I recently purchased Assassin's Creed 2 through Steam and almost immediately regretted it.  First, the port isn't as well done as I assumed it would be.  I was a big fan of the first game, which I played on the Xbox 360.  That wasn't an option this, and I've noticed a number of little things that haven't transitioned well, like the camera, quick-time events, and mapping controls to the keyboard.  But second, and more importantly, the DRM used is over-the-top, won't-believe-it-until-you-see-it bad.  As I'm sure most people on Giant Bomb know, Assassin's Creed 2 on the PC requires a constant Internet connection.  Want to take your laptop on the road with you?  Tough luck, no Assassin's Creed 2 for you.  Network goes down?  Too bad.  And that's only for problems that happen on your end.  More frustrating is what happened the last few days.  Ubisoft servers have (apparently) been under denial-of-service attacks, which has limited the ability of its customers to use the single-player game they paid for, through no fault of their own.  Ubisoft announced through their official twitter account that they would keep customers updated, but by that I guess they meant they would make unrelated twitter comments for the next several hours.  I also say  "apparently" because we just have to take Ubisoft's word for it that their servers were actually attacked; it seems entirely possible that their new system simply screwed up.  I'm a sucker, so I'll probably end up buying Assassin's Creed 3 regardless of the DRM Ubisoft uses, but I hope that some less enthusiastic fans vote with their wallets and give Ubisoft something to think about here.

I recently purchased Assassin's Creed 2 through Steam and almost immediately regretted it.  First, the port isn't as well done as I assumed it would be.  I was a big fan of the first game, which I played on the Xbox 360.  That wasn't an option this, and I've noticed a number of little things that haven't transitioned well, like the camera, quick-time events, and mapping controls to the keyboard.  But second, and more importantly, the DRM used is over-the-top, won't-believe-it-until-you-see-it bad.  As I'm sure most people on Giant Bomb know, Assassin's Creed 2 on the PC requires a constant Internet connection.  Want to take your laptop on the road with you?  Tough luck, no Assassin's Creed 2 for you.  Network goes down?  Too bad.  And that's only for problems that happen on your end.  More frustrating is what happened the last few days.  Ubisoft servers have (apparently) been under denial-of-service attacks, which has limited the ability of its customers to use the single-player game they paid for, through no fault of their own.  Ubisoft announced through their official twitter account that they would keep customers updated, but by that I guess they meant they would make unrelated twitter comments for the next several hours.  I also say  "apparently" because we just have to take Ubisoft's word for it that their servers were actually attacked; it seems entirely possible that their new system simply screwed up.  I'm a sucker, so I'll probably end up buying Assassin's Creed 3 regardless of the DRM Ubisoft uses, but I hope that some less enthusiastic fans vote with their wallets and give Ubisoft something to think about here.

i bought it, when its working on their end its working good for me (my internet is solid), and when they're having issues i just wait and play something else. 
 
the port is fine IMO, im having a blast.. thank you :)

I agree with you about the DRM issues and keyboard mapping. Other than those, the game looks stunning on my PC and controls fine with my 360 controller. I bought the game despite the DRM because I loved the first one, and I'm always connected  to the net while I'm playing, but I'm not a fan of their service at all.

Ironicly these server outages would totally justify looking for cracks for the game. I played this game on the PS3, but if I bought this game I would totally crack it for my laptop. Where is the sense in that?

