Ezio is one of gaming's most lovable heroes and his Italian odyssey breathes passion. Parkour gets sharper, the cities sing, and chasing tombs and villa upgrades remains a glorious historical reverie.
Your verdict
Category
Action Adventure1 player18+
Description
Action-adventure by Ubisoft Montréal and Ubisoft, November 2009. Ezio Auditore battles the Pazzi and Borgias across sumptuous Renaissance Italy to avenge his family's execution. Extended parkour, creative assassinations, Florence, Venice and Rome to explore and enriched Animus 2.0. Second major franchise episode and one of its most acclaimed.
Assassin's Creed II review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
MAX
Story
★★★★★
"Masterful"
Historical recreations of astonishing breadth, from the rooftops of Florence to the sunlit Caribbean: each era lives again with a dizzying care for detail. The architectural coherence and worked-over light turn History into a sumptuous playground. This visual ambition, vast and polished, defines the historical open world.
Signed by Jesper Kyd, the music blends ambient, Renaissance sonorities and ethereal choirs into a score of spellbinding elegance. The sublime "Ezio's Family", now an emblem of the saga, crystallises all the melancholy of Ezio's journey. This refined sonic richness, at the crossroads of old and modern, marks a peak of the series.
Witness to the murder of his family, a young Renaissance Florentine embraces the way of the Assassins to slake his revenge. Blending real history, Templar conspiracy and apprenticeship, the tale lends its hero a striking humanity. This vibrant fresco, carried by an unforgettable Ezio, redefined the narrative ambition of the series.
Gameplay
"Masterful"
Scaling the facades of the Italian Renaissance in one fluid motion, melting into the crowd and then striking by surprise makes for a remarkably supple brand of open-ended stealth. The variety of missions and gadgets enriches the adventure. Combat still lacks bite, but the joy of climbing and the freedom of movement have lost none of their appeal.
Assassin's Creed II, the entry that takes Ubisoft's saga into Renaissance Italy and establishes Ezio, often held as the series' peak for its pace and setting. Very widespread, its collector interest is modest, the Game of the Year and Special editions being preferred; the Japanese and Korean versions are rarer. A cornerstone but accessible piece for an Assassin's Creed set.
A cult cover
Ezio appears in Renaissance garb, hood low over a determined gaze, dagger and Italian elegance at hand. The richness of the drapery and the subtle golds convey the refinement of Florence and the art of assassination. Warmer than the first chapter, it pairs historical beauty with a promise of revenge.
Is Assassin's Creed II still worth playing in 2026?
Released in 2009 on Xbox 360, Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed II fixes everything that weighed down the first and remains one of the high points of the series. Renaissance Italy, from Florence to Venice, offers a sumptuous playground where climbing and diving into the crowd stays pure pleasure. Ezio's arc, his growth and his tools enrich a formula now fluid and generous. A few side mechanics have aged, but the pacing, the writing and the art direction hold up admirably. For action adventure fans and the curious about the series, it makes an ideal entry point even today.
