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Though Assassin's Creed 2 has been enjoying near-universal praise from critics, apparently some folks have taken umbrage with the game's intro as it pertains to Ezio before he becomes a calculated killing machine. When VG247 recently asked the game's writer, Corey May, how he felt about that complaint, he told them that "it was necessary to spend time with Ezio as a carefree adolescent."

While he admitted that the development team could have "refined the sequence so that it either moved faster or provided the player with more action-oriented activities," he remained steadfast that "it needed to be more than a token five minutes." May said the developers will try to "sharpen" the experience next time around, but even if the execution may have been perceived by some as less than perfect, "the idea of the beginning of the game" is what mattered most to him.

We're behind you, Mr. May. Stabbing dudes sure is a ton of fun, but a little bit of context goes a long way.

Now that Assassin's Creed II has been out amongst the crowds, slinking its way into millions of consoles, gamers are stumbling upon some of its secrets. While you may be stuck tracking down those last few feathers, others are discovering ancient beasts and, according to CVG, game-breaking glitches.

Some gamers apparently found themselves stuck controlling Desmond in the Hideout after DNA Sequence 11, a direct result of shutting off their system after the game autosaved. When they later booted the game back up, they were unable to return to the Animus and continue Ezio's 15th century adventure. CVG didn't comment on whether this was affecting Xbox 360 or PS3 gamers, or both.

We've contacted Ubisoft to see if this is the first it's heard of the issue and also urge you to contact us if you've encountered it.

Update: Ubisoft has acknowledged the "SQ11" glitch. Posting on the company's message boards, community developer "Atmon" confirmed that Ubisoft is aware of the issue and is "glad to say that it will be solved through our upcoming patch," but did not suggest a release date for said patch. In a separate thread, Atmon continued to dance around the issue of a release date for the patch, explaining that upcoming server maintenance is unrelated to fixing the glitch.

You may be nearing the end of your assassinating adventures with Ezio in Assassin's Creed II. But, what are you supposed to do as you agonizingly wait for the upcoming DLC? Make your own AC2 adventures in PlayStation Home and LittleBigPlanet, of course!

The LBP Ezio costume will be available today on the PlayStation Store worldwide for £1.59 / €1.99 / US $1.99 / AUS $ 3.45 / NZD $3.90. Unfortunately, this costume set doesn't include any hidden wrist blades, so you'll have to make do with slapping your friends silly.

PlayStation Home's offering is a little less adventurous. The virtual Mall will feature "Renaissance costumes pulled straight from 15th Century Italy." In other words, you can dress like a courtesan (essentially, a fancy way for saying "prostitute"). Once again, no lethal weapons will be included, so instead of killing, you'll have to make do with ... um, dancing.

Source - Assassin's Creed II Costume - LittleBigPlanet
Source - This Week in PlayStation Home - PlayStation.Blog

Ubisoft has announced -- rather cryptically -- that Assassin's Creed 2 will receive two batches of downloadable content over the coming months. The first, entitled "Battle for Forli," will launch in January, 2010, followed by "Bonfire of the Vanities" in February. You're advised to have either a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 (fairly important components for playing the base game, we might add), along with at least 1GB of free space for each download.

Ubisoft has promised to divulge more information later this month. If we were to don our speculation hats in the meantime -- if only to cover up our Robert Langdon hair -- we'd say that "Battle of Forli" will continue the story of Caterina Sforza, who made a brief and undignified cameo in the game as a boat tutorial. The second DLC, "Bonfire of the Vanities," will likely concern the mass burning of sinful objects in Florence. Remind us to toss some of those evil feathers on the bonfire.

"Yes, there was an issue with the original download," a Sony Europe spokesperson has told Eurogamer. Said issue, which rendered PAL digital copies of Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines dead on arrival, was rectified by replacing the PSP file on the European PlayStation store -- though this came at a cost to those who had already been greeted by the defective copy's never-ending loading screen. According to the spokesperson, "It was pulled from the store and we are issuing replacement codes for those people who purchased the content before 12PM GMT on November 20."

Developed by Griptonite Games, Bloodlines follows the protagonist of 2007's Assassin's Creed, complete with 3D free-running and an Altair native control scheme.

A recent Ubisoft press release has revealed that the company is just so darn proud of its latest bundle of joy, Assassin's Creed II. According to the publisher's own internal estimates, the game has sold 1.6 million units worldwide in its first week of availability -- a 32 percent increase over the launch week sales of Assassin's Creed the First. The company also touted the game's impressive critical reception, highlighting the game's 94 percent user rating on Gamespot and an average critic's rating of 91 percent on GameRankings.com.

We're glad to hear Assassin's Creed II is doing so well despite being the follow-up to a fairly polarizing blockbuster. Also, here's a cool Digital Foundry time-lapse video showing off the game's day and night cycles. Yeah, we know that has nothing to do with what we were just talking about. Deal with it. We drop non sequiturs like Ezio Auditore drops corrupt, 15th century Italian noblemen.

Some of those eager to immerse themselves in Altair's portable crusade in Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines have allegedly been denied entry into the Animus. This has, in turn, led to animosity being expressed on Sony's message boards and our tips line. According to complaints, the downloadable version (the game is also available on UMD) freezes during its initial loading screen, regardless of PSP model.

Based on user comments, the hobbled file originated from the European PlayStation Store and has since been bumped off -- to be replaced with a working version soon, hopefully. We'll keep an eye on things (and your comments below) while we await a response from Ubisoft.

Update: Sony has replaced the faulty download and offered replacement codes to those affected.

