Assassin's Creed II (Xbox 360)

Presentation 9/10 The menus are easy to navigate, look brilliant and work well within the context and story of the game. The loading screens are short, and you can move the assassin on a blank canvas whilst you wait. Graphics 10/10 Stunning, this is one of the first games I played on an HDTV, and it adds so much more to the experience. I often found myself going to extremely high locations in the game just to view the landscape. You travel to numourous 15th Century locations with Italy, and they all look superb, particularly Venice. Story 8/10 It is difficult to discuss this without giving too much away, but you play as an assassin, so obviously the story is focused primarily on assassinating certain targets, who caused the death of the main characters family. It is far more than a simple betrayal however, and your intent is to kill all responsible for what happened to your family. I give it an 8/10 because the story gets more and more convoluted as you progress. Yet it is engrossing enough to make you want to continue the game. Gameplay 9/10 The gameplay is excellent the freerunning works extremely smoothly and allows you to traverse cities in mere minutes with relative ease. The actual assassination techniques work very well and allow you to either be a swift killer, its possible to kill someone and leave the area before anyone has noticed, even in crowded areas, or you can and inevitably will engage in full on fights. These work very similarly to the first game, and mainly consist of waiting for an enemy to strike so you can counter or parry his attack in order to achieve victory. It can be a little easy at times however, and it takes a long time for the game to get into full swing. Lasting appeal 4/10 This is why the game only gets a 4/5 overall, you will absolutely love every moment of this game, I found myself going out of the way to get all the achievements and find all the secrets it offers. But once you have done that, there is little else to do. There is very litttle customisation available and the game is linear in nature. You will complete it, have loved it, and then it'll sit on the shelf gathering dust. Overall 8/10 A superb gaming masterpiece...that you should probably just rent.

Having never played Assasin's Creed before, I was dubious as to whether I would understand the plot, however it turns out I had no reason to worry. It doesn't take long to learn the basic commands, and you learn new tricks along the way. It wasn't long before I was hooked - it's a game you just can't stop playing. It's got a great storyline that left me wanting more, and the side-missions are a great distraction, as well as helpful in getting money to improve weapons, armour and more. The best single-player game I've played in a while, highly recommended.

A worthy sequel to the original. It rights many of the wrongs the original had. Still has it's faults. It can become repetitive and quite boring after you have finished the story but actually going through the story is exciting and captivating. The control are hard at first but you get used to it. Visually it's a treat. Perhaps they could have made it even better but it still is one of the best out there. Overall it is stunning game but due to the longevity problems it misses out on the full marks.

Well, I've had this game for a month now and lets say that I just can't stop playing it. It is completley different ot the first one as i found it very repetative and in the end boring. There are a wide range of missions and other things to collect and overall a great game.

Assassins Creed 2 is a great game with realistic graphics and a interesting animated world with great attention to detail. It can easily grip you and not make you to want to stop playing until you've completed the game. I reccommend it to anyone who hasn't played it yet It's a great game for teenagers especially.

I was very excited for getting this as my christmas present and it wasn't a dissapointment. I admit Assasins Creed 1 had a lot to work on with the boring plot and the elongated speeches with your master, bu Ubisoft have really set the bar high this time. All the investigation missions have been chucked out and the story line has been made much smoother allowing it to flow easier. All the missions fit in perfectly. Now you can do much more with Ezio then with Altair. Use courtesans, thieves and mercenaries using seduction, distraction and a good fight. The fights are made so much better with different kinds of weaponry and the fist fighting is too good to shrug off with dynamic counters and combos. Aswell as weaponry you can customise your look using tailors shops and backsmiths to upgrade your armour and dye your clothes from the boring white to a more subtle colour. You also could obtain Altair's armour which you get by completing Assasin tombs which add a Prince of Persia element with problem solving and free running. Overall thumbs up!

