Assassin's Creed II

Assassin's Creed II is a 2009 action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the second major installment in the Assassin's Creed series, and the sequel to 2007's Assassin's Creed. The game was first released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November 2009, and was later made available on Microsoft Windows in March 2010 and OS X in October 2010.

The game's plot is set in a fictional history of real-world events and follows the millennia-old struggle between the Assassins, who fight to preserve peace and free will, and the Templars, who desire peace through control. The framing story is set in the 21st century and follows Desmond Miles as he relives the genetic memories of his ancestor, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, to uncover the mysteries left behind by an ancient race known as the First Civilization in the hope of ending the Assassin-Templar conflict. The main narrative takes place at the height of the Renaissance in Italy from 1476 to 1499, and follows Ezio's journey as an Assassin while seeking revenge against those responsible for the death of his father and brothers. Gameplay focuses on using Ezio's combat, stealth, and parkour abilities to defeat enemies and explore the environment. The game features a large open world comprising several Italian cities, including Florence, Venice, Monteriggioni, San Gimignano, and Forlì, all of which have been accurately recreated to fit the game's historical setting.

Using a newly updated Anvil game engine, Assassin's Creed II began development shortly after the release of Assassin's Creed. As part of the marketing campaign for the game, Ubisoft released a three-part live-action short film, titled Assassin's Creed: Lineage, which serves as a prequel to the main story and stars most of the game's cast. During development, two chapters—titled The Battle of Forlì and Bonfire of the Vanities—were cut from the game due to time constraints, but were eventually released as downloadable expansion packs on Xbox Live and later to other platforms. Additional in-game bonuses such as missions, outfits, and weapons could be redeemed through Ubisoft's Uplay service.

Assassin's Creed II received universal critical acclaim from video game publications, with praise for its narrative, characters, world design, and improvements over the first game; however, the PC version was met with some criticism in relation to the digital rights management system, and thus had the always-online DRM permanently removed. Considered one of the best video games ever made, it sold more than nine million copies within six months. The game spawned two direct sequels: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (2010) and Assassin's Creed: Revelations (2011), and a spin-off, Assassin's Creed II: Discovery (2009), all of which expand on Ezio's story while introducing new plotlines, characters, and locations. The next numbered entry in the series, Assassin's Creed III, was released in 2012. Remastered versions of Assassin's Creed II, along with Brotherhood and Revelations, were released as part of The Ezio Collection compilation for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on November 15, 2016, and for the Nintendo Switch on February 17, 2022.

Assassin's Creed II is an action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective and set in an open world based on late 15th-century Renaissance Italy. Gameplay is nonlinear, and focuses on hack and slash combat, stealth, and exploration. The Animus 2.0, a new version of the machine of the same name present in Assassin's Creed, provides in-game context for changes and additions to several game elements. A database is also available, providing extra historical information about key landmarks, characters, and services that the player encounters. The health system has been made more dynamic, with synchronization to the Animus and causing the character to recover only from minor injuries. More grievous injuries require visiting a street-side doctor or use of medicine (which can be purchased from doctors or found on bodies).

The player may now swim in water, and Eagle Vision—the ability to identify specific people and landmarks—can now be used in third-person view and while moving. A young Leonardo da Vinci is present in the game, aiding the player by creating new weapons from translated "Codex pages" that Altaïr, the original game's main character, left behind for future Assassins' analysis and insight. Leonardo's flying machine (based on real-life aeroplanes) can also be used during one mission. Other means of transport available in the game include horses, which can only be ridden outside of the major cities; gondolas, found most prominently in Venice; and a carriage, which is also ridden during a mission involving Leonardo. Each of the places the player can visit is more detailed compared to Assassin's Creed, and NPCs have a more human-like behavior; for example, civilians can sometimes be caught coughing or sneezing. Additionally, the player can hire groups of mercenaries, courtesans, or thieves to fight, distract, or lure guards, respectively. A day and night cycle has been added to the game, giving the game more of a sense of time, in addition to setting missions and events at certain times of the day.

There are many ways to interact with NPCs. Money can be thrown to the ground, or a corpse carried and then deposited on the ground, may also serve as a distraction for both guards and peasants. There are also several different types of enemies, some more agile or stronger than others, and some of whom will actively search hiding places where Ezio was last seen. The player can also mock an enemy during combat.

The combat system is more complex than that of its predecessor, with the ability to disarm opponents using counter-attacks while unarmed. If the player steals an enemy's weapon, it is possible to follow up with an attack that instantly kills the enemy. Leonardo provides the player with specialized weaponry, such as dual hidden blades, poison blades, and the hidden gun (a miniature wheellock firearm), which are all based on schematics found in Altaïr's Codex pages. Generic swords, cutlasses, maces, axes, and daggers can all be purchased from vendors in each city. The player can also pick up any weapon on the ground or use improvised weapons, such as brooms or halves of a spear. In addition, players are able to purchase artwork for their villa, obtain new armor as the game progresses, and even dye Ezio's clothing with a number of different colors. Other equipment includes larger pouches to carry more throwing knives and medicine. Six additional weapons can be unlocked in the PlayStation 3 version of the game by connecting the console to a PlayStation Portable which contains a copy of Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines.