Discover an intriguing and fascinating new epic story of power, revenge, and conspiracy set in a pivotal moment of History: the Italian Renaissance.
Nov
17
This is an important disclaimer to all gamers considering importing the UK version. Due to the massive amount of text in the game (87,206 lines of recorded voice dialogue in 7 languages) , the UK version will only feature the English and Italian voices. So if you want to play the game in your native language, you will have to get a copy at your local retailer.
Thanks a lot
-Atmon
Nov
12
Last week, I mentioned on Twitter that we were having a fan day in Montreal and I got tons of private messages about it!
So now is the time to unveil all the details about that event. Basically, we decided a while ago to welcome a few fans into our studio, a couple of weeks before the launch of the game, and give them the opportunity to see where we are creating Assassin’s Creed 2, but also introduce them to the people behind the game!
I had to say that our team was excited to meet fans, and we had a few surprises waiting for them. You are probably wondering who these fans are, and I have to say that it’s quite a mix of nationalities and profiles. We had the chance to gather people from UK, France, Italy, Canada and even Austria, to name a few. Among them were gamers, active forums members, blog writers, editors and lucky sweepstakes winners.
The first time we met was the day before the event, where we all went to a restaurant together. The evening was really cool with tons of questions and discussion about the game, our schedule, but also gaming in general. However, their main request was “who is the mysterious key speaker we’ll meet during the event?” Well even though they tried hard to corrupt me, I remained silent!
On Friday morning, I walked to the hotel to meet our fans and video staff. Yes, we had cameras during the event, and I mean lots of them! You’ll see why later on.
So, we met in the Hotel lobby and then we took taxis to go to the Ubisoft Montreal studio. We started the day with a studio tour, which is always exciting for everyone. They loved our video studio, especially the audio recording department, where they got to play with swords! Then we showed them how we create all the cool assets and videos you guys see on Internet. We also had a surprise for them, our Dev Diary #6 was just finished the day before and they were treated to a world premier in our studio! But that was only the beginning…
We then went down to the Assassin’s Creed 2 floor, where we had prepared a huge room full of HDTVs and consoles. After watching a couple of videos and trailers, we welcomed our main guest: Sébastien Puel, Producer for AC2!
He was kind enough to spend more than an hour answering a staggering number of questions (and that’s exactly where the cameras became important, we will update you on where to watch all those videos as soon as they appear online or on your favorite console’s online network). And then Sébastien took a couple of hours to do some one-on-one interviews with all the fans, with the help of Benoit Lambert, our Game Director, and Francois Roughol, one of our main Game Designers.
After this really interesting round of Q&A, we let our fans play the game for 3-5 hours depending on their schedules, and if you want to know what other gamers thinks of the game just click on the following links!
Strategy Informer’s Preview
Console Monster’s Preview
Xbox360 Achievement’s Preview
IncGamer’s Preview
And here is a really fun podcast you should listen to.
More feedback and video will come soon and I’ll keep you updated!
Once again, I want to thank everyone for attending, it was a blast and we enjoyed welcoming you in Montreal!
-Atmon
Nov
11
The time has come, and our 6th and final Dev Diary is out. Some lucky fans attended our fanday and saw it as a world premier, and it was cool to see some reactions “live”. Usually we have to wait for your comments on our Official forums. They liked it and we hope you’ll enjoy this little tour of Italy too.
Time for the grand finale!
- Atmon
Oct
19
This is it, the moment that lots of you have been waiting for. The first trailer of our upcoming Assassin’s Creed 2 short movies: “Assassin’s Creed Lineage”.
We’re really excited to show you this because we have been talking a lot about the convergence between video games and cinema, and now it has become a reality for Ubisoft. We hope that you will like the movies, and because it’s a long tradition in cinema’s history, I’ll conclude on a trailer.
Atmon
Oct
14
No you’re not on the wrong page! It’s just a little news to tell you that some of our team members are in Italy for a series of interviews, and we got a message from Seb and Patrice that I wanted to share with you guys.
Patrice waving at the team, live from Florence
Their message says
“On Ponte Vecchio frame rate is solid and we really feel like living in the game”
It sounds like articles are on their way guys!
Atmon
Sep
29
Answered by Patrice Desilets – Creative Director
- You previously insisted on the fact that character progression was a central development aspect of Assassin’s Creed II. How did you represent that progression in the game?
