Assassin's Creed II (Xbox 360) | 
| From: Ubisoft
Category: Video Games
List Price: £49.99
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Rating:  108 reviews
Format: Unknown format
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: espionage-action-games
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Media: Video Game
Edition: Normal
Operating System: No Operating System
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.4
MPN: ASScree2XBOX
EAN: 3307211666597
ASIN: B001TK3DNG
Release Date: November 20, 2009
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Renaissance Italy isn't the usual sort of setting for a video game, but then Assassin's Creed isn't one to play by the rules. Ezio Auditore di Firenze is yet another ancestor of modern day Desmond Miles - a nobleman out to avenge the death of his family in the guise of a shadowy assassin.
Like the last game you're given total freedom to explore multiple cities, but with greatly improved parkour skills and the new ability to swim. There's also a lot more variety in the missions you undertake - the main complaint with the original game- so you'll never feel you're just doing the same tasks over and over again.
Combat has also been completely overhauled, with dozens of different weapons and a new health system. With no less than Leonardo da Vinci acting as your very own Q style gadget master this stunning sequel improves on every element of the original. - Renaissance man: Play as an all-new character in 15th century Italy, with new abilities, new weapons and a whole new world to explore.
- The spice of life: Massively improved mission variety, with new freeform mission structures and many more random events.
- Tools of the trade: All-new combat system lets you steal weapons from your opponents, use dual hidden blades and even an early form of pistol.
- Real history: Meet historical figures such as Leonardo da Vinci, Niccol Machiavelli and Lorenzo de' Medici, all of whom can offer you their own unique brand of aid.
- Tourist spots: Explore real world locations including Rome, Venice, Florence and Tuscany, as well as specific landmarks such as the Grand Canal and St Mark's Basilica.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Renaissance Italy isn't the usual sort of setting for a video game, but then Assassin's Creed isn't one to play by the rules. Ezio Auditore di Firenze is yet another ancestor of modern day Desmond Miles - a nobleman out to avenge the death of his family in the guise of a shadowy assassin.
Ezio is just as dangerous an assassin as his forebear |  Da Vinci's glider is just one of the gadgets on offer |  The level of detail in the graphics is astonishing |  The canals of Venice come in very handy for stealth attacks | Like the last game you're given total freedom to explore multiple cities, but with greatly improved parkour skills and the new ability to swim. There's also a lot more variety in the missions you undertake - the main complaint with the original game- so you'll never feel you're just doing the same tasks over and over again. Combat has also been completely overhauled, with dozens of different weapons and a new health system. With no less than Leonardo da Vinci acting as your very own Q style gadget master this stunning sequel improves on every element of the original. Key Features - Renaissance man: Play as an all-new character in 15th century Italy, with new abilities, new weapons and a whole new world to explore.
- The spice of life: Massively improved mission variety, with new freeform mission structures and many more random events.
- Tools of the trade: All-new combat system lets you steal weapons from your opponents, use dual hidden blades and even an early form of pistol.
- Real history: Meet historical figures such as Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolò Machiavelli and Lorenzo de' Medici, all of whom can offer you their own unique brand of aid.
- Tourist spots: Explore real world locations including Rome, Venice, Florence and Tuscany, as well as specific landmarks such as the Grand Canal and St Mark's Basilica.
About the Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Ubisoft's huge development studio in Canada has created many of the French publisher's biggest hits, including the Splinter Cell series, the modern Prince of Persia games, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Assassin's Creed, Naruto: Rise of a Ninja and the Far Cry sequels and spin-offs.
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| Customer Reviews:
 II times the awesome November 29, 2009
Max Porteous
79 out of 83 found this review helpful
There was a lot of hype concerning Assassins Creed 2. Along with some concerns; was it just more of the same? Would they fix up some of the problem areas? Could you actually swim?
I'm critical of games and movies. Very much so. So believe me when I say 'Get this, and don't look back.'
