History VideoGame / AssassinsCreedII

* DropTheHammer: Ezio can wield a maul or hammer instead of a sword. The counter-kills for these weapons are quite satisfying to watch.

''Assassin's Creed II'', ''Brotherhood'' and ''Revelations'' were re-relased in November 2016 for 8th generation consoles as part of the "Ezio Collection". In February 2022, this trilogy-compilation was released on the Platform
/NintendoSwitch.

''Assassin's Creed II'' is the sequel to ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI Assassin's Creed]]'', and the second game in Creator/UbiSoft's ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' franchise. It was released in 2009 on UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, Xbox 360 (playable on Xbox One via backward compatibility) and PC and in 2016 on UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and Xbox One as part of the "Ezio Collection".

Additionally, Ezio (specifically, his ''Brotherhood'' self) crossed over to another series as a GuestFighter in ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburV'', was a [[BossBattle boss]] in a temporary {{crossover}} event with ''VideoGame/ForHonor'' in December 2018/January 2019, and ended up playable again in the UsefulNotes/OculusQuest VR game ''Assassin's Creed Nexus''.

''Assassin's Creed II'', ''Brotherhood'' and ''Revelations'' were re-relased in November 2016 for 8th generation consoles as part of the "Ezio Collection". In February 2022, this trilogy-compilation was released on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch.

* BonusFeatureFailure: Giving Ezio's mother the feathers finally enables her to [[VideoGameCaringPotential come to terms with her family's death]]... until she gives you the Auditore cape, which makes every guard immediately aware of your presence and is annoying as hell to walk around with. On a side note, you get an [[CosmeticAward achievement]] on the [[UsefulNotes/XBox360 con]][[UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 soles]] if you wear the cape once in every city.

Additionally, Ezio (specifically, his ''Brotherhood'' self) crossed over to another series as a GuestFighter in ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburV''. He was also a [[BossBattle boss]] in a temporary {{crossover}} event with ''VideoGame/ForHonor'' in December 2018/January 2019.

The game, alongside ''Brotherhood'' and ''Revelations'', were re-relased in November 2016 for 8th generation consoles as part of the "Ezio Collection". In February 2022, this trilogy-compilation was released on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch.

** The fact that Brutes in heavy armor probably about half their bodyweight can scale building with no efforts is pretty appalling within itself. As well as how a particular Hidden Blade counter-kill has Ezio tossing them away, heavy armor and all. Though this could be explained in that Ezio's Precursor DNA makes him physically stronger than normal humans (which is apparently canon).

* CameraScrew: Thankfully it's at least possible to set the action camera frequency, but it's still not possible to disable it completely.

* VocalEvolution: Ezio's voice is noticeably higher-pitched during his younger days. As the years go by, it deepens into a BadassBaritone.

** On top of that, if you knock an Italian man onto the ground, he may go "Oh no! Dinner is a-ruined-a!", a reference to the "Thumb" series of films by Creator/SteveOedekerk (otherwise known for ''Film/KungPowEnterTheFist'' and, to a lesser extent, ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutron''), several of which feature a random Italian man who gets knocked down and laments the loss of dinner.

The focus this time is on another one of Desmond's ancestors, Ezio Auditore. Born and raised in UsefulNotes/{{Florence}}, Ezio is like most other young guys of his age and class: rich, [[LovableRogue carefree]], [[HandsomeLech spending most of his time wooing girls]] (and then some) and [[LeParkour jumping around the rooftops]] of his native home city. [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive Life takes a brutal turn for the young man]] when his family is betrayed in a political plot that leaves his father and two brothers dead -- it turns out his father was an Assassin, and he has [[PassingTheTorch passed that mantle]] (along with some shiny equipment) to Ezio. Ezio, [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge seeking revenge]], flees with his sister and mother to his uncle's villa and begins to track down [[UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar those responsible for the death of his family]], following clues that lead him from his home city of UsefulNotes/{{Florence}} to Tuscany towns, Forlì, UsefulNotes/{{Venice}}, and eventually UsefulNotes/{{Rome}}.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Actually, the murder of Giuliano de' Medici took place inside the Cathedral. In the game, it happens outside, both for [[PragmaticAdaptation the sake of playability]] and because the interior of the church is an [[SecretLevel Assassin's Tomb]].
** The iconic plague doctor uniforms seen in the game did not exist until decades later in 1582.

''Assassin's Creed II'' is the sequel to ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI Assassin's Creed]]'', and the second game in Creator/UbiSoft's ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' franchise. It was released in 2009 on UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, Xbox 360 (playable on Xbox One via backward compatibility) and PC and in 2016 on UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and Xbox One as part of the Ezio Collection.

Following the Third Crusade time period of the first game, this one [[TimeSkip jumps us forward a few hundred years]] and a few hundred miles to [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance Renaissance]] Italy, while in the 21st century the game picks up right where the first left off: Desmond and Lucy escape Abstergo's facility at the beginning of the game and flee to an Assassin safe house, where two other Assassins put him in a new and improved Animus, hoping he'll pick up some of his ancestors' skills and find more Pieces of Eden.

