfectly to the situation it's tailored for. Some of the later fight scenes and chase scenes have particularly exciting music. The only problem is that during certain missions, races specifically, the music won't run which can be a disappointment.

Overall, Assassin's Creed II is what every new generation platformer should strive to be. It seamlessly weaves a fictional plot and conspiracy into history itself. With funny, but deep characters, an expansive world, and solid gameplay, Assassin's Creed II is easily one of the best games to grace this generation.