Assassins Creed was a good game with fun elements and some really great moments, let down by a few flaws and some slightly grating missions.
Its offspring is not only two in number, but twice as good.
*GAMEPLAY*
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The most important part for one an all. And the answer from the get go is; Yes. It is far superior to gameplay in Assassins Creed 1. Gone are the rinse-repeat missions, leading up to the actual assasination. Gone are the clunkier elements of the combat system. Experience an evironment where anything and everything can be used to your advantage. Experience combat where its not a matter of if you will defeat your enemies, but in what manner you bring about their inevitable demises.
*Combat*
Combat, first, as that had a few major flaws. The hidden blade is now a proper weapon in its own right. You can attack with it and, glory be, you can BLOCK with it. Counter kills are every bit as lethal and one-shot-kill as they ever were, with less frustration.
Fists too recieve a major upgrade. You can, if your fancy takes you, punch opponents into the floor. Also, while unarmed and grabbing an opponent, you can now lay three hits on them out of a choise of headbutt, knee and punch.
The best part of the upgraded unarmed combat is the ability to disarm guards. This is especially useful on two of the new enemy classes; Brutes and Seekers. These nasties are armed with two handed weapons and spears, respectively, and can be rather lethal. Disarming them not only robs them of their attack power, but also lets you use the special moves that come with the weapons. Also, the counter-kills for those two weapons, though they lose you the weapon, are very, very satisfying.
*Enemies*
The enemies themselves are more varied as well. Gone are the days of Guard 1, Guard 2, Guard 3, Italy sports its own army of foes for you to cut through. The basic armed soldiers are still there, ranging from basic Militia, through to armed Man-At-Arms, to the armoured and painful Elite units. Then come the specialists, all of whom require some extra attention in a fight; Brutes, Seekers and Agiles. These chaps add a whole new dynamic to every fight, as the Brutes and Seekers each have different special moves, and the Agiles are more than capable of outpacing you in free-running.
Not only is the combat more dynamic, but the guards are smarter too. No more blending in with a group of monks, despite being heavily armed. No more sitting on a bench and the guards magically losing sight of you. The seekers use their spears to prod about in haystacks, and guards will check the people on benches. Later on, of course, you pick up some moves that swiftly (and permanantly) put an end to such nosey individuals.
*Blending*
On the subject of blending in, there is a new system involved, notoriety. A bar around the symbol net to your health fills up as you perform illegal or noteworthy actions. When that bar is full, you are now Notorious. Guards will start top take notice of you, and react immediately to any wayward behaviour. They also poke around in haystacks more. By tearing down wanted posters, bribing heralds, or simply killing off the officials who give the orders, you can lower your status back to Incognito.
Blending itself is much easier, and much more believable. Simply stand in the middle of a group of citizens, go with the flow, and you are just another person. Nice and easy.
*Missions*
The missions are all very well done. The beat-up and delivery type missions have now been made sub-missions that you can choose to pick up or leave be as you choose. The actual game quests are much slicker than the clunky feel of the original, and the progression is smooth and seamless.
*Economy*
Thats right, this time around you get pocket money. Money can be aquired in various ways, all of them fairly easy and self-explanatory. You can use money to buy medicine (which you carry with you and use when needed to restore health), new weapons, new armour which adds to your health bar, and other things. No need to be poor but awesome, right? Rich and awesome is a win/win situation.
*STORY*
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The story progresses well from the last game, and goes much deeper. Especially if you hunt down all the clues and extras. No more random flag collecting, the collections are all tied neatly into the story. There are only about three or four incident where we are brought back to the present day, rather than the past, and the modenr sequences are all well done and serve a purpose. If you're like me, and really liked the plot laid in AC1, then 2 should have you on the edge of your seat.
*GRAPHICS*
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AC1 was very nice graphically from the get go. 2 has probably improved, but its so slick and smooth that its hard to know where to start. Needless to say, the attention to detail is breathtaking. As someone who has been to Venice, standing in front of the Doges palace was one of those 'ohmigod' moments that make this game so darn good.