The focus this time is on another one of Desmond's ancestors, Ezio Auditore. Born and raised in UsefulNotes/{{Florence}}, Ezio is like most other young guys of his age and class: rich, [[LovableRogue carefree]], [[HandsomeLech spending most of his time wooing girls]] (and then some) and [[LeParkour jumping around the rooftops]] of his native home city. [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive Life takes a brutal turn for the young man]] when his family is threatened in a political plot that leaves his father and two brothers dead -- it turns out his father was an Assassin, and he has [[PassingTheTorch passed that mantle]] (along with some shiny equipment) to Ezio. Ezio, [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge seeking revenge]], flees with his sister and mother to his uncle's villa and begins to track down [[UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar those responsible for the death of his family]], following clues that lead him from his home city of UsefulNotes/{{Florence}} to other Tuscany cities, Forlì, UsefulNotes/{{Venice}}, and eventually UsefulNotes/{{Rome}}.

** The rest of Renaissance-era Rome aside from the Passetto di Borgo and Sistine Chapel.

* WalletOfHolding: Mixed usage. The amount of money that can be stored in the Villa's strongbox is finite. The amount that can be stored in Ezio's purse is not. Claudia suggests to Ezio that he take the Villa's funds to the bank, but this isn't actually possible. Presumably the canon explanation for his endless pockets is the existence of banks, but the designers probably realized that filling out deposit slips (or whatever the Renaissance equivalent of this was) doesn't make for compelling gameplay. When they first set up shop in the Villa, Claudia tells Ezio in no uncertain terms that once the chest is full, she'll skim the rest off the top.
* TheWarSequence: The final sequence of the game has Ezio invading the Art/SistineChapel, running through an ''asinine'' number of soldiers along the way. It doubles as a bit of a FinalExamBoss because each section of the sequence tests all of the different skills you learned, whether it's specific assassination skills (such as stabbing them from a haystack or pulling them off a high ledge) or simple man-to-man (or perhaps more accurately, man-to-ten-men) combat. There's even a section involve horse-back riding. How a horse came to get on top of Rome's outer walls is probably best left unanswered.

'''Ezio Auditore''': The best. [[TemptingFate May it never change.]]\\

* NoSuchThingAsWizardJesus: Averted. It's heavily implied that numerous prophets throughout history, Jesus included, were in fact the survivors of an advanced race similar or {{precursors}} to humans. Altaïr speculates that such prophets wielded real power, not just illusions from pieces of Eden. It's also explicitly shown that humanity was created as a servant race for these {{precursors}}, forming the basis for most of the world's creation myths, including [[Literature/TheBible the Book of Genesis]], with a dash of Prometheus from [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek mythology]].

The focus this time is on another one of Desmond's ancestors, Ezio Auditore. Born and raised in UsefulNotes/{{Florence}}, Ezio is like most other young guys of his age and class: {{rich|IdiotWithNoDayJob}}, [[LovableRogue carefree]], [[HandsomeLech spending most of his time wooing girls]] (and then some) and [[LeParkour jumping around the rooftops]] of his native home city. [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive Life takes a brutal turn for the young man]] when his family is threatened in a political plot that leaves his father and two brothers dead -- it turns out his father was an Assassin, and he has [[PassingTheTorch passed that mantle]] (along with some shiny equipment) to Ezio. Ezio, [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge seeking revenge]], flees with his sister and mother to his uncle's villa and begins to track down [[UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar those responsible for the death of his family]], following clues that lead him from his home city of UsefulNotes/{{Florence}} to other Tuscany cities, Forlì, UsefulNotes/{{Venice}}, and eventually UsefulNotes/{{Rome}}.

* SexyWalk: The courtesans have a definite swagger as they saunter about town.

* SuperDrowningSkills: Ezio can swim. The guards, even Venetian ones? Not so much. Civilian {{NPC}}s can't swim either. When you climb onto a boat and the owner leaps off in fear? He's ''committing suicide''.
** Particularly egregious since Ezio is wearing a small armoury and likely, by Venice at least, the same amount of weight in metal armour. Those civilians, on the other hand, wear simple cloth shirts, or robes/dresses of the same length (and probably composition) as his.

* AnAxeToGrind: Ezio can disarm Brutes and use their axes against them.

* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Ezio, our hero, makes a late night visit to his girlfriend and has many other enjoyable evenings throughout the game. As we later learn, [[spoiler:so does Altaïr]].

* TheMeanBrit: Shaun Hastings, out of the three modern Assassins is the only Brit, goes out of his way to make Desmond feel like a pussy.

* NiceHat: Lots of Italians wear hats, stylish and otherwise. The lowest-ranking guards have berets.