I was a huge fan of the orginal Assassin's Creed and with the cliff-hanger ending of Assassin's Creed I was left frustrated and gnashing at the bit for the sequel to it. Assassin's Creed 2 is a vast improvement upon its ancestor (pun intended.) So lets start by explaining abit of the story, as you may know from AC you are Desmond Miles captured by the shady technological company Abstergo whom are secretly a front for The Knights Templar or as they are called "Templars" and is being forced to use the Animus to relive is ancestor Altairs memories to discover the location of The Pieces of Eden and so we travelled through The Crusdaes, at the end of AC, Desmond had gained the Eagle Vision ability and upon going into his room at Abstergo blood stain designs covered the walls, AC2 opens with Desmond still staring at the wall and being interupted by Lucy whom you discovered is an Assassin whom breaks you out of Abstergo, thank god Desmond got over his disdain for running and using his fists from AC, otherwise it might have taken Lucy a year to get him down one corridor. So upon escape Desmond is greated by 2 new Assassins and the plan to train Desmond to become an Assassin using his Ancestor "Ezio" from Reniscience Italy using the Assassin modified Animus a.k.a Animus 2.0 and so starts your journey in Italy to train to become an Assassin and discover how far the templar conspiracy goes. The control system is still the same so meant I picked up AC2 with ease and quickly, gone are the mind numbing boredom of Desmonds late night investigation upon where he walks like someone just broke his legs and you leave the animus 2 or 3 times... The combat system is still the same, block the enemies attacks, counter and watch them fountain blood! Added things to combat is the double hidden blades, making for some excellent kills, the ability to disarm the enemy and use their own weapons upon them, the hidden firearm, that really does not take anything away from the game, as you don't have to use it, the added poison blade, that really is, well, pointless, I never used it for kills, only for fun to see what happend. You know also have the ability to buy new armour and weapons and even dye your own clothes, it gives you abit of added creativity and freedom to the game, you can also manage and improve your own base of operations "The Villa Auditore" by spending money on the shops, renivating the church, mine and well and opening other places such as a Brothel and Thieves Guild, but why having a thieves guild in your town attracts people I do not know, the brothel, that makes sense, thieves guild, nar? But hay, it added some fun. Other vast improvements in AC2 is the fact that unlike AC which quickly became repetative and had pretty much no varation in mission types, go out, gather infomation from contacts the same 3 ways, go silently kill the enemy and repeat, you now have varying missions that really grip you and can sometimes have you sit and think about how you are going to take out this next target. The added notority system also adds something special. Also added brilliantly to the game were the Assassin tombs, a puzzle element to the game where you have to free run up vast heights of amazing areas or solve the puzzles in the allotted time to find the tomb of some ancient Assassin to gain there seal so that you can unlock the Special Armour below Villa Auditore. The story the Assassin's Creed 2 is also brilliant, just as it was in Assassin's Creed and grips and compels you to continue playing and just find out what is going on because just as Assassin's Creed had a compelling conspiracy at its heart, so does AC2, it keeps you guessing and the end game, all I can say is OMG! That was brilliant, just fantastic and just made you want more and just as Assassin's Creed made me go "What the...! Oh I need the sequel to this, now!" AC2 does just the same. The only downside I can see to AC2 that AC has over it, is the ability to replay Memory Sequences, sometimes I just wanted to go back and replay a certain level, do it alittle differently, but this time round they seem to have removed that and it makes no sense! You kind of finish the game and go back into the animus and are left to just wander around aimlessly and finish off side mission, find the rest of the feathers, all the glyphs and sync up with all the viewpoints and once you have that done, you have nothing else to do, the only thing I can see for why they did it this way round was to force you to replay the game if you wanted to, which undoubtedly you will! Also as a little side note, I purchased the Black Edition from play.com and have to say its one the best collectors editions I have ever purchased, the figurine is brilliantly made, the box is gorgeous and the 3 extra areas you get are brilliantly crafted and if you get a chance to buy one, do, it is money well spent. All I can say for Assassin's Creed 2 is wow, one of the best games of 2009

I have been reading through many of the reviews submitted over the last few days and i feel that all those people who gave this game a 5 start rating have truly hit the nail on its perfectly formed head. Assassins Creed II is a sublime piece of modern gaming which i found hard to stop playing. However I did have my reservations about this second outing after playing the first installment. Now don't get me wrong! Assassins Creed was amazing, the story was wonderful and full of twists and turns and the game play was truly visionary, but the novelty did start to wain a few hours in as many others before me have mentioned, it did become tedious doing similar missions. It lacked a certain something. Having played AC2 (and not just a demo) it took my reservations and gave them an al mighty kick out the window. I have not been so engrossed in a game since Fallout 3. Its a pleasure to find such depth and clarity, that shows those of us playing it that this was looked after during production and carefully crafted to give the player a fantastic experience and wanting more. So where to start? Firstly, a grumble. Not about the game but rather about the reviews 1 stars. We are all entitled to an opinion and we do not all have the same tastes. This game does not deserve 1 star, by a mile. What i feel was required was time and patience, to see what an awesome experience this is. Then draw your conclusions to produce a fair and honest review. Placing a single star on something to cause minor anger amongst honest reviewers is not acceptable. AC2 blends perfectly with the events of the first game. The story of the Templars is still as strong as ever, with many a twist and turn thrown in for good measure. I particularly enjoyed how many of the characters stories and mission would lead to a much bigger and more complex outing for Ezio. This could easily be made into a film, thats how highly i regard the script and we all know, it would be an amazing film to watch. (Then again video games to movies is shaky ground) Graphically... its ridiculous. It is mouth-watering. Rich colour, smooth texture, fluid motion of Ezio and the people in the town. The free running parts are where the most fun is to be had and a marked improvement over AC1. I did at times find i would jump to a ledge i was not aiming for or I could not climb and would get stuck. Frustrating you might say in games but it never dented my enjoyment, it just spurred me on to get to the top of the building or jump across the Canals of Venice. In the 21st Century. Video Games have the production costs of most major hollywood blockbusters, and can even out perform them at the box office. Having a good musical score can highlight the edge of failure or success. Get it wrong, and it doesn't matter how amazing it looks, the atmosphere is dead. Get it right, you get something that makes you feel personally connected. AC2 won an award for its soundtrack. Beating CODMW2. It was a smart choice. Why 4 stars for fun then? Well originally i was going to do 5, but that was far to eager as i was still playing the game in Florence and had yet to visit the other cities. I chose 4 stars for a few minor reasons. I did feel that monotony did creep in when looking for treasure and codex pages, especially in Venice, which is HUGE! and some mission are very similar. I was a little cheesed of when there was no achievement for collecting so many treasure chest though. Not to end on a negative...So i wont! AC2 is by far one of the greatest games of the last 10 years. It ranks in the Pantheon of The Superb, alongside Zelda - Ocarina of Time, GoldenEye, Bioshock and dare i say Toejam and Earl. Own this game, There is plenty of replay value with hunting the treasure, the extra events and the DLC. Part 1 of the DLC you can fly Leonardo's flying machine for fun! What's not to enjoy? Part 2 i believe might allow you to enter the sector on the otherside of Florence. Lets hope, pray that Ubisoft make AC3 the ultimate adventure.

