Assassin's Creed II@ABHISHEK

Assassin's Creed II takes place in an open world with nonlinear gameplay,

allowing the player to roam freely within several regions throughout late 15th
century Italy such as Venice, Florence, and the Tuscan countryside. 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 for medicine.

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. Within the game, the player
will be able to use Leonardo's flying machine (based on real-life plans by Leonardo) while on a mission.
The player also has the ability to control a carriage, gondolas, as well as ride horses.

While Leonardo Da Vinci provides the player with new weapons, such as a double hidden blade, a poison
blade and a miniature firearm, there are also a variety of swords, cutlasses and maces, as well as axes,
spears and daggers. The combat system is more complex, with the ability to disarm opponents, stealing
their weapons.[1] Six additional weapons can be unlocked by connecting a PSP with Assassin's Creed:
Bloodlines to the PS3.[9]

The Auditore family's countryside villa acts as Ezio's headquarters, and the surrounding property can be
upgraded, drawing income for the player's use. There are several outlets for using currency, with
vendors selling items such as medicine, poison, weapons, repairs, upgrades, paintings and colored dyes
for changing the color of Ezio's outfit. When these shops are renovated, Ezio receives discounts at the
shops on the goods they sell.

There is now a broader array of methods for hiding or blending in the area. One can dive underwater to
break the guards' line of sight, and blending may be performed with any group of people, rather than only
a specific type, as in the first Assassin's Creed.[1] The game features a notoriety system, with Ezio
becoming more recognizable depending on his behavior, location, and current mission. This infamy can be
reduced with bribery, removing wanted posters, or assassinating corrupt officials.[1] 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.[1] There are many ways to interact with non-player characters,
with some NPCs available for hire, to serve as a distraction, or to fight alongside the player. Money
thrown to the ground may also serve as a distraction. There are also several types of enemies, some
more agile or stronger than others.

The missions in the game now have an expanded variety, with different structuring. For example, a
mission may have the objective to escort someone, but may change to a chase and assassination.
Investigation is less explicit, and instead missions may follow people and/or a narrative. There are
roughly 200 missions in this game; about half are part of the main storyline, while the rest are side
quests. Cities also contain hidden locations such as catacombs and caves, the design of which have been
compared, by the developers, to the Prince of Persia series, where the objective is to navigate the area.
Exploring these locations eventually rewards the player with an Assassin's symbol, six of which allow the
player to unlock the armor of Altaïr.

Like Assassin's Creed, characters based on historical figures are present in the game including Leonardo
da Vinci, Niccolò Machiavelli, Caterina Sforza, Lorenzo de' Medici, the Pazzi Family, and Pope Alexander
VI.[10]

Locations in the game include the Tuscany region[1] (Florence, Monteriggioni and San Gimignano[11]), the
Apennine Mountains, the Romagna region (Forlì[11]), Venice and Rome. Specific landmarks include St
Mark's Basilica[1], the Grand Canal, the Little Canal, the Rialto Bridge[1], Santa Maria del Fiore, the Sistine
Chapel, Santa Croce, Palazzo Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio, and Santa Maria Novella.
Plot

The game continues shortly after the events of Assassin's Creed, where, in 2012, Desmond Miles (Nolan
North) is still a prisoner at Abstergo Industries after searching the memories of his ancestor, the
Assassin, Altaïr, in the Animus. Abstergo, the modern-day equivalent of the Knights Templar, had been
using Desmond to locate powerful out-of-place artifacts called "Pieces of Eden". Using the "Eagle Vision"
ability he gained as a result of the "bleeding effect" (from overexposure to the Animus), Desmond is able
to see messages and symbols written in blood on his bedroom wall, written by the former test subject,
named "Subject 16". Lucy Stillman (Kristen Bell), a former researcher for Abstergo and a member of the
modern-day Assassins, frees Desmond and brings him to a secret hideout for herself and two other
Assassins, historian Shaun Hastings (Danny Wallace) and computer expert Rebecca Crane (Eliza
Schneider). With their own version of the Animus, dubbed the 'Animus 2.0', they invite Desmond to help
them discover the memories of his ancestor, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, for two reasons: to train Desmond
in Assassin skills through the bleeding effect, and to find other Pieces of Eden.