As immersion is a point we wanted to push, the main idea behind Assassin’s Creed 2 progression was to relive the life of our main character – Ezio – and his evolution throughout the story that spawns for 30 years. Ezio isn’t born an assassin. He will have to learn to become one. A large part of Ezio’s story is him answering the question – who am I? What’s my purpose? – He can’t find the answer to this question in 1 year or 2; it takes the spawn of his entire life. The player will have to accomplish a certain number of achievements in order for Ezio to learn new skills and turn into a Master Assassin. He will meet a lot of characters that will teach him new skills, how to behave and reach his full potential. As Ezio matures, his values, his morals, his sense of self – will also change.
- We’ve heard about a lot of major locations Ezio will get to explore, like Florence, Venice, Tuscany/San Gimignano, the mountains etc. Is the Italian capital – Rome – going to be a part of the game?
It would be a shame to make a game set during Renaissance Italy and not include its capital. Rome is definitely going to be a part of the game! The city was also subject to a lot of suspicious activity at that time which is in line with the atmosphere/storyline of our game.
- In Assassin’s Creed, Masyaf was the home of the assassins. Is there a home city or a sort of hideout where Ezio can go without being troubled by guards in Assassin’s Creed II?
In his adventure, Ezio will discover the Auditore Family Villa, in the city of Monteriggioni. Perched atop a beautiful Tuscan valley, Monteriggioni has become run down and is badly in need of repair. The Villa will become Ezio’s domain.
As Ezio, you will be able to invest in renovations, bringing the city back to its former glory. You may also choose to redecorate the Villa Auditore with famous renaissance paintings, stock your weapons and armor, and store a variety of collected objects. Any improvement to the city will help develop the local economy, rewarding you with periodic income, which can be reinvested in the city or used elsewhere in the game. In addition, Monteriggioni hides many secrets. Ezio will be able to discover some secrets about his family’s past and many other surprises for players that will look into the most hidden areas of the Villa.
- We’ve previously heard about famous families – the Medici and the Pazzi – and the conspiracy that is at the heart of their history. Will the game involve any other controversial history facts around great figures of the Italian Renaissance?
Renaissance Italy was known for being a time of great political anarchy – there wasn’t any one leader to rule the country and families would strive for power over the pieces of territory that composed Italy. In Venice you had the Doges. In Florence, the Medici family took control of the city – and left the Pazzi family behind – which triggered the Pazzi conspiracy against the Medici brothers. In Rome, the power essentially belonged to the Popes. One of the most famous Popes of the renaissance being Pope Alexander the 6th. He was a typical Renaissance Pope in many ways but he was also probably the worst. All the Popes in the Renaissance treated the people’s State like their own territorial kingdom: they raised armies, they marched into the field, they sacked cities, they launched campaigns against their enemies. Since betrayal was a common thing at the time, they also tended to rely on family members as close councilors and lieutenants, people they felt they could trust because they never were sure whether the other cardinals in the Vatican were entirely on their side. Alexander the 6th pursued exactly those strategies but he took them to unheard-of lengths. You will get to meet “the Pope” in Assassin’s Creed 2…
- What more can you tell us about Leonardo Da Vinci in the game?
Leonardo is a student in Verrocchio’s workshop until 1476. Between 1476 and 1481, there is little historical information on Leonardo’s life…Here is our version: What really happened between these dates is that the Auditore, Ezio’s family, patron Leonardo to open his own workshop. Therefore, Ezio will meet Leonardo as he visits the artist in his workshop. Events will bring both Leonardo and Ezio to become very good friends and therefore close confident to one another. They are both progressive men and are each master of their arts. They spend a lot of time discussing their personal problems and helping each other work their way through them. Leonardo is aware of the tragedy that befalls the Auditore family and will support Ezio through it.
As you all know, Ezio becomes an assassin. On the other side, Leonardo is not an assassin and he is not fully aware of what Ezio is going through throughout the story. Leonardo will ask Ezio a lot of questions and Ezio will have a hard time opening up to what he “really” does. There is a little tension between Ezio and Leonardo throughout the story but Leonardo is wise and understands the choices his friend needs to make.
Leonardo plays an important role in Ezio’s life. Leonardo also helps Ezio solve mysteries and puzzles, build weapons, and create inventions that will each have their use to Ezio! If you need something for a mission, Leonardo is there for you.
Sep
8
Another Wednesday, and another talented fan! This time it’s a bit special because our fan draws, paints, creates models… Well he does everything, and if you want to know why and how, just check his interview!
So, who are you?
