The presentation starts with the new hero, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, standing up and immediately stabbing a victim in the heart and laying the body in a sitting position between two other men, making it look like the victim is passed out drunk. The two men are from the Thieves Guild, a new ally of the Assassins, and the organization plays a critical role in the story. A surprise ally is Leonardo da Vinci, who equips Ezio with a number of experimental gadgets. Among them is a glider that the player can use to traverse across the city of Venice and sneak into a guarded fortress, which illustrates how the sequel will be abandoning the investigations from the first game in favor of an action based system that has stronger connections to the story and better pacing. While gliding, players can follow a series of lit torches (also provided by the Thieves Guild) that will provide both direction and hot air for lift. Otherwise, the glider would just crash. It is unclear at this point what da Vinci or the Thieves Guild has to gain from helping the assassins, but we're sure that will be revealed when the game releases.

Players will be receiving a number of transportation choices, which include gliding and boats, but there will still be plenty of places to free-run across and explore. In the tradition of sequels, Assassin's Creed 2 will have greatly expanded real estate compared to the first game with taller, vertically designed, buildings to scale. Ezio will be able to traverse rooftops and streets, but the buildings are tall enough to support a kind of middle area between buildings. However, players will need to closer attention to the environment, since the artificial intelligence will be receiving a significant upgrade too. Guards are more paranoid and will actively investigate if they suspect you're an assassin. The good news is that the crowds will also be getting some nice upgrades. In the first game, the crowd mostly served as an obstacle, but now bystanders are more active and Ezio will be able to blend in with them at any time.

Planning and escape are just parts overall game. The real meat comes from the actual act of assassination. Unlike the predecessor, the new character sports two retractable blades and can kill two targets at once if they're standing close enough together. Combat with guards will also see some major changes. Guards come at you using different weapons, and Ezio is trained to use all of them. He can disarm guards and use them against others, leading to a variety of different moves, but always opts to throw them away once the fighting is done. That's not to say Ezio doesn't have a few tricks up his sleeve too. As seen in the trailer, he packs a pistol in addition to the retractable blades to quickly take out a single target from range. When he needs to make a quick getaway, he can throw down a smoke bomb to confuse the guards as he dashes away and dives into the water (yes, the hero isn't allergic to water this time around).

There is still a long list of unanswered questions, including what became of the Assassin's Guild after the first game ended. Then there the modern day story pieces, like the raid on the facility Desmond is imprisoned in. We were able to confirm that Kristen Bell will be reprising her role as Lucy Stillman, who also holds the keys to a number of mysteries. Hopefully, all these lingering questions and more will be addressed when Assassin's Creed 2 releases this fall.