Assassin's Creed was one of the first games ever to feature very distinct, fully climbable environments. If you ask anyone about the first game, you will hear one of two answers: "I liked it, but it was so repetitive" or "Yeah, you really could climb on anything!" Both of those comments are true, and represent both the good and bad aspects of the first game. Luckily, after being shown Assassin's Creed II by the developers at Ubisoft, I can say that the game certainly looks like it has fixed any issues from it's maiden voyage, or assassination, so to speak.

Warning: Possible spoilers for the first game follow...

Assassin's Creed put you in control of Altaïr Ibn la-Ahad, as you would play through and explore the cities of Jerusalem, Acre or Damascus; all while trying to carry out the assassinations of various Templars. The game you played was actually a simulation shown through the Animus, a device that could help recall the memories of your ancestors. Technically, the actual protagonist is Desmond Miles, but we'll just say it was Altaïr because he was who you actually played as. 

This time around, you'll be performing assassinations around Italy -- in Venice, Florence, and Tuscany, as well as a few other big cities. And instead of playing as Altaïr, you will now be playing as Ezio Auditore da Firenze. It really is quite amazing how diverse Desmond's family tree is, huh? And the knack for assassination must run in the family!

One of the biggest complaints made about the first game was that it was too repetitive. Not only in the side missions, but parts of the main story as well. This time around, Gaëlec Simard, Lead Mission Designer at Ubisoft, has told me that they will be bringing a change of pace with each assassination mission. The assassinations themselves can be made easier by hiring thieves. 

This handy little feature can help keep your notoriety low, and ease combat. Once hired, the thieves will follow you around, and attack any enemies you tell them to. While they can be used to fight, they are apparently most useful to lure guards away from there posts. After the guards have been lured away, you can then continue on your mission to assassinate your next target. 

A few other cool side details that can be found in Assassin's Creed II include the ability to customize Ezio's clothes, and to donate/put money into the city. As you put more and more money into the city, you can watch it grow and flourish, and even benefit from your deeds. There are also plenty of extras throughout the game that are used to fill the in-game database.

Unfortunately, I was only able to play the game for a couple of minutes, but in that time I dispatched 4 archers so that I would be able to assassinate my real target without interference. With the archers dead I returned from the rooftops, and hired a group of courtesans to lure the guards away from their posts. I then climbed up the side of a palace, and upon reaching the top was treated to a cutscene revealing my target (I'm sure that he was revealed before, but I was being dropped in halfway). 

In Assassin's Creed II, the game lets you approach your kill in a few different ways, you can be direct, and just jump down. Or you can slowly go around stabbing and hiding the guards' bodies until you can sneak around to your target unnoticed. I went for the more blunt approach and went in for the immediate kill.

Another thing to be noted about this game is that your character can now swim. It makes sense when you think about it, after all, being in Venice and not being able to swim is a little ridiculous, but it is still a new feature not included in the first game. It also goes with out mentioning that the graphics are stunning. Each city features such detail, and really makes you feel as if you have gone back to the Italian Renaissance. 

As seen at this year's E3 live gameplay demo, Leonardo Da Vinci is even involved, and provides Ezio with a flying machine that helps to greatly vary and spice up the game. It looks like the guys over at Ubisoft Montreal are really pulling out all of the stops for Assassin's Creed II.

Assassin's Creed II comes out for the Xbox 360 and PS3 on November 17, 2009.