Assassin's Creed 2 In-Depth Preview

When Desmond accessed his memory through the Animus, he found Altair.

Altair defined Assassin's Creed, and was a large part of the reason Assassin's Creed was so good. His arrogant silence, his dedication, and his loyalty to his cause engaged players without an in-depth background story. Altair was a soldier of a greater army, and maybe his personality - or lack thereof - was justified by his obedience to the creed in-game. This, I think, is a good thing, because this game is never just about the one assassin.

I've tried resisting Altair's replacement, Ezio da Firenze - the latest assassin whose memory Desmond is accessing - but Ezio is an Italian nobleman and his journey is kickstarted by a nice big vendetta, so it's hard to resist the change for long. Which is good, really, as you'll need to relate to him for some of the new and more varied gameplay modes.

To progress through the game, you see, you have to engage in the game world much more than in Assassin's Creed 2's predecessor. There's the addition of a mini-economy, letting you upgrade without levelling up - meaning that pick-pocketing is finally rewarding, as you can steal currency to buy the aforementioned items.  You'll be able to visit a blacksmith for armour and weapons, the doctor for medicines and the clothes merchant for robes. You'll also have access to a villa in the game which is, to an extent, your home base. Here you can store your weapons, and collect art to display.

Set in the Italian renaissance and in the midst of a family feud, it's important for Ezio to have a plausible connection to important historical figures like Leonardo a Vinci. Ezio's noble heritage, his family's financial status, and his family's role in the ongoing political movement help connect him to the world around him, and again, provide points for the player to try and understand the character. Okay, I didn't like him initially (especially when I had to move his body after birth) but he did grow on me.

And then he's out into the big, wide world. It's not just big, though: it's heavily populated, which is why it's such a relief to be able to blend into any big group. Instead of moving stealthily by tagging along with a group of religious men, you can now seamlessly blend into crowds of any size and sex. There are also now factions which protect and/or distract guards and crowds, giving you the chance to deliver a more stealthy kill, too: there are the Courtesans - high end prostitutes - and the Thieves Guild of Venice. Of course, you must prove yourself to each of the factions before you can learn their skills or ask for help. These factions, too, are weaved into the fabric of the story, which again adds more depth to the events that unfold.

With each faction come mini "objective-based" games, perhaps better referred to as side missions. These range from delivering a message or picking up a box, to roughing someone up. You'll be financially rewarded for completing these missions, but, when compared to looting bodies, booty boxes or people on the street, it isn't much, so it's a good thing that financial gain really isn't the point of these side missions. What is interesting, though, is that in my two hours of playing the game, I didn't come across a mission I'd played before. A far cry from the original.

Scaling buildings has also been expanded on, and is more challenging that before. This isn't so much because the mechanic has changed, but because the buildings are taller and have more variety in size and shape. Falling will, depending on the height of the building, either kill you instantly or take a massive chunk out of your health bar. Still, it's worth the pain when you get a view of the city, especially if you've scaled to one of the many viewing points dotted around the map. Much as the first game was pretty, this is prettier. Florence looks amazing, and speaking to a Italian gamer Marco - from Florence, no less - I was assured the city was accurate. Marco was also impressed with the Italian dialects, telling me that there were some very typically Florentine words and phrases. Still, whatever the audio sounded like in Italian, Ezio sounded like a whiny Spanish child to my English ears, and like an infidel to my Arabic ears.

And while we're on the subject of infidelity I'd like to bring up Ezio's rampant sex drive. He is, you might say, a "playa," effortlessly cavorting with women, which lets you see and hear some pretty sexy stuff. Sadly, you also see and hear some not so sexy stuff, like Ezio's mother. Saying vagina.