For those of you who have completed AC can agree with me that Ubisoft is going to release a follow-up (keeping in mind on how it all ends) to one of their most important games of this year. However, I keep asking myself what they have in mind. I thought of the game as nothing less of a masterpiece, but my biggest fear is what Ubisoft are planning for the series. No offense, but when it comes to making a sequel for a really good game that takes place a long long time ago, Ubisoft tends to modify the game so everyone who didn't like it the first time will like it now.

An example for this is the Prince of Persia series. In the first Prince of Persia you played in an abandoned, zombie-infested yet beautiful castle, the nameless prince talked in a polite british accent and the plot was simple; Kill the evil old man and save the sexy princess. I loved the game because it was fun to play. It had great combat with the best animation I had seen in a game back then, it had perplexing puzzles that were hard but never frustrating and the platforming was always breathtaking. Ubisoft had made a great job reviving the old forgotten PoP-series, and I begged every night for a sequel. Which I got.

However, I got something I wasn't quite expecting. The Prince now had changed his nice looking blue persian army uniform to this "cool" red armor, he talked with an american accent which confused me completly, you played in this dark, scary "cool" castle and the guy you had to kill now was Fate itself. The soundtrack had been swapped from an original mix of middle-east instrument and wailing guitars to a band called "Godsmack" And Ubisoft decided to add combos in the combat, so instead of slick animations I got hacky slashy gameplay that belongs in (insert random bad Offical Game of The Movie here).

You might wonder why I am talking about this and not AC, but I have to mention the PoP-fiasco the Ubisoft produced a few years ago. Why you might ask, and I will tell you now. It's because I fear that Ubisoft will make the same mistake with AC.

My dream version of AC2 is that Ubisoft will keep spinning the long long time ago wheel, because the gameplay is much better that way. You can't be a really cool assasin with swords and hidden blades in the year 2007, because everyone would have guns. Imagine that you are playing AC, you are being chased by a few guards, only that they don't have any swords, they have guns blazing and are aiming them at you. I mean, the whole gameplay would have been ruined. And now in 2007, we don't have two-storey buildings made out of clay, we have scyscrapers which would also ruin AC, I mean there wouldn't be that much freerunning when there is a 30 ft. gap between each building.

So my dream version of AC2 would (spoiler alert) be following: Desmond has been rescued by the Assassins, only they need to find something too in his genetic memory. So they use their DIY Animus to look at Altairs great great great great grandson, who perhaps lives in Europe during the 16th-17th century. Imagine how great the would be; You could play in Venice, Paris, and maybe London, at a time when the city guards still used swords instead of guns because it took 15 minutes to reload those damn things, the buildings would be about the same size, and keeping in mind about the number of events back in those days, you have loads of inspiration as a scriptwriter to write an intresting storyline, one that can be compared with the high standards of AC.

Maybe it sounds a bit naive to write your dream sequel, but for me, it's a wake up call to Ubisoft, or maybe a threat. Don't mess AC2 up, it has huge potential. But I want to know what you think. Will Ubisoft cock things up? What will happen to the storyline? Do you even care? What do you want to see in the next AC?

From the get-go Assassin's Creed was released as "the first installment in the new Assassin's Creed franchise."

Considering the POP -> POP2 fiasco that you mentioned, which is really relevant in the context I think, I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Plus, spoilers aside (everybody knows by now), adding a scifi element in AC, to me, is just like putting the Prince in latex and leather plus heavy metal music. Come off it, developers. Stop pandering to the inane twelve-year-olds inside. Grow up already.

Ok, I was just really pissed off at AC and POP2, because those elements added absolutely nothing to the game and subtracted a helluvalot from the overall impression.

Well, with a title like "Assassin's Creed" it really makes it open-ended to where the plot can take you. Personally, it would be kinda fun to have an Assasination-based game in a dystopian future--imagine playing AC with huge sky-scrapers and robots.

I mean, if they really wanted to do it right, they'd still have, say, nine targets to assassinate, but they'd give each target their own individual dungeon, or level (which could range from being some corporate building to a religious center or to just a bunch of slums that require information gathering skills to navigate.) If you take all the disjointed stuff in AC and put it into a more focused setting, you'd actually have a good game, with variety.

I mean, say one target is a military leader. First, you can explore your big, dystopian future city, maybe peruse a Black Market in search of entry codes to his military stronghold, then once you are inside you have to sneak around heavily armed security forces and cameras a-la Splinter Cell and then finally shove a knife into the back of his neck and escape down a trash chute, timed just right so that you get emptied into the trash truck as it drives away into the night.

