Assassin's Creed II

Haters be damned, this game's a ton of fun. Ezio's a fantastic protagonist, the Italian Renaissance atmosphere is awesome, and the soundtrack is intoxicating.

What an improvement in this one. This is a game to play. This is an empire to build, a family to elevate. And it happens at such a great time in history. I really enjoyed that side. The flipside with Desmond was starting to show signs of flaw, though.

AC2 takes the somewhat barebones experience that was the original, and improves it on every level. Ezio is a brilliant protagonist, the story is engaging, and renaissance Tuscany a wonderful rich game world to explore. Sure the years haven't been too kind to it (as evident when playing the remastered version released in 2015) but it's still one of my all-time favorite games.

Addressing almost every notable flaw from the original AC, AC2 is one of the definitive examples of a game developer learning from their mistakes and following up with a far superior game. Taking control of the charismatic Ezio Auditore through renaissance Italy, AC2 is arguably the high point of the free running, stab and slash franchise. The modern day Desmond sections are dull as always, but I loved this game on PS3 and will definitely replay it again in the future.

Now we're talking. This improved on almost every aspect of the first game. Ezio is a great character (he got 3 whole games to himself) and the Italian Renaissance era is captured beautifully.

[PS3] A great sequel, and perhaps one of my all time favourite gaming experiences. The storyline is on point, keeping you engaged throughout while setting up a greater mystery. Jasper Kyd's soundtrack is amazing, narrating your time spent in ancient Italy. Everything great about the first game is brought into this one, and built upon, adding new content and gameplay. Definitely the best game in the series.

The systems aren't perfect, but they really did take the criticisms of the first game to heart to come up with a winning formula here. Things are more driven by the plot, which makes good use of the historical setting. Stealth and running away actually work as well as the premise suggests they should, and platforming's more fun, if still a tad uncoorporative when in a hurry. Non-setpiece missions are often rather basic still, but at least the lower-effort side activities are easy to ignore.

I don't think Ubisoft is ever going to top this one in this franchise. They ticked off every criticism the original had and offered the perfect package. There's just enough here, not shoehorned multiplayer, not dumb Ubisoft license nonsense, the story is still followable, the added mechanics are all great. Best of the franchise.

My wife walked in the room just as I was bashing the Pope's head in at the end, observed for a few choice moments, and walked away in confusion and dismissiveness. I will say that the game improves if one changes the spoken langauage to Italian. It's a spoonful of sugar for the Ancient Aliens subtext, which I hope blows the mind.

Easily one of the most overrated games of all time, and extremely influential on the broader industry in the worst ways possible