Hi I’m Sunita, known as Tenshi23 on the forums. I enjoy gaming, films and spending time in nature. I mostly make digital artworks though I’ve started to create more traditional pieces now.
- How long does it usually take to create a character like the one you sent?
This model took about two weeks to complete. I always create the head first, spending a couple of days trying to capture the likeness. After this I make the wire armature for support and to keep the proportions of the model.
Sculpting the body takes about a week as I have to build in layers to prevent the clay from cracking. During this time I began creating the framework of the flyer.
Once the body and complete I could finish the flyer and begin painting. This stage took a further two days.
- Why Assassin’s Creed?
I enjoy the freedom the player is allowed to experience as Altair, whether this is scaling buildings, performing leaps of faith or catching a templar unawares. The story of the Assassins and Templars captured my interest and I’m looking forward to seeing the conspiracy unfold in the new game. Also how could I forget the artwork and visuals of the game! I just love the level of detail and many a time I just used to scale viewpoints to take in the cities.
- What are your future plans related to Assassin’s Creed? And in general?
I expect I will be creating more digital painting and models after playing the new game. I can’t wait to learn the stories of the new characters. In the mean time I will be hosting more contests at the Assassin’s Creed fan guild I co-run at deviantArt, Visionary Assassins http://visionaryassassins.deviantart.com. The aim has been to create a fun community with regular contest like we enjoyed at 1191ad.com. (n.b. Atmon: Guys you should take a look it’s really cool)
Away from Assassin’s Creed I’m also trying to improve my pencil portrait skills, and have a few in the works at the moment.
- Where can people find more of your work?
At my deviantArt page http://tenshi-rising.deviantart.com/
- Any specific thing you would like to add?
I don’t think I would have concentrated on art again if it hadn’t been for the Assassin’s Creed community. I hadn’t found art to be fun since school but by taking part in the missions at 1191ad.com it improved my confidence. I’ve improved more than I thought capable over the last 18 months so thank you for helping me enjoy creating artworks again.
Thanks a lot for sharing them with us Sunita!
Sep
3
A great trailer deserves great music! I’m sure many of you are wondering where the music is from; the song is called Genesis by French-electro superstars Justice! Those who have been following my Twitter will have had a hint at that a few days ago. 
Enough text. Watch the video below, and believe me it was worth the wait!
- Atmon
Aug
25
We would like to thank the thousands of fans that took the time to participate in deciding a piece of Assassin’s Creed 2. Thanks to your vote, we now have our latest Achievement/Trophy for AC2. And the winner is:
It seems that Ezio will need to be ready to face any challenges!
- Atmon
Aug
21
When I first talk about highlighting some our fans talents, most people here were thinking about really cool artworks. Well it’s almost true…
Almost because our fans do more than cool artworks, they do amazing artwork, comics, costume, dolls and much more. Like Michael, and his stunning miniatures. Take a look, read his interview and run on his website!
- Lots of the fans on our forums already had the chance to already know who you are, but could you please introduce yourself for people discovering you for the first time?
I am something German, also known as Michael and love all kinds of creative, geeky, pop culture things including indie and niche art like sculpts, figures and games which will probably lead into a future in game design; also I collect stuff.
- As we can see, you use a lot pop culture in your miniatures, mainly video games, comics and movies. What do you like in Assassin’s Creed universe?
My favorite thing is probably the parcour gameplay that pretty much breaks away from any restrictions you see in most open world games where your main protagonist doesn’t do what you yourself as a player would do.
- How long does it usually take to create a miniature like Ezio?
The longest part actually is getting all the pictures, concept art and possible figure parts together which can take up to a month and after that it is usually 5 to 10 days of sculpting and painting. 
- Where can people find more of your work?
There is my personal website http://somethinggerman.blogspot.com/ ,my deviantart page http://somethinggerman.deviantart.com for all pictures, work in progress or other kinds of sculpts I make, www.figurerealm.com where custom creators like me submit their work or collectors and videogame forums like www.sideshowfreaks.com or this one
- Do you have any plans related to Assassin’s Creed universe?
I recently saw the picture of Ezio from the black edition where he is wearing that black armor thingy but I will probably do my own character design for a next AC game similar to District B13 with David Belle.
- Any specific thing you would like to add?
First off, thanks for interviewing me before you hopefully come to the people that make those awesome Ezio costumes, thanks to Kaxen for giving me a laugh with those comics and if you want to you can feel free to add my PSN ID ScarletVice. (nb. Mine is Ostea ;))
