REVIEWS:
PERFECT:
Playstation: The Official Magazine (US) (100)
The sequel has arguably changed for the better in just about every conceivable way...Assassin's Creed II truly offers an experience like no other, one that mixes history and brutality to sheer perfection. And it's absolutely massive. [Holiday 2009, p.38]
Cynamite (100)
Assassin's Creed 2 manages to surpass its predecessor in almost every way.
GamePro (100)
Few games so deftly balance the contrasting qualities achieved here. It's at once both epic and intimate, earnest and lighthearted. The scale of it is truly magnificent, but often its largest and most moving moments come from the smallest and most carefully composed scenes.
95+:
3DJuegos (96)
Assassin’s Creed II is a gem, a truly masterpiece. Developing a new economic system, and bringing more attention to combats, notoriety and context-script, Ubisoft achieves an awesome and epic experience. This sequel is far better than the first one.
Everyeye.it (95)
Assassin's Creed 2 is miles away form the first chapter. It's a whole new game, different in many aspects. The main quest is involving and nice to play, and the number of side mission and extra activities is impressive (and all of them are fun to play). The setting is peculiar and unique, and the panoramic views are sharp and, somehow, magic.
Game Informer (95)
Assassin’s Creed II is a complex, mature, and engaging journey from beginning to end. It stands as a benchmark for design that combines innovative ideas with tried-and-true techniques to create one of the great games of this generation.
TeamXbox (95)
A game that takes the free-running and huge cityscapes of its predecessor and adds in a host of action-RPG elements that combine to form a much deeper and more satisfying game, and a surprise frontrunner for the best of 2009.
90+:
Vandal Online (94)
With a more complete story, much more varied gameplay and the same virtues than the original, Ezio's adventures in the Renaissance will captivate everyone this time.
MondoXbox (92)
Assassin's Creed II is all the first game should have been if the authors developed more deeply plot, characters and gameplay: being able to rely on a well proven engine, they focused this time on a making the game more interactive and varied, even if it’s missing some of the wow factor the first game had two years ago. A fascinating action-adventure, full of things to do and moved buy an intriguing story: a must buy.
IGN (92)
The experience is layered, unique, and shows an incredible attention to detail. This is one case where the sequel has triumphed over the original by catching the gameplay up to the already excellent visuals. No matter what your preconceptions are about Assassin's Creed II, the game is well worth your time and money.
GameTrailers (92)
Assassin’s Creed II has plenty of fixes and additions, but the story can drag, and the sense of awe that the parkour provided two years ago is muted. Yet new mission types, freedom from a linear quest, added depth, and a stronger historical bent fortify the overall experience. There’s still no other game quite like it, and whether you dismissed the first game or absolutely loved it, this is one creed worth taking.
Multiplayer.it (92)
Assassin's Creed II is not only a welcomed tribute to Italy, but also a videogame that has improved almost everything from the previous game. Graphically beautiful, with a great story, a lot of things to do and some cool ideas (like Auditore's Mansion), the last game from Ubisoft is finally a compelling game, that everyone should at least give a try. Obviously there are many things that still need to be improved, like AI and combat system, but as far as we can tell, the game is a must buy even for his gameplay, apart from the surroundings.
SpazioGames (91)
Assassin's Creed II delivers a great story driven experience. Solving most of the problems of its predecessor, this accomplished sequel offers compelling action, beautiful environments and a great plethora of well written characters. A must have for every action-adventure fan with a taste for history, and one of the best games of this fall.
1UP (91)
AC2 is everything a sequel ought to be: An improvement on the original in nearly every way. Perhaps more impressively, it actually has me interested to see where the series goes from here -- something I wouldn't have expected after I slogged my way through the original. Anyone who enjoyed the first game will definitely like AC2, but the real accomplishment is that people who didn't enjoy it will likely have a good time, too.
