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Assassin’s Creed II

PS3, PC, X360, MAC

First Released Nov 17, 2009

There are few franchises in video games as adept at transporting you to another time in history as Assassin’s Creed. From the Holy Land during the Crusades to the Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy, Assassin’s Creed games excel at bringing places to life, and nowhere is this more evident than in the magnificent Assassin’s Creed II. The cities and countryside of Renaissance-era Italy are the subjects here, rendered in such loving detail and astonishing complexity that a simple stroll down the street is enough to dazzle you. It’s well worth taking a brief respite from your century-spanning struggle between powerful secret societies for the fate of humanity to stop and smell the roses.

But don’t tarry too long, because as Ezio Auditore da Firenze, you’ve got a lot to do. There are secrets to ferret out and mysteries to uncover and Templars to kill, and not necessarily in that order. Though the story follows a set path, you are often free to carry out missions as you see fit. You may rely on stealth, blending in with the crowd in the bustling piazzas of Florence and knifing a target with your spring-loaded hidden blades. You might choose speed, clambering up the side of a building and racing across rooftops to escape unwanted attention. Or you could use brute force, elegantly dodging and parrying the attacks of numerous guards as you cut them down one by one.

There’s an elegance to all of Ezio’s actions that make it a thrill to don his hooded robes, and unraveling his connections with the modern-day protagonist, Desmond, is an exciting and gratifying endeavor. Characters with character, cities with soul, action with style, and conspiracies with depth all combine to make Assassin’s Creed II an incredible adventure.