Today, Ubisoft has made its official Assassin’s Creed II unveil announcement, following Game Informer‘s May issue exclusive scoop. Assassin’s Creed II has been in development at Ubisoft Montreal for over two years now and is due for release this holiday season for “all current-generation platforms.” That surely covers PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, though that vague platform acknowledgment leaves open chances for perhaps even a Wii version. We already know an Assassin’s Creed game is also planned for PSP, so another DS installment certainly wouldn’t be any big surprise either.
But back to the cold hard facts as have thus far been confirmed: Assassin’s Creed II stars new assassin Ezio on a quest for vengeance throughout an open-world environment set in Renaissance Italy. Ubisoft seems to have taken constructive criticism of the original game to heart as well, making it known that the sequel will offer more variety across the board. Missions, weapons, gameplay mechanics…you name it.
“Our creative team is working hard to top the experience of Assassin’s Creed,” said Patrice Desilets, creative director at Ubisoft. “We’ve made improvements to every aspect of the game. We’ve plunged ourselves into the stunning history of the Italian Renaissance so that we can offer fans a unique, varied and innovative Assassin’s Creed experience.”
According to Game Informer‘s story, some of the new content includes the ability to swim and take to the skies on Da Vinci’s flying machine, 16 unique mission types (minus the original’s eavesdropping and pick pocketing missions, thankfully), a real-time night/day cycle, hidden item collectibles that actually net in-game rewards, and a ton of different weapons like an axe, hammer, mace, spear, multiple sword types, and, as you can see in the above character shot of Ezio, dual-wielded under-the-sleeve daggers.
Sounds great, hopefully Ubisoft pulls it all off.
Matt Litten is the full-time editor and owner of VGBlogger.com. He is responsible for maintaining the day to day operation of the site, editing all staff content before it is published, and contributing regular news, reviews, previews and other articles.
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Matt is a fair-minded reviewer and lover of games of all platforms and types, big or small, hyped or niche, big-budget or indie. But that doesn't mean he will let poor games slide without a good thrashing when necessary! 
