Assassin's Credd II -- Initial Impression.

Now that both sets of download content are here I'm finally able to start Assassin's Creed 2 for the Xbox 360. Because Ubisoft pulled some sections of the game out for preorder bonuses and the like, the in-game percentage counter was busted. That might not sound like a big reason to not play the game, but for a completionist, that's enough to drive one insane. The download content adds everything back in, and fixes the counter. So away we go with what was probably my most wanted game for last year. Assassin's Creed II was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. Whereas the original Assassin's Creed had Desmond reliving the memories of Altair Ibn Al-Ahad during the Third Crusades in the Holy Land, Assassin's Creed 2 has Desmond reliving the memories of Ezio Auditore da Firenze a few hundred years later during the Italian Renaissance. The original turned out to be one of my favorite games this generation so I'm really looking forward to the sequel. From the time I've spent thus far I can say that the game has improved visuals. Especially in some of the character models. Lucy hardly even looks like herself anymore as she's so improved. I've only managed to wander around the initial section of Florence, finding treasure and advancing through the story that's essentially still within the tutorial stages. The non-player characters and the city itself seem to have much more detail. Florence in the renaissance is a far more colorful place than Jerusalem during the crusades. Truth be told I've had some issues readjusting to the controls and the combat but I'm sure that's just from being rusty. The initial story wastes no time in moving Desmond along to a new and interesting situation. They've also lessened the number of feathers to collect to a mere one-hundred. Feathers being Assassin's Creed II's version of flags. They've offset that by adding in treasures to collect. They've made it so you can track how many you have collected in each area. Even down to the individual districts within the large cities. This change won't make the collecting any easier, it will however let you know you've cleared an area and can move the search elsewhere. The initial impression seems to be that we have another sandbox game set in a historically fascinating time and place and that if the story and gameplay are on par with the previous entry then we'll have another great game. Only one way to find out...