La Grande Avventura

I started Assassin's Creed II hoping for a better time than I had with the its predecessor, and I wasn't disappointed in the least. The game gripped me with its whirlwind opening and barring a few technical issues, this exquisite Renaissance piece kept me entertained all the way to its amazing finale. 
 

Jacking into the Animus

After a short recap, Assassin's Creed II hits the ground running with Desmond aiming to become a modern day assassin. For his training, he must access the memories of his ancestor Ezio Auditore, the mischievous son of a nobleman in Renaissance-era Italy. Ezio's (fictional) vengeance tale blends seamlessly with actual historical figures from the same era like Leonardo Da Vinci, Lorenzo Medici, Rodrigo Borgia and suchlike. It's a good thing because Ezio's story is rather bland on its own but the inclusion of all these real luminaries and historical events adds some much needed energy to the whole process. 

The narrative is a bit more exciting from Desmond's point of view. This is largely thanks to a series of clues left behind by Subject 16 about the eternal war between the Templars and Assassins. These mysterious “Truth” puzzles are spread throughout the game world as collectibles. The writers were certainly channeling Dan Brown when creating these by stringing together some of the biggest conspiracy theories in mankind's history in a neat fashion. The interactive nature of these puzzles gave me a great sense of satisfaction and decrypting all the hidden codes/subliminal messages can be a lot of fun. Cam Clarke (Subject 16) does a great job of delivering the emotions of a paranoid man on the verge of breakdown. Rewarding puzzles are not the only draw here but they certainly end up being one of the highlights of the entire game. 
 

Stab! Stab! Stab!

Of course, the main reason anyone would want to play this game is for the assassinations. And the good news is you spend almost the entire game playing as Ezio, who is on a killing spree driven by revenge and political motivations. He has a huge arsenal at his disposal but the most satisfying weapon are the set of two hidden blades under his wrists. The instant kill animations with these blades make the resultant gruesome murders a sadistic yet gratifying experience. 

Ezio is also a master of hiding in plain sight as he mingles effortlessly in a crowd, using everything from courtesans to monks as his cover. Pulling off silent kills using this mechanic is one of the game's most tense & exciting experiences. Unfortunately, the same can't be said about the rest of the combat system. Ezio can take an unfair amount of damage before going down and with the right use of medicines & blocking, you can avoid a combat death for the entire game. The counter/disarm system also drags down the overall experience, as you are often left waiting for the guards to attack. There is little challenge here and the only payoff is seeing Ezio brutally stab Italians in the face and neck. But what a payoff it is!

The game is set in an open world so you're free to ignore Ezio's personal vendetta and take him on your own adventures over old Florence rooftops or through the waters of Venice. The parkour abilities allow you to rule the rooftops, if you can find your way around the technical issues. The controls feel clumsy & unintuitive at times because the jumping is limited to right angles only. The movements feel very heavy while sprinting and this makes the running-jumps a frustrating experience. This turns some of the game's rooftop races into a chore. 
 

Renaissance of a beautiful past

Despite its difficulty in exploration, the world in Assassin's Creed 2 is a beauty to behold. The streets are almost always crowded and feel alive. People constantly react in amazement at your crazy rooftop shenanigans or curse you with some choice words for rudely bumping into them. I often found myself deviating from the main storyline to chase thieves across towns or doing one of the game's many, many sidequests. There are an overwhelming number of historical architectures to scale, crumbling villas to be fixed and a variety of fun collectibles to be had.  

Presentation is one of Assassin's Creed's strongest suits, with incredible detail on the characters and the world. The artistry and rich cultural background of Renaissance Italy comes through gracefully with grand architectures and beautiful embroideries. Generally everyone emotes well enough to avoid the uncanny valley, though some of the characters (especially Lucy) go overboard with exaggerated expressions that can make you cringe. The Anvil game engine has quite a few technical issues on the PS3 that put a small damper on the experience. The framerate drops frequently and I experienced over half a dozen crashes/lockups during my thirty hours with the game. Lets hope a patch is in work to fix these issues.

The accompanying soundtrack captures the bygone era brilliantly, with a couple of particularly memorable themes. Jesper Kyd does a great job of composing classical themes with modern instruments. The game features some great voice work, both inside and outside the Animus. For better or worse, the mannerisms usually associated with stereotypical Italians, like the exaggerated hand motions while talking, are all present here. There is liberal use of old Roman-Italian phrases for emphasis (unless you know what va bene means, make sure you turn the subtitles on). All this is either a good or bad thing depending on how comfortable you're with the Italian accent. Either way, it gives Ezio and his supporting cast an air of authenticity and I'm glad Ubisoft went all the way with it.

Recommendation: In spite of all its minor flaws, Assassin's Creed II is a great adventure in a well realized world. There is a lot to be done here and the small technical issues never become big enough to keep you from thoroughly enjoying your time in the Renaissance.