I mean, there's a good amount of stuff they could do, if they just do it RIGHT. That's the problem with Assassin's Creed--they have fun stuff, but they don't do it right.

Maybe they could ues both ideas. In AC they mentioned that Desmond used to be a an Assassin, so maybe they could do something where you play some missions as Desmond in the future, and as Altair, (or one of his descendants) in the past. I think that it would be cool to have to learn two different types of stealth gameplay in the same gane.

personally, i thought AC was great, a bit repetitive but ubisoft did too many things right to make the game not fun. If they make AC2 in the present, it wouldnt make any sense. you can't free run on sky skyscrapers. Fighting giant robots reminds me too much of half life (striders anyone?) and you would have to use guns to be believable, so no kick ass counter killz. What they can do, as projekt spartan said, was make another double plot story line. missions as desmond and missions as altair. Either way, i loved AC and i cant wait for the second, the story was so good.

[quote=RentCavalier]Well, with a title like "Assassin's Creed" it really makes it open-ended to where the plot can take you. Personally, it would be kinda fun to have an Assasination-based game in a dystopian future--imagine playing AC with huge sky-scrapers and robots.

I thought of that idea first, which is great in theory. The one issue I fear is the sheer size of it all; will Ubisoft be able to fit citys equvilant to those in AC, only with vechiles and scyscrapers? Don't get me wrong, I love and share your thoughts with the dystopian future, I'm just concerned that we don't have the hardware for it at the moment.

Or maybe AC2 will be the game that would really put PS3 to the test :P

I really enjoyed the free-running in AC, but that's really about it. The combat had flourishes, but my aching thumb cries for justice. For a game so pretty, you think they could have put some more thought into the experience over time.

Three things killed it for me:

1. The lack of any effective continuous reward mechanism to encourage the player to continue. this games ends up being the same old thing far too quickly. this is different from simple repetition, though (What game doesn't have you do the same thing over and over?) it's all about providing the right reward to keep you playing. In that sense, AC fails pretty miserably.

2. The shallow-as-a-wading pool combat system. My personal favorite is when you finish a mission, and you're rewarded with a technique like "dodge". Seriously? Is this supposed to heighten my gameplay experience to new levels? Dodge? Did no one else get that "WTF!" feeling when X hours in, my character is just learning how to get out of the way of someone swinging a weapon at his head? Shouldn't that be Assassin 101?

My feel for the game overall is that its very pretty, and has one good game play mechanic in it. But that's it. No masterpiece, nothing like that - not even GOTY. AC really feels to me like the developers got so caught up in building the world that they forgot about developing the user experience past the first hour or so. Once you've run all over the environment, picked a few pockets, and saved some villagers - what then?

In short, I agree that it's very pretty, but disagree that it's anywhere even close to a masterpiece.

Swenglish:
[quote=RentCavalier]Well, with a title like "Assassin's Creed" it really makes it open-ended to where the plot can take you. Personally, it would be kinda fun to have an Assasination-based game in a dystopian future--imagine playing AC with huge sky-scrapers and robots.

I thought of that idea first, which is great in theory. The one issue I fear is the sheer size of it all; will Ubisoft be able to fit citys equvilant to those in AC, only with vechiles and scyscrapers? Don't get me wrong, I love and share your thoughts with the dystopian future, I'm just concerned that we don't have the hardware for it at the moment.

Or maybe AC2 will be the game that would really put PS3 to the test :P

I think that it would be better to make the past segments played as Altair the same, or at least similar to what they were in AC, however, make the future segments played as Desmond more Splinter Cell-esque. That is to say, not entirely free roaming environments. AS for the equipment, it could play alot like the splinter cell games, and considering how both games are made by UBI Soft, maybe even tie the storylines of AC and SC together.

TheNecroswanson:

Then we come to The Two Thrones. The cobmat was exactly the same, which it would have made even less sense if it was SoT style. ANYWAY, we take a look at the Prince. He's definitely still mature, but as we play through the game we start to notice him becoming him again. IE: he's no longer constantly living in fear of the Dahaka, he's in a familiar place, and he's able to relax every now and than. SO, his keen accent is comming back, even the brutal amoutns of sarcasm. In short, he was back to his old self again, even if he did grow up a little. The music was back to feeling like it fit the era, and all was well with the world... Except of course, he had to save it again.