So, what are you waiting for? Click buy, already! If you like swash and buckle, sneaking and stabbing, awesome vistas or just pure epic, this game will treat you well.
Assassin's Creed gets a Renaissance January 8, 2010
De Montfort (Woking, Surrey)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I bought an XBox 360 just so I could play this game, which appealed immediately to me when I saw the Lineage videos. My PC wouldn't have stood up to it, so you could say that I paid over £200 for the pleasure of paying it. It's totally worth it - this is the best game I have played in a long, long time. It helps that I love all things Italian and historical but I don't think it's necessary to be into that stuff to enjoy this.
The graphics are amazing, the storyline moves on fast and the combat mechanism is really effective and rewards practise. If you are a casual gamer, you can spend a month like I have done on this game doing all the side missions and honing your skills for a couple of hours a day. I like the fact that the game isn't too hard - from my point of view life is too short to be stumped on a particular bit of any game just because you can't execute a certain move in time or get from A to B before a door closes. There some challenging parts but nothing that's going to have you throwing the controller on the floor.
Ezio's character is explored in depth, there is a good variety of weapons (given it's the 16th century) and interplay with other characters. But the most impressive thing is the free-to-explore cities - particularly Florence and Venice, which are superbly rendered.
After starting this game, I went and bought AC1 with the intention of playing it through before continuing. I can understand the things about the first game that frustrated people - the inability to blend with general crowds, the silly journeys back to "base", the lack of economic element and the death if falling into water. Ubi has listened - this game cures all those niggles and gives a new credibility to this brand. I hope that sequences 12 and 13 are filled in by (preferably free) DCL and look forward to an AC3, as long as it is not set in World War Two.
Buy it - it's worth it.
Waay better than the first January 24, 2010
Oliver H. Bell (Gloucester, UK)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This game is a lot better than the first one.
1. It's not repetitive any more.
2. Money system created.
3. Great assassins tombs which are a puzzle to get through.
4. Different armour although each armour is clearly better than next. Hopefully next time there will be different stats and no one amrour can max them (e.g. speed, health, resistance, etc).
5. Looting chests stealing from people.
6. Carrying dead bodies as distractions.
7. New items like the smoke bomb, pistol and poison for the assassins blade.
8. Dual assassins blade and fighting with them in combat.
9. More difficult to execute counter kills.
10. Disarm enemies weapons and use them against them.
11. Swimming.
12. Architecture on certain buildings is beautiful. however some other areas such as general buildings have less originality.
13. Side missions.
14. Stealing and using gondolas (in venice).
15. The truth and other cool pickup items that actually affect you in game (feathers and statuettes for villa value).
16. The villa.
17. Less health regeneration and more things like using doctors and medicine.
18. The new and improved notoriety system.
19. Guards are improved and there are now special types. (brutes, agiles and seekers)
20. You can't always just disappear from guards in a hay bail because they search around the ones next to them now.
21. New assassination techniques (when you unlock dual assassin blades from leonardo da vinci).
22. Unpredictable plot for revenge.
23. Capes.
24. Good auto saving (almost every time you escape guards, find assassins tombs, exit a shop or do many other things regardless of how simple they are sometimes).
25. New unlockable special moves with your weapons like throwing sand in peoples faces.
26. Throwing money on the floor as a distraction.
27. Hiring gangs to help you (thieves, courtesans, mercenaries, etc). They sitract guards or lure them or even fight for you.
28. New blending with the crowd and courtesans.
I think this game has so much to offer and that it is a vast improvement on the first one which was brilliant (other than the completely fixed linear gameplay).
