Getting my hands on a controller with Assassin’s Creed 2 on the other end until recently has been like trying to get hold of my bank manager on a Sunday... seemingly impossible. Last week though, it was as if he was doing overtime – either that or he’d been kicked out by his wife for cheating with the neighbour’s babysitter and had to sleep at the office – because the seemingly impossible became possible. No, I didn’t get hold of my bank manager, he’s still missing in action, but I did get to go a few rounds with Assassin’s Creed 2.

Chances are that by now you’ll have seen a heck of a lot of Assassin’s Creed 2 gameplay, but that’s okay when the person playing has done the same walkthrough a bajillion times. Last week the newbie was on the pad and after a two year absence, was back at the helm of an Assassin’s Creed game... and boy did it show. It’s safe to say that the learning curve for Assassin’s Creed 2 is a notch up from Assassin’s Creed 1 as now not only do you have the pretty unique combat to master and fairly simplistic free running, but the new character, Ezio, has a few more moves at his disposal.

I feel compelled to inform you that Assassin’s Creed 2 will feature no flag collecting. Huzzah! You will be tasked to collect some items of interest though; seals and feathers to name but a few, but Ubisoft have informed us that if you collect all of one type of collectible, you will be rewarded with a hugely useful in-game reward. What though? Well you’ll have to wait to find that one out.

New to Assassin’s Creed is the game’s monetary system, so the money you earn from doing missions, stealing off people and what not, can be spent on weapons, gadgets, and even armour. The armour not only allows you to customise Ezio on how you want him to look, but each piece of armour has an attribute tied to it that will benefit him – things like +2 health, +2 resistance. Ubisoft were quick to point out that the new armour system was not intended to have an RPG feel to it, but it blatantly does. It isn’t an RPG by any stretch of the imagination, but Assassin’s Creed can now boast RPG style features. Also new to the series is the auto crowd blending, a third person eagle view, the ability to pick up bodies and throw them, being able to hire courtesans, thieves – who can free run – and mercenaries to assist you with whatever it is you want them to do, and much more.

My first hands on with the game was overwhelmingly positive and being able to drop 20 foot on to my assassination target with the new extended jump attack to finish off my session, just topped off what was an already great experience. Admittedly things did look a little rough around the edges and it was trickier to get our head around the controls than we remember, but being an early build and us being decidedly rusty, we’re not letting that taint what was otherwise an excellent experience. Unfortunately we didn’t get chance to sample many of the new non-repetitive missions, but from a control and delivery standpoint, Assassin’s Creed 2 literally leaves its predecessor standing in its massive shadow.

Oh, and Ezio isn’t as hugely cocky or annoying as Altair, so that’s always good. That dude needed a slap.

Assassin's Creed 2 is out November 17th and November 20th in North America and Europe respectively.

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