Source -- Official PlayStation Forums
Source -- EU PlayStation Blog comments
Source -- Youtube video [Thanks, Gian]

With the launch of Assassin's Creed 2 today, Ubisoft has officially lifted the veil on its Achievement/Trophy-like "Uplay" program. First revealed at E3 (though minimally detailed), Ubisoft claims it to be an "online destination where gamers are at the center of a connected gaming universe," intended to link all Ubisoft titles across Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Players can access the Uplay portal through the web or in-game, with AC2 being the first title to include the still-in-beta service.

Of the "four primary services" Uplay includes – titled "Win," "Help," "Share" and "shop" – only Uplay Win is currently available in the beta. Ubisoft explains Uplay Win as "[enabling] players to collect units based on their actions in the games and exchange them for rewards such as exclusive in-game content or digital items," the first of which are an Altaïr outfit and "access to the Auditore Family Crypt" (among other things). We've yet to fully plunge the depths of Uplay's offerings in Assassin's Creed 2, but if there's anything really exciting, we'll be sure to let you know all about it. Keep it locked!

Joystiq has confirmed that the blurry video and NeoGAF forum member's claims of a Splinter Cell Conviction demo voucher shipping inside Xbox 360 versions of Assassin's Creed II were nothing more than an enticing balloon full of hot air. As the picture you see above reveals, copies of ACII sold by GameStop included a Splinter Cell Conviction leaflet meant to solicit pre-orders of Ubisoft's next big game, while a similar leaflet (included in our Amazon.com copy) contains a URL and code ("CONV1C71ON") for ... ringtones and wallpapers? Yes, sad, but true. Looks like we got our hopes up for nothing, folks.

[Thanks Eric!]

Update: Ubisoft has turned off embedding on the videos, so we've taken them out of this post. To watch all three episodes, you'll need to hit up the official YouTube page.

The first episode of Assassin's Creed: Lineage came as quite the surprise and the two chapters that conclude the backstory for Assassin's Creed II don't come any differently. There's more bloodshed, more plotting in the dark (the most sinister kind of plotting!) and a bit of our old elementary school pastime, note shuffling. It's like passing around a note, but nobody reads it and it's super secretive.

Head past the break to check out the last two Assassin's Creed: Lineage shorts.

Following a surprisingly passionate fanboy petition, an Assassin's Creed game is actually coming to PSP. Ubisoft hasn't done much to promote the upcoming PSP exclusive, Bloodlines, but this new trailer -- released a few days before the game hits store shelves -- is something ... right?

In addition to showcasing the game's crisp look, the trailer emphasizes connectivity between Assassin's Creed II on PS3 and Bloodlines on PSP -- both due out next week -- without actually going into detail. Thankfully, we already found out about some of those features.

You know what would make becoming the "chosen one" in your late night 1 vs. 100 bouts a whole lot easier? Just imagine: The camera pans up to your seat -- but you're nowhere to be found. You're a white-garbed shadow, slipping through the crowd, silently executing other would-be contestants. It's a beautiful dream that could be realized if you pick up one of the new Assassin's Creed 2 Avatar costumes -- a set which includes Ezio and Altair's respective get-ups (400), Da Vinci's Flying Machine (240) and a whole mess of other items that no hitman (or hitwoman) should go without.

Also, there's a whole slew of DJ Hero content, including a few turntables (240), a "Ghetto Blaster" (160) and some virtual vinyl (160). While the DJ lifestyle isn't nearly as attractive as that of an assassin, we suppose these accouterments are still pretty sharp.

Like so many fancy Italian citizens in the Renaissance, Assassin's Creed 2's Ezio Auditore di Firenze has a sweet villa in the country to run off to whenever he's feeling overburdened by his ... ahem ... work. In this latest (and final) developer diary for next week's big game, we are introduced to the quaint villa where Ezio holds a vacation house. A perfect place to store weapons, explore family relics, and think about the world – a place where he can improve the economy to his own benefit and make life easier for himself.

We picture the villa as a fully realized (and mid-1400s-styled) version of GTAIV's many save houses, but, ya know, with assassin stuff instead of gangster stuff. But then again, being an assassin is pretty gangster. Uh oh, this is way too confusing – we'll have to get back to you after Assassin's Creed 2 comes out next week.

Tied into next week's Assassin's Creed II, Ubisoft is looking to expand Ezio Auditore da Firenze's 15th-Century Italian playground through a new book titled Assassin's Creed: Renaissance. Written by Oliver Bowden and set to be published by Penguin books on November 26, the novel will follow the formative years of Ezio and -- along with the Lineage short films -- build upon the game's universe, the Guardian reports.

If you're looking for a sneak peek before the book clambers, dives and stabs its way to retail, the Guardian has put up a fairly long bit of prose from the upcoming tie-in. It deals with Ezio's mother and some paintings she commissioned from a rather famous painter. There's possible spoilers involved, so click over at your own risk.

Source - Book announcement
Source - A lengthy excerpt from the book

We can just see Ezio now, dashing from one social circle to the next like a débutante on her coming out party. And how could we picture anything else after watching the latest developer diary for Assassin's Creed 2, where the game's main character is depicted as a card-carrying socialite.

So what if one of those groups happens to be full of vicious mercenaries? They'll help him learn how to fight! And sure, another group might be made up of "courtesans" (see: ladies of the night), but they'll teach him all about sneaking! And another group is full of ... well ... you get the gist, right? The game's handful of factions will assist Ezio as he murders his way through Renaissance Europe.

One final thing: even if you don't care about each group, make sure you stick around for the surprise treat nestled after the end splash screen. You'll thank us.