So, if you didn't get it, I LOVED PRINCE OF PERSIA!!!111oneuneinz XD.... Alot. They were fun, imersive, even if they were a little linear.

Which brings me to the Creed. I use Creed instead of AC because I also play Armored Core sometimes.
I loved it! Garret from Theif, and The Prince got it on, had a babey, and trained it as best as they could. The Result, Altair, and a VERY pretty game.
I don't know what every disliked so much about it, it played well, the combat was simple, but seriously, if you saw him running up walls and dive bombing his enemies you'd have been pissed. There's not much you can do with a sword and knife, so there's not much you can make believable in a game,
The stroy was compelling, even if after the old guy told me to stop asking questions I knew I'd be killing him.
The outside story was pretty neat, future, genetics, woman can't keep track of her pen.
I loved it, only reason I don't have all the achievements is because I was borrowing it form a friend! Wonderful game, flawless I say. But then again, Ubisoft, testicles, my mouth thing.

As for a Creed2? Sure you could set it in the future with tall buildings, look at Ninja Gaiden. However climbing them would be hard and you'd have to take a page out of Boba Fett's book.
It would definitely be a big thinking process on how you would have to traverse them. Then there's combat, but seriously, you wouldn't need GIANT ass robots. Just regular sized ones will do too. The gun thing IS always a problem, which would mean you'd have to disarm your assailants first, or lose them on the streets where it's easier to duck around a corner.
It's not impossible, it's not improbable, hell, Ubisoft made Creed obviously wanting us to expect a sequal.
It just would have to be taken with a lot of consideration about what technologies we have, or you would have to fear it turning out like Crysis, and having a small player base.

I may have been a bit too harsh on PoP:Ww, maybe because I was so dissapointed and never really got over it. But before I start talking about Creed, I just wanted to say that (from my point of view) that I lowered my hopes and excpectations for PoP:TTT and liked it. It was a good, appreciated mix from both of the first and second PoP games, although if you have to complain about something, the "driving" sections felt somewhat unnessecary.

As for Creed2, My guess is that a jetpack Boba Fett-style wouldn't be as discreet as the Creed wishes it would be, perhaps a grappling hook? And maybe the guns (what I'm about to say is far-fetched) could be prototype laser guns, that are so inaccurate and unreliable that only a few guards carry them (compared to the archers guarding the roofs in Creed1) while the rest have...lightsabers. Or sicksticks. Or huge purple dildos. Hell, I should start a new thread where everyone could brainstorm about the new futuristic weaponry which could feature in Creed2.

I just can't get into this game. A lot like Hitman, with too much fluffy dialog. I don't dread a sequel because I won't be buying it. In fact I think I am a victim of the advertising execs nefarious scheming. Eyes be damned! I will trust my gut from now on when it comes to Ubisoft games.

I guess I should have know it was not going to be my taste since it contains two things I am morally opposed to. Assassins and Creed. Hey, that gives me an idea; I wonder if you could substitute a profession and a rock band to create Ubisoft's next big hit?

Bus Boy's Porno for Pyros
Fishmonger's Wang Chung
Superintendent's Nickelback
Midwife's Hootie and the Blowfish (my personal favorite)

I apologize if my fevered nonsense is amusing no one but myself.

Swenglish:
As for Creed2, My guess is that a jetpack Boba Fett-style wouldn't be as discreet as the Creed wishes it would be, perhaps a grappling hook? And maybe the guns (what I'm about to say is far-fetched) could be prototype laser guns, that are so inaccurate and unreliable that only a few guards carry them (compared to the archers guarding the roofs in Creed1) while the rest have...lightsabers. Or sicksticks. Or huge purple dildos. Hell, I should start a new thread where everyone could brainstorm about the new futuristic weaponry which could feature in Creed2.

Yeah I would say that is taking it a little far. Sicksticks, maybe, but as for the rest I dont think that AC is set that far into the future. It is a little hard to judge based on four rooms, but from what i saw (laptops, furniture, and those large computers in the corners) nothing in AC seems to be that different from what we have today, excluding the animus of course. I cant remember reading a date in any of the emails either. AC could be set two years from now, and that lab was just extremely cutting-edge. As for the lightsabers, there may be some copyright infringement there...

TheNecroswanson:

Projekt Spartan:
I cant remember reading a date in any of the emails either.

I think i just smelled a possible plot device I may have missed in playing through it.

What do you mean?

