Assassin's Creed 2 producer Patrice Désilets didn't actually come out and apologize for the fact the controversial predecessor shipped as a game that seemed practically half-finished during his presentation at this year's Penny Arcade Expo. In fact, he didn't even cop to it, at least not in so many words. But if you looked beyond his boasts of the 9 million sales Ubisoft has made from this fledging franchise to the substance of his public presentation, the contrition was implicit in the shape of the demonstration he conducted. At every turn, he subtly touched on each and every one of Assassin's Creed's failings by offering assurance that the sequel won't have those same flaws.

Call it spin control, call it unflappable confidence, or call it bravado. However you choose to interpret it, the fact remains that Assassin's Creed 2 looks amazing. And this, from someone who dearly wanted to like the original but found it an arduous chore after 15-20 hours of doing the same handful of tasks over and over again. I loved the game's vast, beautifully rendered world, the sheer openness of the environments, the fluidity of the game mechanics, the unconventional setting; yet I detested the fact that everything in between its first and last hour became a rote, mechanical bore. "Fool me once" and all that, but after watching the sequel's PAX demo I'm genuinely interested in revisiting the series -- something I would have thought impossible before coming to the show.

The keyword for the sequel is "variety." Rather than taking place in dusty Crusade-era Jerusalem, AC2 is set in 19th century Venice, and the city is rendered with breathtaking beauty. Fairly early in the demo, Désilets climbed a nearby church to take in a view of the town, and it's absolutely immense -- and, he assured the audience, completely interactive. But rather than throw gamers into the big city and send them trudging through a repetitive sequence of copy-and-paste events, AC2 will be bringing in some much needed alternate tasks.

For the demo, Désilets presented one example: A series of missions, delivered by carrier pigeon, which must be executed within certain parameters. In this case, the mission was to assassinate a politician without being seen. Adding to the complexity was a bodyguard that constantly shadowed said public figure. The solution: Purchase poison from a black market seller, quietly stab the bodyguard with a poisoned blade, and step back as the toxin caused the guard to freak out and accidentally stab the politician in his death throes.

Read the entire article at 1UP.