Official Xbox Magazine UK (90)
The first Assassin's Creed's charm was in the sumptuous graphics and straightforward action - that incredible climbing and free-running, and the visceral thrill of stapling evil people to the dirt with a wristblade. With AC2 the rest of the game has caught up with the brilliance of those central ideas to create a complete and coherent experience. We can think of plenty of words that could describe Assassin's Creed 2 - involving, exciting, cinematic - but there's only one word that sums it up beautifully. Killer. [Dec 2009, p.74]
Eurogamer Italy (90)
Assassin's Creed 2 has more variety than its prequel, and it's a great gaming experience. Despite a graphics engine which is good but that no longer represents the cutting edge, the real difference is now the storyline and the gameplay. Ubisoft has listened to what people were asking for, and we are now in front of what Assassin's Creed was supposed to be.
XGN (90)
Ezio is the evolution of Altaïr. The game shows improvement and keeps you fascinated because it offers enough variation. The graphical performance is high and the sound is just fine. This game just simply can't be missing from your collection!
Eurogamer (90)
Ubisoft Montreal has never been afraid to try new things, but after a few missteps with games like last year's Prince of Persia, perhaps the bravest thing it could have done with Assassin's Creed II was simply to make a classic open-world adventure, filled to the brim with things you want to do and the narrative motivation to continue doing them. The fact it's done so suggests we really should trust the studio when it says it's taken its lesson, and fills me with hope for the third game in the trilogy. In the meantime, we not only have the Assassin's Creed game we'd hoped for in the first place to play with, but one of the best open-world games of the year.
Playstation Official Magazine UK (90)
[Games are] about delivering a world that you want to invest your time in, full of characters you can have an emotional connection with, and Assassin's Creed II does that almost perfectly. [Dec 2009, p.102]
PS3bloggen.se (90)
Assassin's Creed II is such an improvement compared to its predecessor that it feels like a completely new game, rather than just a sequel. The varied missions really shine and the narrative is very effective, in all it's Forrest Gump-esque glory. Despite the quite slow start, Ezios adventures in beautiful Florence and Venice both look and feel amazing, and are well worth experiencing to the very end.
Level7.nu (90)
The repetitive gameplay of the predecessor is replaced with varied missions and an interesting main plot. One of the greatest game worlds ever with a lot of content and likeable characters makes it easy to ignore some technical and control issues.
Wired (90)
The first Assassin’s Creed had a bold, brilliant concept; the sequel delivers the execution.
80+:
IGN UK (88)
AC2 is a dramatically better game than its parent. It takes itself far less seriously, it's identified what was fun and thrown out what wasn't, and it's built upon a core free-running structure that's forever spectacular and thrilling. A little sadly, its fundamental concept and structure has been seriously overshadowed by the slicker likes of Mirror's Edge (in some ways) and Arkham Asylum (in a whole lot of ways).
Giant Bomb (80)
But this isn't a reinvention, it's a refinement. Assassin's Creed II offers, fundamentally, the same kinds of thrills as its predecessor--leaping from rooftop to rooftop with surefooted ease, appearing out of nowhere to kill your target with a quick blade, then vanishing effortlessly into a crowd. It's just been expanded, streamlined, and overhauled in ways that bring it closer to grace and make it a much easier game to recommend.
Meristation (80)
Two years later, Assassin's Creed tries again to make real those promises from Ubisoft, and prove itself as a better game than it was. The truth is that, despite the Renaissance setting, the vivid locations and the historical landmarks, the new features added don't really improve the sequel: the same repetitive mechanics remain, as the flawed enemy AI, a rough combat system and moments of frustration coming from issues with the camera and the control response in the platform sections. Assassin's Creed II it's still a good game but far from the masterpiece Ubisoft has been promising.
Edge Magazine (80)
Certainly, Ubisoft Montreal has succeeded in welding a game to what once felt like a proof of concept, and without overshadowing its many strengths. Much devolves into mere stuff – one sword is much like another; a painting’s easily bought and just fills a hole in the wall – and once the story is over there’s little reason to replay it. At the end of it all, though, you’re left with that setting, those cities, and Ezio, and they lend the experience a substance that endures.
Kikizo (80)
However tighter its act, however convincingly it integrates player-imposed logic with a pulsing, subversively organic 15th century milieu, Assassin’s Creed 2 feels a little vacant. The second game in the series is palpably its best, but it trades too heavily on prior successes and introduces comparatively little of actual worth.
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