A database is also available, providing extra historical information about key landmarks, characters and services that the player encounters.

The Animus 2.0, a new version of the machine of the same name present in Assassin's Creed, provides in-game context for changes and additions to several game elements. Gameplay Assassin's Creed II takes place in an open world with nonlinear gameplay, allowing the player to roam freely within several regions throughout late fifteenth-century Italy such as Venice, Florence, Forlì, San Gimignano, and the Tuscan countryside.