Assassin's Creed II Soundtrack Review - The Kyd's Got Talent

20 Comments

Posted November 28, 2009 - By Rick Damigella

Composer Jesper Kyd has outdone himself with his soundtrack for Assassin's Creed II. The man behind the music of video games including Unreal Tournament III, multiple iterations of the Hitman series and of course, the award winning original Assassin's Creed, has crafted an exquisite score for the highly rated sequel. Fortunately for gamers and game music aficionados especially, Ubisoft has been kind enough to release a 35 song soundtrack album for Assassin's Creed II.

Jesper Kyd's music for ACII ranges from atmospheric to action-oriented themes. Jesper does phenomenally in his blending of old-world music themes with 21st compositional styles, creating pieces where orchestral music meets choir voices from antiquity with just the right application of an electric guitar line to keep it grounded in a modern mode. Check out the full-length sample of "Ezio's Family" we have for you here (courtesy of Ubisoft and Top Dollar PR) and hear for yourself why this is among the top downloaded individual songs from the album on iTunes.

Assassin's Creed II Soundtrack - "Ezio's Family" »

The atmospheric pieces are gorgeous sounding and if you are a fan of listening to this style of game music, it makes for a pleasant background to your work or studies. For me, it's the up tempo and Mediterranean folk-inspired material that really shine here. Songs including "Venice Escape," "Flight Over Venice" and "Florence Escape" (both of the later songs are included here for your streaming pleasure) are extraordinary examples of Jesper's skills. He nails the mood and tone of the game's visuals so well, you can picture Ezio soaring over Italian cities in Da Vinci's flying machine or sneaking up behind his victim to execute a precision, um, well, execution.

Assassin's Creed II Soundtrack - 'Flight Over Venice' »

Another testament to the quality of the compositions is selections from the Assassin's Creed II soundtrack debuted last week in Paris, as part of the Video Games Live concert tour. Here is hoping Tommy Tallarico keeps these in the set list when the tour comes back here.

Assassin's Creed II Soundtrack - 'Stealth' »

So, who is this album for? Overall, the Assassin's Creed II soundtrack is a solid listen from start to finish, and fans of the game series that haven't already downloaded it from iTunes or Amazon need to set down their controller and go do so now. If, like me, you haven't logged any playtime with ACII yet (yes, I know, but cut a gamer some slack, there's a metric-ton of great games out right now!) you will still enjoy this for the sheer listening pleasure of it. From some of the talk I've seen on Twitter, there are plenty of you saying how vital Jesper's music is to the game play. Frankly, hearing gamers talk like this and listening to the music away from the game has only made me want to play it more.

Assassin's Creed II Soundtrack - 'Florence Escape' »

Assassin's Creed II Soundtrack - 'Sanctuary' »

Tags: G4, G4 Web Exclusive, Music, Videogames

Comments are Closed

Comments

Newest First

Displaying 1–20 of 20

that1guy37

I always collect music from movies and games. I view the people that make this type of music almost like today's classical composers.

Posted: November 30, 2009 6:27 PM
ThePoPGod

I love this soundtrack!!! Great music...

Posted: November 30, 2009 8:37 AM
greenboom

More articles like this! Music is so often so thoroughly linked to the formula for an exquisite game. I'm sure the upcoming releases of Bioshock 2 and Mass Effect 2 will also amply provide for some more game soundtrack criticism love. Great review!
And Adam Sessler should note the positivity of the feedback for these comments when the whole numerical grading was not included. Interesting indeed. Makes people actually read, instead of the instant gratification they get from a number - and the ensuing ranting that goes along with it when they disagree. Interesting indeed.
Cheers!!!

Posted: November 29, 2009 8:25 PM
minty160

this music game me fking goosebumps just listening to it.

Posted: November 29, 2009 8:06 PM
SavageHunter

Are they selling these at stores like Best Buy. Sorry if theres a double post... Sometime it doesn't let me post...

Posted: November 29, 2009 6:59 PM
SavageHunter

Are they selling these at stores? Like Best Buy?

Posted: November 29, 2009 6:59 PM
redsnow486

I like Ezio's Family cauz it blends all this awesome muzic into a beastly thing

Posted: November 29, 2009 6:38 PM
kane419

Listening to \"Ezios Family\" gave me a Clint Mansell/ Michael Andrews feel. If you don't know who I'm talking about think Donnie Darko+Tree of Life=Assassins Creed 2.

Posted: November 29, 2009 4:43 PM
Vesuvian Ast3r1x

I'm leaving home right now to buy this one.

Posted: November 29, 2009 3:03 PM
darkeagle5601

Great review. I might have to go get this one. Btw, you should do quick update to the review after you do play AC2 with more info on how it meshes with the game.

Posted: November 29, 2009 9:23 AM
Apsalus07

Sold.

Posted: November 29, 2009 9:05 AM
SkullOne360

Just bought this off of iTunes, and it's amazing! Uncharted 2's soundtrack and this are the best game music I've heard in quite some time. We NEED more music like this in future games.

Posted: November 28, 2009 8:29 PM
Hallowethe

I want this soundtrack. Really, really bad. Listen to the \"Ezio's Family\" and \"Venice Rooftops\" and you'll understand.

Posted: November 28, 2009 8:02 PM
GenSmit

I hate Apple so much right now. It's updating so I can't buy this album yet! The wait is killing me! From what they have here I need this album, it creates a theme that will either mello you out or pump you up. It's on par with the Infamous and The Venture Bros. soundtrack. When listening to things like those your life just becomes so much more epic. This is a must buy no matter what, I mean unless you need more vocal work in your music in which case you probably wouldn't like this as much. Now hurry up and install Itunes update before I decide to get postal on someones ass.

Posted: November 28, 2009 2:26 PM
Vyxxer

Just one question... how do i get these on my ipod?!!!

Posted: November 28, 2009 1:39 PM
Variand

I loved the music from this game. Especially the score that tends to play during the race missions. I was often a bit depressed when the music stopped right as the race ended and the score was just hitting a crescendo.

I'm not joking, there needs to be a radio station that plays this kind of music, and not the \"Butt-Rock\" (Morgan Webb Term) that seems to be polluting the airwaves.

Posted: November 28, 2009 1:18 PM
Silverwolf001

This is amazing. On par with the magnificent Halo 3: ODST soundtrack.

Posted: November 28, 2009 1:07 PM
Spardyman

So Mr. Damigella, apparently you love soundtrack music. I do as well, as a soundtrack can really make a game. These songs are pretty epic, my personal favorite video game soundtrack pieces include scores by Kelly Bailey of Valve for the Half-Life series with his SCI-FI techno overtones which can heavily express a particular mood, whether it be fast-paced and intense or slow and awe-striking. Another is inFamous soundtrack which is really just epic all around.

Posted: November 28, 2009 1:03 PM
Matt731

impressive. i might get this one. im just kinda worried that with all the soundtracks im getting, itll dilute all my other songs, and ill jus be listening to a bunch of instrumentals. oh well, at least theyre good ones, lol

Posted: November 28, 2009 12:39 PM
Secondtooth

The first one was amazing..can't wait to hear this bad boy

Posted: November 28, 2009 11:37 AM