A good game. A disappointing sequel. That's how I would sum it up. What the first should have been.
The Good: Moving around is a lot easier in this sequel. It now takes half the time to climb a wall than it did in the first one. If there is any sort of ledge, he will grab it. Hiding from the guards is not too easy or boring now. They will look for you within a certain area. When going after a target there are a lot more ways to kill him, its up to you. Grabbing a guard from a wall never gets old, if you have played Uncharted 2 you know what I am talking about. In this game you can swim. Doing a leap of faith into the water is a blast. Smoke bombs are great if you like to run from guards, not if you really like the battle.
Fighting is better in many ways. Now you cannot just press R2 and square and win a fight. You can now steal weapons from your enemies by countering with your fists. Missions differ, where as in the first they were all the same. No longer long trips to different cities. Running and climbing in Venice is very fun.
The Bad: Graphics are about the same, don't blame them though, it was hard to improve. Some of the new weapons are pointless, or at least are seldom necessary. Cant shoot or throw from beams. Not as girl friendly as the first. The Gun does the same job as a knife, except it is louder, takes longer, although it is more accurate. Guards sometimes stand 1 foot too far for you to do a pull down. Beat up missions are lame, that everyone can agree on. Although it lets on about being able to fly, That is only for 1 very short mission. There are many other things they could have added, but feels like they just left out and are saving for Assassin's Creed 3.
Altogether it is a great game that does not get boring but feels very familiar. Not enough was added in my opinion . I wish this game would have been called Assassin's Creed 1.5.