My wife did me this game as a gift for xmass. I enjoyed the 2nd one and frankly, I'm quite stunned at watching what they did in only a 1 year of developing.
The game is GREAT, the game mechanics are more and more refined everytime and the ammount of side quests and things to do is aboslutely amazing.
My wife was away for 3 days so I've played up to 20 hours in 4 days and I'm quite far in the game and I have enjoyed it very much. They have improved a lot the main quests, putting a little more "brains" in them, and some of the levels I've played have been really awesome in terms of gameplay.
If they manage to make the memories a little more complex (like the first hitman) and add even more challenge to battles (they're still a tad too easy) it really can be a GOTY. Right now is one of the best games I've played this year, and the production values are top notch. Very very surprised they pulled this one out in only a year. The "wolf" levels, the many quests for guilds, and even the great flashbacks with Cristina... it's all very well put together and you really don't feel they just put together some quests and published a quick sequel.
The script is good and Ezio is as charismatic as ever, and the historical facts around it are, as always, very welcome. I read everything and the ammount of info they put in the game is astonishing, and quite accurate for the most part. They really are nailing everything in the atmosphere department.
Congrats to Ubisoft, they have a very powerful IP in their hands.
If you liked the previous one, you definitely MUST play this one. If you never played this series or played only thwe first one, please try it.