Assassin's Creed II gets it right

The first Assassin's Creed got a lot of publicity from Ubisoft. It was a new IP building on the popularity of parkour, so everyone got excited. When it came out though, the opinions were divided right down the middle. Some people thought it was good citing its open ended, free running world, the interactive way the buttons are mapped to you body. Other thought it was a buzz kill because of it's long, drawn out pacing, repetitive mission structure, and lack of variety outside of the main story missions. After it ended, it was made obvious that this new franchise would be a trilogy, and everyone was left to wonder what to think of AC's future. Now the sequel is out and it literally follows in it's predecessor's foot steps. Big publicity, lots of positive buzz, and so forth. Unlike it's predecessor, it seems the folks at Ubisoft (Ubisoft Montreal specifically) heeded the gaming community's complaints and made the sequel everything we wanted AC to be without everything that dragged it down.

It doesn't hurt that our main character looks freaking awesome.

 You pick up right where AC left off. Desmond is still stuck in his cell, bored, when his friend from the first game, Lucy, springs him from the clutches of the Knights Templar to a secret Assassin base. The new plan to strike back against the Templars before it's too late is to have Desmon hop on the new Animus, a sort of Matrix-like chair, to experience the life and times of Ezio Auditore da Firenze of Renaissance era Italy. They'll exploit the side effects of the Animus to have Desmond assimilate years of Ezio's training and experience in a matter of days so that he can assist the order of Assassins against the Templars before they inadvertently bring about oblivion.

Right away I know this game will be different from the first, in a good way. While Altaïr seemed like a faceless prick, who you don't get to know all to well throughout the course of the game, we get to know Ezio immediately (you even experience his birth for Chrissakes). You find out Ezio loves his family, is loyal to them, but is still a fun loving young man living during the prosperous Renaissance period. Unbeknown to him, the eternal struggle between the Templars and the Assassins are still ongoing, and eventually his family gets involved in the crossfire (his father, Giovanni, hides the fact that he's an assassin). Long story short, his father and two brothers are executed, he goes into hiding with his mother and sister, and is forced to take up his father's work as an assassin to not only avenge him, but unravel the conspiracy that involves the Italian noble families and the Templars.

Quite possibly the best thing about ACII is the change of scenery. Italy during the late 15th century is a fantastic place for everything that should've worked in the first AC can fully explore. There are plenty of rooftops to run across, spires to scale, gaps to leap across, and historical places to otherwise ruin with your shenanigans. Leaping across beams, over streets above the roofs, and incredible displays of completely vertical climbing are all here to enjoy. Plus you'll find all sorts of fun distractions like couriering letters, beating up unfaithful husbands, and stabbing unfortunate assassination marks.

Progression makes sense too. Altair suffered from something I call Super Metroid syndrome, where you experience everything he'll have completed but promptly loses everything when the game begins proper (they even wipe out his memory concerning skills he's learned like jumping on someone to stab them in the head). At least this time Ezio starts off as a young guy athletically runs across rooftops and slowly learns new things like grabbing someone from his hiding hiding spot and upgrading his hidden blade. Plus you earn money from a villa you help rebuild, and there's no shortage of cool things to purchase with it like new armor, weapons, and refills on fun things like smoke bombs and throwing knives.

Like that laser? You can demo it but you won't get it again until later in the game.

It's a big game. It includes Florence and Venice to run around in, but also a Tuscan countryside and one other place. Free running is much more satisfying across the Italian cityscape as opposed to some collection of middle eastern towns. ACII isn't just a step in the right direction for me. It's as if the first game never existed at all and this is the true Assassin's Creed we should all pay attention to. At least until ACIII.