Ezio, residing in Italy during the Renaissance in the late 15th century, finds his family in Florence the
victims of a political plot, and is unable to prevent the hanging of his father and two brothers. His father's
final instructions lead Ezio to a chest containing Assassin garments and tools. Ezio's uncle Mario allows
Ezio and his mother and sister to shelter in his countryside villa, and trains Ezio in the art of combat.
Mario further provides leads to those in on his family's betrayal, and Ezio follows the trail of clues, leading
from Florence to San Gimignano, Forlì, Venice and eventually to Rome. Along the way, he encounters
several allies that assist in his pursuit, including Leonardo da Vinci, who is able to help decode pages from
Altaïr's Codex, creating new equipment. After assassinating many people involved in the plot, Ezio is able
to identify Rodrigo Borgia as the leader of the conspiracy, aimed to bring down the Medici family. Borgia
later arrives in Venice with the "Apple," the Piece of Eden that Altaïr originally had found. Borgia believes
himself to be the "Prophet" that would lead to the discovery of "The Vault", supposedly containing more
Pieces of Eden and other knowledge the Templars seek. Ezio, joined by his allies, stop Borgia, who flees
without the Apple. His allies, including Niccolò Machiavelli, reveal they are all members of the Assassins,
and bring Ezio into their ranks, telling him that they believe him to be the Prophet that will lead them to
the Vault.

During one break from using the Animus, Desmond suffers a hallucination that returns him to the body of
Altaïr in Acre, and makes love with Maria, a Templar he had earlier spared (a decoy for Robert de Sable in
Assassin's Creed whom Altaïr formed a relationship with in Bloodlines); when Altaïr departs, Desmond
finds the memory staying with Maria, and leaves him confused when he recovers. He also learns of the
case of Subject 16, one of several previous test subjects used by Abstergo, and the person responsible
for writing the images he saw in his room at Abstergo. Subject 16 has managed to hack the Animus and
place twenty glyphs that can only be seen and decoded by the Animus user, revealing a video of a man and
a woman, claiming to be Adam and Eve, carrying the "Apple of Eden", running through a futuristic setting
identified, by a flash of binary code, as Eden.

When Desmond returns to Ezio's memory after he fought off Borgia, they find several corrupted
memories, and are only able to return Desmond to Ezio's memories in the year 1499, where Borgia has
since become Pope Alexander VI at Vatican City. Ezio's memories reveal that he and his allies have
completed the Codex and discovered that "The Vault" lies in Rome, and realize that the Papal Staff is
another Piece of Eden; Borgia's plan, upon deposition of the Medici family, would allow him to become
Pope and gain access to the staff and the Vault.

Ezio travels to Rome; while his allies distract the rest of the city, Ezio discreetly enters the Vatican and
attempts to assassinate Borgia. Borgia manages to escape with both the Apple and the Staff, and
attempts to use them to open the Vault, but Ezio catches up and defeats him but does not kill Borgia, since
revenge will not bring back his family. In Ezio's hands, the Apple and Staff open the Vault; inside, he finds a
holographic figure that identifies him as The Prophet that has brought Desmond and the 21st century
observers to the Vault, much to Ezio's confusion. The figure, calling herself "Minerva", reveals that she
and others of her kind were part of a far more advanced society (The Ones Who Came Before) that lived
on Earth and created humans in their own image (it is hinted several times throughout the game that
humans were created as a slave race). Eventually the two races went to war against one another, soon
haulted by a natural celestial catastrophe involving a massive solar flare which resulted in the
destruction of most life on Earth. The remaining people of both races rebuilt society. The few remaining
One's Who Came Before constructed several "temples" around the world (one being located within the
Vatican) that would help the human race to prevent the same disaster from reoccurring once the One's
Who Came Before had died out. Minerva insinuates that records of the One's Who Came Before's
existance aswell as their warning had over time been missunderstood and had evolved into various
myths, legends and religions throughout the modern world. As the hologram vanishes, Minerva says "the
rest is up to you Desmond". As the memory ends, Desmond wakes to find that Abstergo has discovered
their hideout and, with his assimilated skills from Ezio and Altaïr, assists Lucy in dispatching their forces,
led by Warren Vidic, while Shaun and Rebecca pack away their equipment. As the four escape, Lucy
postulates that Minerva may have been talking about the Earth's geomagnetic reversal, Desmond realizes
that the writing on his wall left by Subject 16 at the beginning of the game were actually warnings, and
with time short, Desmond prepares to re-enter the Animus and continue searching his memories for
more clues to the location of the remaining temples.

Sequel

Discussions on the details of Assassin's Creed III were already present before the release of Assassin's
Creed II, with the game's staff noting talks of possibly having a female ancestor in World War II.[57]
However, scriptwriter Corey May has stated that the series will never take place during that period, as a
major goal was to take players to settings normally unvisited in games.[58] Other possible settings of the
third title may have the Middle Ages, involving King Arthur, or feudal Japan.[59]

On January 13, 2010, Ubisoft revealed that a new game tentatively titled Assassin's Creed II Episodes
would be released sometime between April 2010 and March 2011. [60] While not an expansion pack to
Assassin's Creed II, this game will again feature Ezio Auditore da Firenze, and will include a new online
multiplayer mode.

-----BY ABHISHEK(EZIO)