Improvements that can be made:
1. Weapons/ armour that aren't fully maxed so you must chose a style of fighting (for example more speed on your weapon and a lighter armour that makes you move faster and makes it easier to do things like counter kills. It would be weaker though)
The Best Game of the last 12 Months January 20, 2010
Spin
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Not much more can be added to the previous reviewers praise for AC2. It is, without doubt, simply the best of recently released titles. The graphics, storyline, gameplay, and general atmosphere are outstanding. It is the kind of game that is so involving that you lose track of time and ignore anything that may distract you from your mission. The characters in the game are believable and thier lives engrossing. The graphics are amazing and the game is structered in a way that allows you to explore the surroundings before continuing your mission (an element lacking in far too many games). A nice touch is the historical information concerning the area/district you are in, or the people you meet and the puzzles are beautifully constructed to include works of art and periods of history, thus making the game informative and unique. This is a wonderful example of what can be done when game developers take the medium seriously. All too often, developers hastily create a sequel to cash in on the prequels success (If you don't believe me, check out "Army of Two- 40th Day". No, don't. It's a waste of time and money). It is clear that the creators and developers of the "Assassin's Creed" titles take their creation seriously and they are to be applauded for that. I cannot recommend this game highly enough.
The first game - wasted potential. The second - awesome!! January 13, 2010
D. J. Warren (London, UK)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I can confirm that Assassin's Creed 2 takes everything I liked about the first game, and ditches everything that made it suck. The formulaic same-old same-old assassinations and samey tasks are gone, instead the levels have much more variety and performing tasks feels much more rewarding.
If you hated the first game you're not going to like this one, but, if like me, you thought that the first game had great potential but it was squandered on repetitive unimaginative gameplay, which made you even more annoyed than if the game had just sucked, then hopefully you will also love this one. Gone are the constant flash-forwards to present day events (I'm a dozen hours in, and save for the opening scenes the game hasn't revisited the present once, unlike the first game which perpetually jumped back and forth into the excruciatingly boring present-day levels) and the levels feel open and wonderfully constructed. There are lots of opportunities for dicking about and you can spend hours off the main story missions without it feeling like a grind. The game has a good money/upgrades system which is deeper than the first, and the storyline, which sees hero Ezio start as one type of character and gradually evolve into a fully fledged assassin, is actually pretty good and keeps the gameplay varied.
I'm loving it so far.
Two examples of some awesome happenings in the game (no story spoilers)
The combat is also finely tuned... I found myself surrounded by armed guards yesterday... and every counter I did, they countered, every stab I made they blocked... I tried using the sword, the quicker dagger, even the double hidden blades (so much fun), but I was equally matched to my opponents. The game rewards the thoughtful combatant though. I sheathed all my weapons and went bare handed. I performed a successful dodge as one guard lunged at me with a hammer, then I countered as a guy stabbed in with his spear. I disarmed him with my counter attack and punched him to the ground knocking him out. I pressed B to pick up the fallen spear and a swordsman swung in as I did so. I quickly countered and Ezio blocked with the shaft of the spear, which split in two. The swordsman stumbled from the impact and Ezio took the two halves of the spear, one in each hand, bashed the guard round the head with the handle and then with each hand jammed the two ends of broken spear into the guard one at a time, leaving him to fall dead, double impaled. The combat is incredible, finely tuned, and a hell of a lot of fun if you give it time and try new tactics.
An earlier assassination of a monk went badly for me when I dispatched all the guards surrounding the tower he was hiding on, but fluffed my approach and alerted him to my presence. He attacked me on the top of the tower screaming "assassin! murderer!" but during our sword fight I slipped and fell off the top platform, leaving Ezio dangling off the edge by his finger tips. The monk swung at me with his sword and fell off the tower to his death! Unorthodox, but a successful kill. This wasn't a cut scene, this was all gameplay, but the game was open enough to allow it, even though I'm sure it wasn't exactly the approach I was supposed to have taken.
A smart game, and a lot of fun. A vast improvement over the promising but deeply flawed original. The only thing that could make me happier would be ditching the present day story all together, but seeing as this is a sequel, I guess they can't really do that :)
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