Ummm, did anyone pay attention to the actual ending of the game...or did the hour-long credits discourage your exploratory instincts. If you use your eagle vision as Desmond at the end of the game, you will see at least 3-5 blood drawings that basically directly point to it being in an Asian (most likely Japanese) setting. First of all is the writing all over your bedroom wall. Its all in English, and an Asian language (Japanese, i think, but i don't know the difference very well). Outside in the Animus room are various pictures such as a Feudal-Japanese-style tower, a mountain that reminds me a lot of Mt. Fuji. etc. etc. I think there s sufficient evidence to support the game being in Asia/Japan. Also, I don't believe that Ubisoft will divert too far from their wildly successful formula from AC, but then again, PoP...who knows.

Based on the events of the end of AC, it appears to me that Abstergo no longer needs Desmond, so they will attempt to dispose of him, but Lucy will help him escape. From the disturbingly-modern hologram that you liberated from Al Mualim, we can see that there are nearly 2 dozen dots, probably indicating special artifacts that survived to the future. So it seems likely that AC2 will be a lot more split than 1. I believe that there will be a fairly equal amount of time spent between the past (feudal japan) to locate these artifacts, and the present/future to recover them. Possibly climaxing in a showdown with Abstergo or something.

That's my prediction anyway.

P.S. its also fairly obvious that it takes place only a few, no more than 10, years in the future. Its been a few weeks since i last played so my memory of the specific emails is a little foggy. But even though no specific year was stated, the content of the emails certainly hinted that it was in the fairly near future.

Well, that's even better--you could do a lot of cool near-future assasinations too. Maybe have it all build up to the eventual Assassination of a President--if not THE President. Of course, maybe have a dual scenario's thing, for multiplayer--get this:

An assassin is sent in to try and hunt down a target. It plays like typical AC, moving through a location, scouting out a target, etc etc.

Another player plays as the target's security detail. Each security detail has a different unit--a straight up weapons specialist, maybe a hand-to-hand specialist, an undercover specialist to try and root out the assassin before he even strikes, and an overall team leader who wouldn't directly intervene, but would set up A.I. security camera's and NPC soldierly fellows based on counter-intelligence info provided prior to the actual assassination.

That, right there, would make an AC2 worth buying.

TheNecroswanson:

Edit: And wilson, um, Creed was a word and philosphy LONG before it was a band.

Known to me mortal. Dare not defy my sarcastic banter again. Thou shalt be punished (pronounced punish-shed).

I'm sure they'd make Altaïr a Goth, since in this century, only Goths find it fascinating to stand on the edge of a cathedral roof, staring at the void beneath.

wadark:
If you use your eagle vision as Desmond at the end of the game, you will see at least 3-5 blood drawings that basically directly point to it being in an Asian (most likely Japanese) setting.

Ah, I forgot about those :P But from what I recall, doesn't it say in the bottom right corner in Desmonds Bedroom: "

I went in to the Abyss (Animus?) and never came out"

I guess that Ubisoft gave as something to specualte after all :P

As i remember theres some more text to be read after you complete the game. It talks about Altair struggling to destroy the object at the end (can't remeber specifics cos i completed about a month ago), But i get the feeling that altair goes after those other pieces of Eden. But I also get the feeling the animus is gonna start screwing with Desmond. The guy who was in the animus before him started having some form of genetic blur with his ancestor, to the point where his ancestors memories were taking over some of the subjects memories. Could be that Desmond becomes more like Altair in the future. We already know he's an Assasin, but how far will it go, i mean the templars are still about in modern times, surley the story will end with desmond taking em out... I mean they could throw us off completely, but seems to me its just a case of guessing what point of the story will go where and if they'll add twists, cos the story seems pretty predictable to me.

Main thing though, they need to add replayability, there was just no satisfaction goin back and doin the same missions again, nor was there in wandering around the old kingdom looking for feckin flags. It was a good game, but i needed more, and there was nothing to go back to really, i haven't found all the flags, but personally couldn't give a toss, cos there's no real reward other than achievement points.

TheNecroswanson:

[snip] And Pop: WW? How was it bad? [snip]

This is of course my very subjective opinion:

The level design isn't as good. In SoT I quickly mastered the control scheme (KB+Mouse for me) and got an incredible feeling of freedom. In WW I was misjumping and missing counters and so on and so forth. That could be an issue with directx or something, sometimes it was just silly so I have a nagging feeling something wasn't right, but I was fed up by that time and wasn't in the mood for tech support. But still, the levels weren't at all as compelling for me, there was so many more instances of just traversing areas to get to the good bits.

