Along the way, Ezio meets real historical figures including Niccolò Machiavelli and Rodrigo Borgia the latter later known as Pope Alexander VI.
Desmond is assigned to investigate the memories of his ancestor Ezio, starting with his birth to a wealthy Florentine family in the late 15th century. The Bleeding Effect allows the user to learn all their ancestor’s skills instantly, cutting out all that time-consuming training. Using plans stolen by Lucy, the group have constructed their own version of the Animus, dubbed “Baby”, which they intend to use to train Desmond as an Assassin through the so-called “Bleeding Effect”. She takes him to a remote safe house, where he meets her team including historian and analyst Shaun Hastings and technician Rebecca Crane. From the very beginning of the game, Assassin’s Creed boasts a much more vibrant world, taking place during the height of the Renaissance in Italy during the 15th and 16th century, while the continuing feud between the Templars and Assassins loom heavy over large swathes of the story.Īfter the events of Assassin’s Creed, we begin our tale with Desmond Miles rescued from confinement by Assassin Lucy Stillman who, as you may remember, was revealed to be the undercover mole in the previous game. The main narrative continues to follow Desmond Miles, only this time instead of piecing together the crucial moments of Altaïr’s life, those genetic memories fall to another of Desmond’s ancestors, Ezio Auditore da Firenze whom we follow this time. With familiar characters, a constant narrative device that shifts back and forth between past and present, along with a new plot to digest, Assassin’s Creed II refines the gameplay in a big way and with that, adds a much more expansive story spanning a new time period and world to explore. Following the previous game, it was almost inevitable that Assassin’s Creed would return for a follow-up title.