I camped GameStop and waited for them to open so I could get the first copy. Unfortunately, only one guy was ahead of me, and he got the only unreserved special edition on hand. I did pre-order the regular game, so I kinda got the shaft. Oh well. 
Anyway, so far, I am impressed. I’ve played about 15 hours thus far, so I think I can give an initial assessment.
The Good
[ul][li]I thought Ubisoft couldn’t really improve upon the graphics from AC1. I was wrong. The cities are even more beautifully rendered and detailed. Character movements are extremely lifelike, and facial expressions are virtually real-life. In some areas where it was necessary to have little ambient lighting (such as underground), it was just too dark.[/li][li]The voice-acting is magnificent. Ubisoft captured the Italian sense of humor, dialect, and body language in dialogue that is funny and well-scripted. The only downside is that the script tended to decline in quality the further I got into the game, like the writers were getting burned out. Some VA’s accents tended to be undifferentiable from the Arabic of AC1 from the Italian of AC2, as if every European/Middle Eastern culture could be shoehorned into a single accent.[/li][li]Ubisoft introduced an economy into AC2, and the certainly didn’t half-ass it. Money is fun to earn as well as spend, and there’s enough to spend it on.[/li][li]Ezio has new equipment and moves that Altaïr didn’t have. Playing him is fun, though you’ll have to suspend disbelief thata Florentine teenager with little training and no experience was a better assassin and swordsman than Altaïr, who was older and dedicated his life to his profession.[/li][li]Saving the best for last: AC2 has listened to fans who said that AC1 was too repetitive. No longer do you travel to difference cities and complete the same objectives over and over again to perform a hit, only to find out that it’s impossible to low-profile assassinate your target. AC2 is much more story-based now, and you never really know where you’re going to end up next. Sure, there are still objectives you may complete in every city (such as Viewpoints – and thank God, because I loved those), but they are optional.[/li][/ul]
The Bad
[ul][li]Combat hasn’t been vastly improved since AC1. You can still singlehandedly defeat 10 guys at once easily with auto-block (hold down [RT]) and hitting with decent timing. Yes, you can now disarm mobs and pick up their weapons, but their weapons aren’t much better than yours and you drop them when you run.[/li][li]Camera angles, while mostly good, tend to work against you when up against a wall or in combat. [/li][li]The map is somewhat crowded and difficult to read. The Zoom function doesn’t help much.[/li][li]Ubisoft stated that mob AI has been greatly improved, but I don’t see it. In fact, I find it even easier now to duck the town guards. Mobs will still attack you for seemingly unknown reasons (even if you are “Anonymous”) and they will even attack you now for fistfighting. Ironically, it’s too easy to remain anonymous throughout the entire game.[/li][/ul]
The Ugly
[ul][li]Flag-finding may have retired with AC1, but Ubisoft isn’t letting you off that easy. There are hidden treasure chests, eagle feathers, statues, and other items you must find. Fortunately, there’s a reward for finding these things and you can obtain maps to help you find treasure boxes. Unfortunately, eagle feathers and other findable items are not and you will be spending a lot of time looking for all of them.[/li][/ul]
Conclusion
Thus far, Ubisoft seems to have delivered on high expectations. They kept most of the good aspects of AC1 and made a solid effort to improve upon the bad. I believe I am about 2/5 of the way through the game now, so I’ll follow up later. However, one last MAJOR spoiler:
If you read the 30th codex, Altaïr writes that his life is winding down and it “wouldn’t hurt” just to take a peek inside the Piece of Eden. If it comes to pass that Altaïr ended up joining the Templars, I will box up AC2 and ship it back to Ubisoft with a demand for a written apology.
