Stealth, obviously, is a big element of play. You can still hide in bales of hay (as well as in a wealth of other spots dotted around), but the blending has been improved upon. You can now blend with any crowd by standing or walking with them, whether they happen to be white-robed scholars or not, meaning that enemies become quite oblivious to you. I don't know what kind of visually impaired, terminally stupid, bogroll-brained guardsmen the pre-Italian city-state local government used to hire, but they'll be hot on your heels until you stand with a group of monks, then they'll decide not to bother.
Combat's pretty involved. Beyond the obvious hacking to be done, defence plays an important part in your repertoire. I know every game with hand-to-hand (or handheld weapons based) combat takes a stab at making you think blocking is important, but you really won't get too far in
AC2 without some dodging, countering and disarming. There are also different tactics you can use with different opponents depending on their speed, size and weapon type.
This is complemented by a healthy weapon choice including the obvious swords and daggers, the less obvious hammer and smoke bombs and additions to your hidden blade such as
another hidden blade, a gun and poison. If you're not happy with stabbing, slicing or disembowelling your opponents, you can opt to employ mercenaries to overwhelm them or hookers to confuse them. It's strategy, innit? Honestly, I didn't come across many situations that couldn't be handled with a spot of stealth and some old-fashioned brawling, but it's always nice to have options.
The story's quite involving. Ezio's not as cool or brooding as Altair, but since he's out for vengeance, and we get to see his humble beginnings as a spoilt brat, he's deeper and more compelling. Clearly, he's a sociopath, with all those guards who are just trying to do their job winding up dead. Or Desmond's a sociopath. Or you're a sociopath. But, you know, he's an interesting sociopath. Even if Ezio does look like he should be in a Latin American boy band.
While
AC2's pretty, the free-running's fun (if occasionally frustrating), the combat works well and the stealth and strategy are intriguing (if a tad implausible), what makes it
reet† good fun instead of
quite good fun is the depth. The environments are massive and rich. Attention has been paid to every last nook, cranny and prostitute and it shines through. Not only that, it's full of actual stuff that's actually worth doing and having.
There are plenty of side missions to complete, boxes of loot to raid, glyphs that unlock centuries old mysteries to find, stuff to buy and all that good stuff. You could comfortably spend hours cruising around the city's rooftops, making money and upgrading your armour and weapons without ever bothering with a core mission. It's that depth that turns it into a big delicious Thai Curry dinner instead of a tasty nibble from the posh deli that's going out of business down the road.
Which is why I'm saying...
SPOnG Score: 91%
Conclusion
Beautiful, smart, smooth and sexy. Assassin's Creed II is everything you want in a woman. Don't let that weird you out, it's what you want in a game, too. It's not ground-breaking and it has a few weak spots, but it's mostly awesome.
†'Reet' is Yorkshire for 'right', in this context meaning 'very'.
