The computer game Assassin’s Creed II and its sequel Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood give the player the chance to “be” Ezio Auditore, a fictional Florentine noble and assassin in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. How useful is such an experience to the historian? Should all Renaissance students be required to play Assassin’s Creed II in the same way that they are expected to read certain seminal texts? While the first part of this series looked at the utility of the ability to navigate three-dimensional virtual reconstructions of early modern cities, this part will move on from the built environment to examine the materiality, atmosphere and populated dimension of the city. The materials of this digital world cannot be touched; they are merely pixels on a screen. But their expert depiction means that the texture of each item is almost tangible, with it being obvious visually whether something is metal, wood, water, stone, fabric, vegetation or dirt. Thus a sensory dimension to the Renaissance, going beyond what images of the period can offer, is hinted at, but cannot be fully grasped. Digital materials can never have a complete materiality. However, the virtual world can surpass the painted through the use of sound and interactivity. (via Unmaking Things 2012-13 » ‘ASSASSIN’S CREED II’ AND THE VIRTUAL RENAISSANCE. PART II)