The Good

Visually similar but artistically superior…

The sandbox games of this generation have had certain familiar design traits, modernized locations like Liberty City (GTA IV), Stillwater (Saints Row 2) and a fictional empire city (Infamous) all come to mind, so it shouldn't be a surprise when I say that it's extremely refreshing to play a game set in these old aged cities of yesterday.

While Assassin's Creed II sports the same basic visual pallet as the previous version, from a design perspective it looks different enough to still make my jaw hang open. Fifteenth century Florence looks far more beautiful than any city I'm accustomed to seeing in a videogame, the clothing and even the NPC behaviors scream of authenticity. I'm about 12 or so hours in and having seen Romagna and Tuscany in all there digitized glory; it makes me want to go back to Europe. Simply put, the game looks just as beautiful as before, if not more.

Assassin's need purpose too…

One of the most glaring flaws in regards to Assassin's Creed's storyline was Altaïr's personality. To put it simply he had none, he was flat as a character and killed simply because he was ordered too. We had very little background information about the character or the personal motivation he got out of his job as an Assassin so as gamers we were left feeling very little for him as a character -- At least that's how I felt.

Ezio on the other hand is the exact opposite and this is perfectly illustrated in one of the first running missions you're given -- Comically trying to escape an angry father who just caught you in bed with his daughter while you try to deny the allegations during the chase. So yes, he's an Assassin with a sense of humor but naturally he didn't start out as one. Without revealing too much about the storyline, I'll simply say that due to a betrayal of sorts you begin to understand why Ezio has to take up the calling of an Assassin and it's this fact that made all the killings performed feel justified.

The Music..

Amazing…

Being an Assassin never felt so badass…

I remember commenting about the sheer amount of ways there were to kill people in this game during my short time with it, but I don't think I completely understood just how much you could do providing that you had enough imagination. Instead of describing all the various upgrades you can gain I'll simply describe a memorable situation I encountered.

• I had my character walk casually towards the square where my target was located. In order to get In I ordered a few prostitutes I just hired who were lingering near to distract the guards at the entry way. As they did there thing I casually walked in and eyed my target while I stood next to a group of NPC's having a conversation. I made sure to make note of the amount of guards surrounding the area before I proceeded. There were conversations being held conveniently around the square so I reached for my gold coins and dropped a few on the floor which momentarily caused a ruckus. Afterwards while the crowd mostly centered on the dropped change I went in for the kill from the back. After the short exchange of words the guards were suddenly aware of what happened and I patiently waited for them to close in before dropping a smoke bomb which engulfed the area. I then knifed every damn guard, about 8 in all before the smoke even cleared. I then looted the bodies to the dismay of onlookers and dashed out.

..crazy

Micromanagement…

Everything you collect in this game provides you with money, every kill you make results in money, every person you loot, provide you with…yes money. At a certain point in the game you end up in a villa that is basically yours to maintain. It'll go from a crusty hellhole with a relatively small population into the same sort of beauty you'd find in Rome with a large populace to boot. It all depends on how much coins you end up putting into the renovation of different structures. As a result you'll receive discounts at stores as well. It all gives the act of collecting and currency some worth.

The Bad

Where am I?...

Well the overall map needs some work. It's still pretty easy to get lost in the middle of a city when you're just trying to find an exit. A simple dot on the screen doesn't do a good enough job sometimes despite the countdown timer. When you have large areas surrounded by walls that are impossible to leap over, it makes finding the two only possible exits an annoying headache.

Facial animations look...Less than human...

Movement animations aside, which are still amazing btw, say little in the defense of the pretty poor facial animations in Assassin's Creed II. It's nothing that particularly bothered me too much but it was an unfortunate flaw considering how polished the rest of the game looked.

Final Thoughts…

I think Assassin's creed II towers over the original in the narrative, gameplay and length based on what I've played so far. The fighting is a lot more fun and varied, the characters are so much more appealing, the environments are sometimes breathtaking, the music is excellent, and the missions aren't as annoying as before as most of them are optional. I think if you even remotely liked the first game, you should definitely pick this up and there's not much to say after that.

When criticizing a game, forum posters love to throw around certain buzzwords. For shooters, one of those words is "run 'n gun." In this big thread about Call of Duty, that phrase popped up in about every other post. There was quit a bit of debate about whether or not Call of Duty is a "run 'n gun" (RNG) shooter.

Here's a better question: Why's that matter?