Very, very fun. The graphics have seemed to take a step back, but the game is much more varied, the acting and story have greatly improved, it is about twice as large, it is more fun to run around this particular time period in Italy, Leonardo Da Vinci is your Q, Machiavelli is a goddamned assassin, and so on. The only downside I've noticed is what my brother has told me who has beaten it already, which is the ending pulls a Dan Brown.

Couldn't disagree more about the graphics. Though I don't think they are significantly better than AC1 (which says more about graphical quality of AC1 more than anything else) they did improve on the atmosphere and the architecture...oh the architecture!
I'm on my second playthrough now and the game still manages to keep me entertained. The gameplay is just fun.
In summary this simply is everything AC1 failed to be. A broader deeper, more involved game that even (or may be especially) the people who didn't like AC1 should try. This is definitely what the series was intended to be like from the very start.

Oh yeah, head an shoulders, it's a better game, and the design looks better as well. I just didn't like what they did with the characters this time around. The characters in the real world look more caricatured, which really made me feel weird when they showed a clip from the first game and then went to the new title, where the girl looks completely different.
Overall, though, it is 10X better than the first title, and I'm excited to see where it will go in the eventual sequel.

I am considering getting this when it's released here for the PS3. I have the first one in Japanese for the PS3 and English for the PC, and might be tempted to the do same again. As long as Ubisoft are stiffing us in terms of pricing.

Oh yeah the character models and especially character animation are pretty sub-par. Such a shame too, especially when everything else is so awesome.
I am very excited about the sequel too. There are some very exciting things they can do with the story, seeing how it ended.Absolutely do not get this for the PS3. I've been hearing nothing but bad things about that version. Severe screen tearing and character pop-in as well as significant FPS dips. If its an option, wait for the PC version instead.

Bah, I've tried this "Assassin's Creed" hype once on the Xbox 360, and I hadn't found it to be that great....

I might get it... if it's ever released for PC.

Supposedly coming in January.

I played the first one on the PC and although I beat it it was very disappointed.
Currently watching my bro play it on the XBOX 360 and it seems ALOT better than the first.
That stupid sci-fi BS is still in there but it's not as annoying and from what I can tell there appears to be only one city (with alot more to do it in) than the first one which is one of my biggest gripes with the first one.
Definetly picking it up on PC assuming it's not a buggy consolized POS with DRM I can't crack.

Assassin's Creed with actual gameplay? Yeah, I'm certainly interested!

Well based on my 30+ hours with the PS3 version, I've experienced all of 1 crash (at 5am after about 9 hours of non stop use so it was probably just the PS3 telling me to go to bed) and a few small instances where a texture took an unusually long while to load so I had a low quality wall texture for a few seconds whilst I was climbing up it. Other than that it's been perfect.
The actual content of the game is vastly improved, WAY more to do in towns, less pointless pickups (and the feather collection apparently does have a game and story bonus when you get all 100), better story, better fight mechanics, better stealth options, the ability to swim (so venice isn't a deathtrap), hookers you can hire (as distractions and cover sadly but good distractions and cover) and it's generally a vast improvement. Yes the ending gets a bit weird but they were sort of hinting at it from the first game so I wasn't surprised. If nothing else hearing all the athiest talk from rennaisance era italians was a nice touch

"It's-a me, Mario!"

I was tempted to throw something at the screen when that happened.
Also, I can't believe Destructoid gave it a 4.5. It just solidifies in my mind that Destructoid's writers are even below the low, low requirements of what it takes to be a trustworthy blog writer.

Look at what you just wrote. What the hell is wrong with you?
Also destructoid are the internet equivelent of a spoiled child who acts up for attention and more than likely gave it a shit score as much for controversy as for an honest appraisal of a game. I say just ignore them, like the 97% of the rest of the net who are like that

Amazon.com is showing March 16, 2010 currently. :|