A typical exchange at my place this week:

‘I can’t wait till you finish that game’

‘Eh Bambino? Itsa fantastico!’

‘Your accent is not Benne’

‘Frutata pesto taglietelle’

‘Shut up...’

‘Bella! I’ma ...’

‘Now.’

So now that I’ve finished Assassin’s Creed 2, and I can finally open my mouth without sounding like an advert for microwavable pizza, I think it's time to reflect on my time in the 15th century. Some spoilers incoming.

The game starts in a modern setting with Desmond Miles, a man living through the genetic memory of his ancestors, thanks to a machine which does not resemble anything in The Matrix. Desmond comes from an long line of Assassins, an ancient society who are locked in an ongoing battle with the Templars who are determined to enslave humanity and do nasty things, in no way like anything in the Da Vinci code. At all.

In this instalment Desmond is experiencing the memories of Ezio, a young guy who leads a simple life in Renaissance Italy - charming the ladies, besting his rivals in street brawls and running up church spires without breaking a sweat. You know, a character that the average gamer can really identify with.

Long story short, things go wrong, bad things happen, revenge must be taken, Ezio puts on hoody, people need Assassinating.

Any game that uses Justice for their trailer must be worth playing.

The real success of Assassin’s Creed 2 is that save for a few linear moments, the game lets you decide how to respond to each challenge and makes the machinery of executing that plan simple and satisfying. Say there’s a group of guards in front of some loot you’re after. You could hire hookers, thieves, or mercenaries to distract them, letting you walk past unnoticed. You could throw gold onto the street and watch the greedy buggers scrabble for change, poison one and watch him flail wildly as it takes effect, or you could just rush in and start swinging. Each option is usually achievable, plausible and fun.

Side missions are varied and plentiful, collectibles giving game-changing benefits, and the player can play through the game in whatever way and pace they see fit. I sank a good 20 hours into this game before ‘finishing’ the main quest, but I suspect the story could be completed in half that time if you so wished.

Ezio’s free running is as simple as pointing him in the right direction and holding a button, his movement generally remaining fluid, aided by clearly yet unobtrusively marked routes, alluded to by white sheets, pigeons, and conveniently suspended planks. Apart from one frustrating moment during a flashback sequence where I just couldn’t figure out how to grab a wooden pole, I knew exactly where I should be going, and how to get there.

Of course, when any game tries to make a realistic world, it doesn’t take much to break that immersion. During a few cutscenes there is some screen tearing, character models occasionally poke through things they shouldn’t (ooh er missus) and I still can’t wrap my head around how one man covered in weapons and armour ‘disappears’ by hiding in a flock of monks... in the fucking VATICAN.

If these feeble attempts at criticisms should tell you anything, it is that there is little to fault here. By the same token I could criticise Tomb Raider because Lara doesn’t have to lie down every fifteen minutes to ease her chronic back pain.

In summary, a great improvement on it's repetitive origins and if value propositions are your thing, you will not be disappointed.

[Played on the Xbox 360]