The music broke the fourth wall. It was just too contemporary and for me ruined the immersion. Plus I think it sucked.

S & M is corny. Yes, it is. It isn't badass or dark or heavy. It's for sissies. My opinion, mind you, but anyhow.

As for a present/future Assassin-game, well, Hitman does it fairly well in present time, IMO. I'm sure some social engineering mechanics on top of that could make an excellent game.

As for free running on skyscrapers, gimme a Spidey-suit and I'll be wall jumping two-hundred fifty feet up anytime!

Assassin's creed 2 = can't wait.

I'm expecting it to go through the history of Desmond Mile's family. Go to another time in history...maybe like the 1400's? Since AC is supposed to be a trilogy, perhaps AC 3 will have Miles doing the actual killing vs the templars.

TheNecroswanson:

I didn't really see it as S&M, I think referring any form of tight leather to S&M is a little childish though. I can see where you come from at that point, but bondage outift??? That's just reading waaaaay to far into it.

Reading way too much into it? Eh ... well ... I guess we have different views on the issue.

there are plenty of hints at the end of AC.

one major clue points to japan. my guess would be feudal era.

FlipMonkee:
there are plenty of hints at the end of AC.

one major clue points to japan. my guess would be feudal era.

That means Ninja's Creed!

I would like to spare you my review of the game, as that is not what this thread was designed for, but given the story line of the game thus far, it does have a very direct impact on where the story line will go, so here goes.

I would agree with the supposition that the next game will take place in some Asian country, but my history of Asia is a bit fuzzy, so as for what time, I can't really say.

Ninja's Creed
I think you might be onto something there, PurpleRain.

The assassins in the game were based on a group of historic warriors from the time period, so why not have the historical ninjas be the assassins of the time and place? To take it a step further, the templar were once again historical figures, so the pattern could simply continue with them (if my knowledge of Asian history was a bit more extensive, or I had the desire and energy to do some research before posting, I could get more specific).

Assassins Creed kept me interested enough to see it through to the end. I couldn't put it down, but thats only because I was so anxious to get to the next assassination (of which there were NINE). I was very interested by the story line, and how it was presented, so I'm not that concerned about the story line. My "dream sequel" would simply include them taking a good idea and making it a good game.

Throw it in Japan, maintain the graphic quality and the free-roaming feel, and ADD SOME FREAKING VARIETY (oh, and more assassinations), and you've got my dream sequel for Assassins Creed.

The idea is brilliant, I just feel as though they focused so much on creating the environment that they completely neglected the gameplay. Seriously, think about it. You'd think a game as pretty as Assassins Creed would have done a bit more with their "side quests". Gather flags, kill these guards, pickpocket this guy (who just so happens to recieve a terribly important item RIGHT when you decide to listen in on his conversation), eavesdrop on this guy (who just so happens to begin his terribly important conversation RIGHT when you sit on a bench next to him), beat up this guy (who just so happens to end his rant RIGHT when you start listening to him), repeat, and after 2 hours of that, THEN you get to have fun and kill someone.

I would love to see them expand on the modern-time setting of the game. A sequel has to offer a similar gaming experience, yet set itself apart from the game before it. As much as I would love to see the game take on a 100% modern setting, I'm not sure it could be realistically done. Firearms and giant buildings kind of eliminate the possibilities, but then again, if I sat and thought about how it could be done, I'm sure there is a way.

You'd think taking an arrow (or a sword, for that matter) to the chest would be a sure-fire way to kill you the first time around, but in AC, it's obvious that the rules of reality are not followed 100%, but we all like it well enough anyway, so why not take the same lack of realism and apply it to the sequel? You get shot by a guard (comparable to getting shot with an arrow by a rooftop guard), you flinch a little bit, and proceed to murder them all close up. Replace your throwing daggers with a silenced handgun, and you're all set.

Unfortunately, I'm not getting paid to formulate these ideas, so I really don't have the patience to dream up all the specifics, but the main point is you don't have to be completely true to reality. It is a video game, after all, so who wants it to be totally realistic? I want to play a character that can take a few shots to the chest without batting an eyelash, and then shove a blade into the guys throat to simply reinforce the fact that I am a complete badass, and he is a total tool.

Now, free running up the Sears Tower might prove a bit more difficult hurdle to overcome for the futuristic AC2 possibility. Unless they take a page out of The Matrix, I'm really not seeing how this one can be done.
Setting it in the downtown area of a major city would bring the buildings a bit closer together, so jumping from rooftop to rooftop MIGHT be done, but running up the side of the building might be a bit more difficult. Some of your older-styled buildings could be easily scaled by someone of Altiers fictional ability, but any modern building covered in mainly glass would be impossible.

