Much improved since AC1!
The first game had a few big problems, mainly being repetitive, some frame rate issues, and the story.
The story was pretty confusing. When we meet Altair in the first game, he is already an assassin and we are given no
background as to how he got the position. In this game, you actually see main protagonist Ezio being born, and you play as
him for a while before key events take place that force him into the life of an assassin. This really was a great idea,
because it makes you really care about the characters that will be affected by the story, and by the end you will be very
emotionally involved. The voice actors, noticably Nolan North (of Uncharted fame) and Kristen Bell (from one of my fave
movies Forgetting Sarah Marshall) did a great job.
The great parts of the first game are still there. The beautiful scenery , highly detailed character models, lovely
animation, and fluid combat are all still there, and are even better than they were in the first game. Ezio looks great ,
the facial animation is quite good, and the water looks really great.
Speaking of water, you can actually swim in it this time around ! A pretty great addition, because when you are running
away from the guards sometimes you just want to jump off a high building into the water, "The Fugitive" style.
You can now modify your clothes / armor, as well as upgrade your weapons, and even collect statues and paintings for
display in your villa. Very cool touches.
This game utilizes Ubisoft's new "Uplay" feature, which is basically another Trophy / Acheivement system exclusive to
Ubisoft games, where you can unlock cool things like an Altair skin and sword, etc. using the Uplay points, which
automatically sync with your profile when you are online.
One of the best features is the database, where you can access cool information about the people, places and buildings in
Assassin's Creed 2. I love buildings and history so I was happy to be able to sift through all the cool information. It
made running around the rooftops even more fun, as now when you run over the roof of a building of note, the database for
it unlocks.
If you liked the first Assassin's Creed like me, you will positively love this game. It has pulled me away from Uncharted 2
and God Of War Collection, which are two standout titles at the moment.