Assassin's Creed 2

Assassin's Creed II is a third person action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the sequel to the action-adventure game Assassin's Creed, and was released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November 2009,with a PC version scheduled for release in 2010.

As in Assassin's Creed, the story revolves around the "Animus", a machine which makes it possible for the player to view the genetic memories of protagonist Desmond Miles' ancestors, as the descendant of a long line of Assassins. In Assassin's Creed II, the machine is used to view the memories of a young nobleman-turned-assassin named Ezio Auditore da Firenze in the late 15th century in Italy, during the Renaissance. The game thus incorporates numerous real-life historic events, places, and people throughout Italian Renaissance history, all of which playing a key part in the plot and in Ezio's journey to uncover a hidden conspiracy after the murder of his family.

Assassin's Creed II received largely positive reviews, with critics praising the games stronger emphasis on open world exploration and interaction, nonlinear gameplay and greater mission variety compared with the first Assassin's Creed. The game was also credited with improved non-player character AI, a new in-game economy for buying items, weapons, and armor, and a deeper, more finely-tuned combat system.

Gameplay

Assassin's Creed II takes place in an open world with nonlinear gameplay, allowing the player to free roam within several regions throughout late 15th century Italy, such as Venice, Florence, and the Tuscan countryside. A new version of the Animus is used in the game, providing in-game context for changes and additions to several game elements. A database is available, providing extra historical information about key landmarks, characters and services that the player encounters. The health system has been made more dynamic, with synchronisation to the Animus only recovering minor injuries.More grievous injuries require visiting a street-side doctor for medicine.

The player may now swim in water, and eagle vision – the ability to identify specific people and landmarks – is now used in third-person view.A young Leonardo da Vinci is present in the game, aiding the player by creating new weapons and translating documents.Within the game, the player will be able to use Leonardo's flying machine (based on real-life plans by Leonardo), while on a mission.



While Leonardo provides the player with new weapons such as a poison blade and a miniature firearm, there is also a variety of swords and maces, as well as axes and spears. The combat system is more complex, with the ability to disarm opponents, stealing their weapons.Six additional weapons can be unlocked by connecting a PSP with Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines to the PS3.

The Auditore family's countryside villa acts as Ezio's headquarters, and the surrounding property can be upgraded, drawing income for the player's use. There are several outlets for using currency, with vendors selling items such as medicine, weapons, upgrades, and colored dyes for their character's outfit.

There is now a broader array of methods for hiding or blending in the area. One can dive underwater to break the guards' line of sight, and blending may be performed with any group of people, rather than only a specific type, as in the first Assassin's Creed.The game features a notoriety system, with Ezio becoming more recognizable depending on his behaviour, location, and current mission. This infamy can be reduced with bribery, removing wanted posters, or assassinating corrupt officials.A day and night cycle has been added to the game, giving the sense of time, in addition to setting missions and events at certain times of the day.There are many ways to interact with non-player characters, with some NPCs available for hire, to serve as a distraction, or to fight alongside the player. Money thrown to the ground may also serve as a distraction. There are also several types of enemies, some more agile or stronger than others.

The missions in the game now have an expanded variety, with different structuring. For example, a mission may have the objective to escort someone, but may change to a chase and assassination. Investigation is less explicit, and instead missions may follow people and/or a narrative. There are roughly 200 missions in this game; about half are part of the main storyline, while the rest are side quests. Cities also contain hidden locations such as catacombs and caves, the design of which have been compared by the developers to the Prince of Persia series, where the objective is to navigate the area. Exploring these locations eventually rewards the player with an item.

Like Assassin's Creed, characters based on historical figures are present in the game including Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolò Machiavelli, Caterina Sforza,Lorenzo de' Medici,the Pazzi Family,and Pope Alexander VI.

Locations in the game include Venice, Florence, the Tuscan countryside, Monteriggioni, San Gimignano and Forlì.Specific landmarks include St Mark's Basilica,the Grand Canal,the Little Canal,the Rialto Bridge,Santa Maria del Fiore, Santa Croce,Palazzo Vecchio,Ponte Vecchio,and Santa Maria Novella.