Once again, if I was getting paid to think about this, I'd probably put more effort into it, but as of now, I'm divided between my ideas, the pain in my throat from this blasted cold, and the TV in front of me.

Japan or US, past or present, I'll enjoy either so long as they make an effort to correct some of the gameplay issues. Given my current conflicting views on AC (i love it and hate it at the same time), I'll probably rent AC2 before I buy it. I just pray that they focus more on gameplay this time around.

-M

Well, this has already been said by one or two people, but I feel it bears repeating.

Assassin's Creed is not a bad game, but it is not a great game either. And there is no real reason that it isn't a great game.

I mean, the game's big selling points were the fact that A: You were an Assassin from an Ancient Order in the middle East. B: That you could go wherever the hell you wanted to, and run around the City and be cool and awesome. C: That you would get to Assassinate people.

They had all that, and then for some reason I do not understand, they decided the game was too good and it needed to be ruined a bit.

First they decided that you weren't really an Assassin from and Ancient Order in the middle east. You were really a dude in the future having some completely made up science done to him to relive said Assassin's memories. What the ^*$# Ubisoft? Why? Was actually being an Assassin too cool for you? Why the lie? Did you actually think people would like this twist? You don't need to come up with a science reason for the player to be an Assassin in the past, we can suspend our disbelief. Does this all stem from the bizarre need to explain what happens when your character dies? Because again, we don't care.

And you could at least have made those future moments a little more enjoyable by having your character handle like a person rather than an elephant missing two legs and a trunk.

Another Issue was the combat. Sure it looked neat, but I know I'm not the only one who found it to be so easy as to be insulting. Even before you learn the instagib combos, killing guards and crusaders is so easy that losing a fight is only possible if you really try. And you have to fight SO OFTEN! This would have been so easy to fix to. Just increase their ability a smidgeon or two and everything would have been good.

Also the Side Quests. Oh god why the Side quests? Why the same three Sidequests over and over again? at certain points it felt like playing an MMORPG. Like I was grinding on hoards of guards and then doing a bunch of running quests on the side so I could save up for my mount.

Those three things which would have been so easy to fix are what really Drag AC down for me. And even with them, it is still good. But it could have been so much better.

30's America would be interesting. I suppose you could be a mob hitman in Chicago or something, but without any real ties to the families. It'd certainly be a dynamic world, you could still hop on roofs, and close quarters combat is still feasible. After all, you don't want to alert everyone, do you?

If it were based in Japan, a realistic ninja style game would be interesting. A lot more emphasis on misleading and fear strung with stealth than action. You'd get things like firecrackers, smoke bombs, and a crossbow you could use. While there are certainly more exotic weaponry available, it really wouldn't be necessary. Disguise would likely be an important part of it, especially with feudal Japan's extremely rigid caste structure. A heirarchy of warlords certainly doesn't welcome a peasant inside their little fort, and all that.

about the AC in the future, like modern tokyo. from what ive seen, tokyo's buildings are all close(in jumping distance) to eachother. As Don Alenjandro said, smoke bombs and firecrakers would be awsome, along with a Katana and Hidden blade(if this isnt in the sequel i will go to Ubisoft Monreal, and personsaly slap Jade Raymond over the head with a half dead beakless mutant chickin).

For a future setting in AC2, they could always come up with some reason guns are no longer used/very rarely used. A worldwide ban for instance, resulting in most being destroyed, or something like in the Dune books, where they had personal shields that would deflect bullets, but a sword swing could be timed to pass through the shield. I don't think they should go with guns and so on, unless they use equilibrium style gun-fu, in which case, be my guest; it may be the most awesome use of guns in a movie ever.

Well, considering Assassin's Creed was a rather tedious, repetitive and shallow affair, I doubt a sequel could do anything but improve it. Adding some depth would be a start, and removing all those soul-sucking, long-winded unskippable cutscenes.
And for the love of God, bring back stealth! You're suppose to be an Assassin, a secretive killer who would spring out, slay his target, then slink back into shadows, without disturbing so much as bird.
Instead, if you so much as look at a guard funny, he immediately calls half of Richard's army to hunt you down. And you can't even kill your targets stealthily, for as soon as you do it the alarm goes off and enough Templars home in on your location so quickly they would make a Grand Theft Auto police officer blush.