Ubisoft plans to ship James Cameron‘s Avatar on December 1st. But, undoubtedly, the publishers heaviest holiday hitter of this year is Assassin’s Creed II, which shipped last week. That said, according to the company’s internal estimate, Assassin’s Creed II sold over 1.6 million units worldwide during its first week; that’s 32 percent faster than the original in terms of sales timing.

“We’ve made improvements to every aspect of the game. We’ve plunged ourselves into the stunning history of the Italian Renaissance so that we can offer fans a unique, varied and innovative Assassin’s Creed experience,” said Patrice Desilets, creative director at Ubisoft, when announcing the game back in April. Assassin’s Creed II is now available on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Assassin’s Creed 2 is the follow-up to the title that became the fastest-selling new IP in video game history. The highly anticipated title features a new hero, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a young Italian noble, and a new era, the Renaissance.

EZIO, A NEW ASSASSIN FOR A NEW ERA – Ezio Auditore da Firenze is a young Italian noble who will learn the ways of the assassins after his family was betrayed and he looks to seek vengeance. He is a lady’s man, a free soul with panache yet has a very human side to his personality. Through him, you become a master assassin.

RENAISSANCE ITALY – Italy in the 15th century was less a country and more a collection of city-states where families with political and economic strength began to take leadership roles in cities like Florence and Venice. This journey through some of the most beautiful cities in the world takes place in a time in history where culture and art were born alongside some of the most auspicious stories of corruption, greed and murder.

A NEW-FOUND FREEDOM – You will be able to perform missions when you want and how you want in this open-ended world that brings back free-running and adds elements such as swimming and even flying to the adventure. The variety in gameplay adds another layer for you to truly play through the game any way you choose.

DYNAMIC CROWD – Discover a living, breathing world where every character is an opportunity for the player. Blending in with the crowd is easier, working with in-game characters provide ample rewards but can also lead to surprising consequences.

BECOME A MASTER ASSASSIN – Perfect your skills to become a master assassin where you brandish new weapons, learn to disarm enemies then use their weapons against them and assassinate enemies using both hidden blades.

Many already assumed that Assassin’s Creed 2 would be releasing later this year, but what many of us wanted to know was if we were right for thinking so. Anyway, it seems that we were right.

Today, Ubisoft revealed that gamers should expect the game later on this year, more specifically around the time we all say “Marry Christmas”, which, if you didn’t know, is Holiday 2009. 

“Our creative team is working hard to top the experience of Assassin’s Creed,” said Patrice Desilets, creative director at Ubisoft. “We’ve made improvements to every aspect of the game. We’ve plunged ourselves into the stunning history of the Italian Renaissance so that we can offer fans a unique, varied and innovative Assassin’s Creed experience.”

Additional details on Assassin’s Creed II are revealed in the May issue of Game Informer. Assassin’s Creed 2 will be available for “all current gen consoles and the PSP”, but they aren’t saying nothing about it coming to the Wii.