Plot

The game continues shortly after the events of Assassin's Creed, where, in 2012, Desmond Miles has been abandoned by Abstergo Industries after searching the memories of his ancestor Altaïr in the Animus. Abstergo, the modern-day equivalent of the Knights Templar,had been using Desmond to locate powerful out-of-place artifacts called "Pieces of Eden".Due to the "bleeding effect" from overusing the Animus, Desmond is able to see messages written on his bedroom wall, written in blood, later revealed to be that of an earlier Animus user known only as "Subject 16",warning of the end of the world. Lucy Stillman, a former researcher for Abstergo and a member of the modern-day Assassins, frees Desmond and brings him to a secret hideout for herself and two other Assassins, Shaun and Rebecca.With their own version of the Animus, they invite Desmond to help them discover the memories of his ancestor Ezio Auditore da Firenze; to train Desmond in Assassin skills through the bleeding effect,and to find other Pieces of Eden.

Ezio, residing in Italy during the Renaissance in the late 15th century finds his family in Florence the victims of a political plot, and is unable to save the hanging of his father and two brothers. His father's final instructions lead Ezio to a chest containing Assassin garments and tools, and soon meets his uncle Mario who allows him and his mother and sister shelter in their countryside villa, while training Ezio in the art of combat. Mario further provides leads to those in on his family's betrayal, and Ezio follows the trail of clues, leading from Florence to Tuscany, Romagna, and eventually to Venice. Along the way, he encounters several allies that assist in his pursuit; including Leonardo da Vinci, who is able to help decode pages of a "Codex", creating new equipment. After assassinating many people involved in the plot, Ezio is able to identify Rodrigo Borgia as the leader of the conspiracy, aimed to bring down the Medici family. Borgia later arrives in Venice with the "Apple", a Piece of Eden that Altaïr originally had found. He believed himself to be the "Prophet" that would lead to the discovery of "The Vault", supposedly containing more Pieces of Eden. Ezio, joined by his allies, stop Borgia, who flees. His allies, including Niccolò Machiavelli, reveal they are all members of the Assassins, and bring Ezio into their ranks, and that Ezio is likely the Prophet that will lead them to the Vault.

During one break on using the Animus, Desmond suffers an hallucination that returns him to the body of Altaïr in Acre, who makes love with Maria, a Templar he had earlier spared; when Altaïr departs, Desmond finds the memory staying with Maria, and leaves him confused when he recovers. He also learns of the case of Subject 16, and that Abstergo has been using numerous Animus devices to seek out the Pieces of Eden. When Desmond returns to Ezio's memory after he fought off Borgia, they find several corrupted memories, and instead return to Ezio in the year 1499, where Borgia has since become Pope Alexander VI at Vatican City. Ezio's memories reveal that he and his allies have completed the Codex and discovered that "The Vault" lies in Rome, and realize that the Papal Staff is another Piece of Eden; Borgia's plan, upon deposition of the Medici family, would allow him to become Pope and gain access to the staff and the Vault.

Ezio and his allies travel to Rome; while his allies distract the rest of the city, Ezio discretely enters the Vatican and attempts to assassinate Borgia. Borgia manages to escape with both the Apple and the Cross, and attempts to use them to open the Vault, but Ezio catches up and defeats him. In Ezio's hands, the Apple and Cross open the Vault; inside, he finds a holographic figure that ignores him and speaks directly to Desmond and the others watching through him. The figure, calling herself "Minerva", reveals that she and others were part of a more advanced society that lived alongside humans, though they eventually came to war. However, a natural, celestial disaster had occurred, wiping out nearly all life on the planet; the few remaining rebuilt humanity and had constructed several other temples around the world that will help them prevent the same disaster from reoccurring. As the hologram vanishes, Minerva directly tells Desmond that the "rest is up to you". As the memory ends, Desmond finds that Abstergo has discovered their hideout, and, with his assimilated skills from Ezio, assists Lucy in dispatching their forces while Shaun and Rebecca pack away their equipment. As the four escape, Lucy postulates that Minerva may have been talking about the Sun's geomagnetic reversal, and with time short, Desmond prepares to continue searching his memories for more clues to the location of the temples.

Subject 16

During Desmond's time in the Animus, he also encounters a series of out-of-place glyphs through Ezio's memories. They are found to be the same ones drawn in blood at Abstergo, and analysis reveals that they contain computer code for the Animus. "Subject 16", the Animus user preceding Desmond, had placed the encrypted code as a message, and Lucy had taken this data when taking Abstergo's Animus' memory. The encrypted code contains a great number of historical artworks, photographs, and messages, past and present, with information on historical uses of several Pieces of Eden. Unlocking all of the glyphs reveals a brief video, labeled "Subject 16, Session 12, Classified Date B.C.E." A man and woman rush through a garden-like area and a futuristic complex, with a glimpse of other people performing manual labor. On the roof of the complex, the woman holds up the Apple of Eden, and she and the man identify each other as Adam and Eve.