Assassin's Creed II: The Complete Official Guide

I read a few reviews here, let me tell you... I loved this guide, loved the game(finished the main plot and major sub-plots in ten days thanks to this guide) but this guide isn't perfect. My back cover almost ripped off because of the binding problems with the massive map poster stuck there. Suggestion: either bind the guide/map/poster different in the future, include it free seperately, or rip it out of the guide the first time you open it. SPOILER!!! THIS GUIDE DOES NOT INCLUDE ANYTHING ABOUT MEMORY SEQUENCE 12 AND 13!!! So if you get to this point, you're on your own my friends. Yes the pictures/maps/screenshots are amazing, but the written walk-throughs? Vague and only mildly helpful. Oh! and don't put the most important maps where the binding is smack dab in the middle of them. i.e. Feathers and Glyphs. I had a heck of a time tracing book buildings to compare them to the in-game map. Also! overhead screenshots for maps? Why not use the in-game map? Put the screenshots on the poster because it's pretty, but make the 'REAL' maps for informational/gameplay purposes just like the ones IN THE GAME!!! But I did love the screenshots of each Feather/Glyph location. That was the only way I found all of them. Tactics on how to beat each type of guard and the "secret morale system" USELESS! Ya hack, slash, stab, assassinate, and if you get a huge group of guards... RUN AWAY!(or throw a smoke bomb and run away or murder them while they're disabled) OH! another spoiler: The Monteriggioni: Statuettes map is wrong. The Neptune statue is where the guide says the Pluto one is and vice versa. But, I loved the step by step solutions for all 20 of "The Truth" Glyph puzzles. Overall, with a game this complex and long... any guide is a good one... that's why I gave it a 5.

I've not played all teh way through this yet, but the Assasins Creed I walkthrough was very helpful for those little things that are deliberately hidden so you need a Walkthrough to find them. I have no reason to believe this one will be any different and to date it hasn't been.

Honestly, given how busy I've been with school, I haven't really had the time to dedicate and play ACII, however, from my brief moment with the game along with my glancing of the strategy guide for said moment, I was definitely amazed at the level of detail and clarity of the strategy guide. I have great confidence that when it is finally feasible for me to play ACII, I'm sure the strategy guide will be there with me in accomplishing all of the tasks as required for the game and then some!

Simply put, this is quite possibly the best player's guide I have ever purchased. If you haven't played the game all the way through yet, continue reading at your own risk. I describe elements of the game you may or may not prefer to discover as you play through it. you have been warned. It starts off with a few short explanations on controls and maneuvers. I particularly enjoyed this because I found the AC2 game manual to be lacking. The walk-through is very well put together. Each time you enter a ewn city it gives a map with codex pages, viewpoints and the game's database landmarks. For the walkthrough portion, all the left-hand pages are the main storyline and all the right-hand pages are general information of interest and trivia. It also lists the free missions (assassination contracts, races, couriers tasks, beat-up assignments, etc.) at the end of each memory sequence. The Reference and Analysis section describes, general tactics and strategy, weapon and armor statistics, shop inventory and enemy archetype strategies. also incredibly useful information once you're looking into a deeper mastery of the game. Last but not least-if you're like me it's the reason you're considering the guide-the extras. Achievements, unlockables, secrets and collectibles (which are broken down by DISTRICT, not city and include a screen shot of their locations). The collectibles' locations shown in the guide are limited to the glyphs and the feathers on the maps broken down by district. This makes sense since map markers for the treasures and codex pages can be obtain on your map in the game. The extras section ends with story recaps for AC1 (which includes a description of all the crazy crap on the walls at the end of AC1), a story recap for AC2 and solutions for all the glyph puzzles. Great game aside, the guide itself is a terrific piece of work and will hopefully serve as a model for future guides as to what a true player's guide should be.

This is what a game guide should be. Beautifully put together, this guide is full of pictures, maps, and illustrations. The guide starts with a nice game overview section that gives you some basic pointers, explains core concepts of the game, goes through controls, etc. Basically, it brings you up to speed on the game in a clear and concise manner. After that, it moves into your standard walkthrough, with lots of illustrations and maps. It is very easy to follow without spoiling the game. Of course, perhaps the most important part of an Assassin's Creed walkthrough is help finding all of those pesky collectibles throughout the game, and this guide takes care of you there. Bottom line, get the guide. It is beautifully designed and executed, and it will simplify your life and add to your enjoyment of this game. This one isn't as essential as a guide for Oblivion, for example, but it is still well worth picking up.