Assassin's Creed II

Pros

• Huge open world that conveys a gorgeous vision of Renaissance Italy
• Fluid combat and stealth that expands greatly on its predecessor

Cons

• Story can sometimes be needlessly complicated
• Sheer amount of things to do can be overwhelming

While the first Assassin's Creed presented a solid action-adventure game with a unique historical tone, Assassin's Creed II really set the standards for what the series would become. Set in Renaissance Italy, Assassin's Creed II puts you in the shoes of Ezio Auditore, a young well-to-do Florentine who sees his family murdered by political rivals. Soon, he finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy between a liberty-minded group known as the Assassins and their authoritarian counterparts the Templars. It unfolds out in a complicated alternate history rich with hidden conspiracies and guest appearances by a whole parade of historical figures.

Beneath the elaborate narrative is a tantalizingly tangled mess of activities to engage in. As a member of the Assassin's Order, your main job involves tracking and eventually killing a selection of targets. The core gameplay revolves around stealth, asking you to avoid guards and close in on your targets in the most inconspicuous way possible. In the crowded streets of Italy's great cities, crowds can often be used as distractions to your advantage, and you have a number of interesting ways to draw the attention of the guards or lure your prey into traps. Getting away clean with murder is a task that's well rewarded.

This is an open world game, and a respectably expansive one at that. While the adventure starts in Florence, Ezio eventually travels through countryside, multiple cities, and eventually the heart of the Vatican itself. There's a real sense of place to this vision of Italy, and the designers clearly went all out conveying the tone and feel of each environment. And as befits an open world of this size, this is a game positively stuffed with thins to do. An enormous interactive codex tracks entries for just about everything you encounter, from real and imagined historical figures to important landmarks to tangled chronicles of the world's shadowy history. It can be easy to get lost in the encyclopedia, but it's easier to get lost in the world itself. The developers have packed this world to the gills with activities. In addition to the main story, there are minor targets to assassinate, catacombs to explore, and feathers to collect. All told, there are roughly 200 missions spanning the main story and side quests. Further adding replay value is your home base which you can slowly upgrade and expand over time. Here you have the chance to upgrade your gear, customize the aesthetics of your costume, and even change up the look of your home. There's tons of clothing dyes and home goods to purchase.

While Assassin's Creed II is ostensibly a game about an Italian assassin, it's ultimately a game about stuff, about countless lists of activities you can pursue at your leisure. It just happens to be wrapped around a very tight set of systems and a cool historical tale.

Pros

• Huge open world that conveys a gorgeous vision of Renaissance Italy
• Fluid combat and stealth that expands greatly on its predecessor

Cons

• Story can sometimes be needlessly complicated
• Sheer amount of things to do can be overwhelming