" I recently purchased Assassin's Creed 2 through Steam and almost immediately regretted it.  First, the port isn't as well done as I assumed it would be.  I was a big fan of the first game, which I played on the Xbox 360.  That wasn't an option this, and I've noticed a number of little things that haven't transitioned well, like the camera, quick-time events, and mapping controls to the keyboard.  But second, and more importantly, the DRM used is over-the-top, won't-believe-it-until-you-see-it bad.  As I'm sure most people on Giant Bomb know, Assassin's Creed 2 on the PC requires a constant Internet connection.  Want to take your laptop on the road with you?  Tough luck, no Assassin's Creed 2 for you.  Network goes down?  Too bad.  And that's only for problems that happen on your end.  More frustrating is what happened the last few days.  Ubisoft servers have (apparently) been under denial-of-service attacks, which has limited the ability of its customers to use the single-player game they paid for, through no fault of their own.  Ubisoft announced through their official twitter account that they would keep customers updated, but by that I guess they meant they would make unrelated twitter comments for the next several hours.  I also say  "apparently" because we just have to take Ubisoft's word for it that their servers were actually attacked; it seems entirely possible that their new system simply screwed up.  "

What does DRM stand for?

" What does DRM stand for? "

Crack it.
Freaking crack it. 
You PAID for your game. Do whatever the hell you want to do with it? If they want you hooked up to the internet then they can piss off-YOU are a paying customer - not a pirate. Crack it.  
Sorry for being edgy but this is the corporate shit that I've been foreseeing fora while : / 

So is this one a lousy port as well?
 
 
AC1 was all kinds of bad when it first released on the PC.

" I recently purchased Assassin's Creed 2
 

Really sorry to hear that, I've heard nothing but pain and frustration regarding Ubi and their new DRM. What's a bit more troubling is that they've really shown no sign of acknowledgment on how the vast majority hate it. Sure as hell scared me from purchasing anything made by Ubi on the PC for the future. I'm a staunch anti-pirate, I can't stress that enough I work and make enough to purchase my own games thank you very much. That being said, I can totally see someone justified in pirating Assassins Creed 2 for PC. Online "authentication", for each session in a single player game? Crap, not even GFWL is that ridiculous. 
 
The only thing that I have seen this DRM accomplish is piss off people who legitimately purchased it, limit the consumer and the product. 
So nobody's cracked your game....yet..... I guess that's something to pat yourself on the back. While your at it, you might want to consider making your games functional, when the hoops that your now making your paying customers jump through fail.  
 
Of course the other obvious option is just purchase the game for consoles. Which is sad, because I got this brand new PC several months ago and would have loved to see Assassins Creed 2 at a higher resolution. 
Now I made myself depressed. 
...
 
I think I shall go cry some more. But seriously, if they're going to stick with that DRM system in their little piracy crusade, they need to fix and rethink that thing asap.

Ahmad_Metallic: I get what you're saying, but for me, having to wait on Ubisoft to get their shit together doesn't cut it.  I don't want to play something else and kill time while they figure things out on their end, I want to play the game I paid for, and that I'm in the middle of now. 
 
Juvarial: I share the feeling.  If anyone ever got busted for doing something like this, I would love  to see that go to trial.  All you need is one gamer on the jury, and there's no way they'd convict. 
 
ajmafalous:  I wouldn't say it's a bad port, it just seems rushed.  Assassin's Creed uses a pretty unique control scheme that (it seems to me) was designed for use with an Xbox controller.  So it works great on that.  When you play on a pc, with a mouse and keyboard, it doesn't translate quite as nicely.  The graphics can still be beautiful, and the gameplay and story so far are good, so I can't complain there.  The big complaint with the first one, as I recall, was lack of variety, and they have dealt with that nicely in this one.  It's a few little things that I've noticed that aren't great (another is the camera, which can be a little finnicky in the indoor sequences, but this may have been an issue with the console versions as well). 
 
vidiot: Couldnt' agree more.  The other thing I'm noticing is that Ubisoft is simultaneously trying to set up an online community for their games, much like Bioware has, and similar in a sense to what Steam and Microsoft have done with their communities, achievements, etc.  And while I think it's good to do these types of things in general, having a different system for every game is getting a little ridiculous.  I'm looking forward to seeing some consolidation here, if for nothing else than the fact that I have to manage a ridiculous number of log-ins and navigate a different system every time I get a new game.

" @Alphiehyr said:

" What does DRM stand for? "

digital rights management "

I cannot even imagine playing AC2 with a keyboard.