First off, this game deserves recognition just for how much revamping it's gone under since AC1. I played the original, and while I enjoyed it in a lot of parts, it's structuring and some design ideas resulted in a repetitive, dare I say "pretentious", piece of gaming. It was astounding how a game could reach such highs, while simultaneously reaching some of the lowest lows of video gaming. What's even more astounding is that Ubisoft has addressed almost EVERY single design flaw from the first game, and made some innovations that take it further than a half-baked sequel with a few minor additions. This is one of my favorite Xbox games of all time. I was a Playstation 1 + 2 fan before I gave up on gaming for a few years, and then came back to the Xbox 360. There are very few modern games I've played that break past the inbuilt barrier of cynicism that comes with most adult gamers. Playing AC2, I felt sort of the same as when I played Metal Gear Solid, Medievil, or any of the Crash Bandicoot series back in the 90's. This is a game born of love, insight and imagination. Not market-research, as game companies such as EA and many other space-marine producers have let their sales drift past on. Story The first game's story was let down by several things: extreme complexity, little characterisation, and few proper dramatic camera angles. I understand that with the first one, they were aiming for realism, as though you were actually Desmond, but this created more detriments than benefits. It was difficult to focus on the dialogue, and the lack of any close up camera angles had you wondering who the hell people were, never mind what they were talking about. On first play, I actually managed to make it to the end of the game without knowing who the hell this Al Mualim person was. When you don't know what character's faces look like, it's pretty much a given that the developers have failed on characterisation. Now, proper camera angle editing is standard, and the voice acting and dialogue is much more realistic and human. Even if you don't realise the consequences of your actions during a mission, you're still sure about what you have to do. Characters While Altair was originally intended to be this kind of unstoppable Batman figure who could take anything, they quite failed on projecting this in the original. Now, even he has been granted god-like status in AC2, through hindsight and mythology surrounding his mystique at the game's time period. Ezio, who doesn't appear to realise his relation to Altair, is one of those characters who can automatically add themselves as an icon of gaming. He's up there with the greats, like Niko Bellic, or Mario (apparently also related to Ezio. I won't spoil it). You take him from his birth all the way to age 40, experiencing how he grows from a young, womanizing ingrate, into a serious adult assassin. Along the way, you'll meet an entire ensemble cast of characters along the way who you'll either want to kill or carry. Standing out most is Leonardo da Vinci, portrayed here as the 15th century's answer to Richard Hammond. He equips Ezio with most of his weapons, and is a friendly face who inadvertantly keeps showing up throughout your adventures as comic relief. Desmond has become less whiny, and more a man of Action, while Kristen Bell as Lucy has turned out to be less of a bitch. Gameplay Freerunning has been made so much smoother and less haphazard. A lot of buildings are now connected with ropes to traverse over, so most of your time can now be spent above street level. This especially helps with stalking targets, and really creates that Batman atmosphere the designers have tried to create. Ezio seems to move even faster than his predecessor, so you don't get too impatient when climbing up a tall building. Further carrying on the Batman theme in this review, is the fighting mechanics of AC2. Through da Vinci's ingenuity, Ezio is granted his own armored wristplates to deflect enemy attacks. As well as this are the hidden blades, which are now doubled up to become arguably your best weapon. You can also disarm enemies and steal their weapons. You haven't lived till you've punched a guard in the stomach, taken his axe, and then embedded it into his skull. Five Star game! Buy it! *****

the game is good grafics easyto follow instuctions my grandson played for a week end &finished it he like the way he could control the person &the way he was able to climb & fight.