Ubisoft's Sebastien Puel has told us that Assassin's Creed II will be a much more unpredictable and varied experience than its predecessor

“We are now telling a story in a way that is intended to be very unpredictable,” said Puel. “There are no more ‘x assassinations’ to perform but a story that develops through a great amount of mission givers."

"Some will give you an assassination mission, others an intimidation or information-gathering mission," he added. "There is no limit now to the types of challenges we can give to players. We are very careful to create a lot of variation in the types of gameplay and pace we are proposing."

Puel also said that criticisms over the combat of the original Assassin's Creed has led the team to come-up with a much more strategic and varied system.

"The combat system is based on the first game, but with much more possibilities and strategy behind every encounter. Players won’t be able to simply button mash, killing guard after guard. There will be more thinking involved due to the new different guard archetypes and weapons; you will have to strategically plan your every move."

For the full scoop head over to our extensive Assassin's Creed 2 feature.