Assassin's Creed 1 & 2

does the story line for AC2 carry on from AC1 ? or can i just play AC2 ??

In some ways yes but you will not miss really anything. You should be able to just play AC2 and be fine. It is a whole new character and time period. If you have another AC question please try to use the Official Question thread.If you are truely in need to see/hear the ACstory just go and look it up.

It does carry on from AC1, but it's pretty easy to get caught up without actually playing the game.

IGN has a 3 minute recap video of the AC1 story: http://ps3.ign.com/dor/objects/14302494/assassins-creed-2/videos/acprimer_spc_102309.html

Just watch that, and then buy AC2. AC1 really isn't worth playing.