I really liked the first Assasin's Creed. I loved it do death actually. I've always had an interest in Israel and it was pleasant to be able to go around familiar cities, killing templars. Yes, it was flawed, as you all know by now, but I still loved it.
The thing I loved most though, and what I thought was next to perfect, was the tone of the story. You're a kidnapped civilian that is immediately thrown into experiments where an evil scientist explores the recorded memories of your ancestor, an assasin named Altair. Altair was a very downplayed character, if it was intentional or not I don't know, but he wasn't that humane, he didn't have much of a personality and he was kind of a huge asshole. But I liked that.
He was a ruthless assasin, only doing his job. He was a tool used by others who didn't think far ahead until it was too late. It made me feel like a real assasin.
And of course, from time to time you got back to reality, and slowly the questions about where you was got answered, but never completely. It felt scary, like a psychological thriller. I knew nothing, but the promise of a great reveal made everything extremely interesting, and the end for the future storyline left me very exited.
AC2 is a really good game, don't get me wrong. It has better game play, less repetitive missions, and it's a huge improvement over the first one... except the tone.
When I heard that Italy was the setting I was exited, even more so when I learned that you controlled Ezio from when he was 17 to his late 30s. I anticipated a dramatic story where Ezio's life turned completely shit and everything was dreadful. He won some battles, but also lost from time to time, and at the end he would've failed and left to hide for years, growing older and weaker. But he took up his sword again for the final time on his final mission for revenge, and the final part of the game would've been an older Ezio finally defeating his long time enemy.
And I wanted more mystery in the future-story as well. Questions would be answered and I would be satisfied, all my hype would've been rewarded. What I got was really what you should have expected... And perhaps this is spoilers, but it's revealed in the first 5 minutes anyway, so who cares? But I'll warn for spoilers anyway
So you can see, while the gameplay is better than ever and it's a really fun game, the tone and story is a disappointment, at least for me.
Was I really the only one that felt this? I expected something in the way of a classical Italian quest for revenge that is harsh and cold, but what I got was plot twists in the spirit of Shyamalan, and stereotypical characters. Also, I didn't like that it was humor in the game, I know it's fun, but I want more seriousness. In the beginning it was OK, but later it was just stupid.
The thing I loved most though, and what I thought was next to perfect, was the tone of the story. You're a kidnapped civilian that is immediately thrown into experiments where an evil scientist explores the recorded memories of your ancestor, an assasin named Altair. Altair was a very downplayed character, if it was intentional or not I don't know, but he wasn't that humane, he didn't have much of a personality and he was kind of a huge asshole. But I liked that.
He was a ruthless assasin, only doing his job. He was a tool used by others who didn't think far ahead until it was too late. It made me feel like a real assasin.
And of course, from time to time you got back to reality, and slowly the questions about where you was got answered, but never completely. It felt scary, like a psychological thriller. I knew nothing, but the promise of a great reveal made everything extremely interesting, and the end for the future storyline left me very exited.
AC2 is a really good game, don't get me wrong. It has better game play, less repetitive missions, and it's a huge improvement over the first one... except the tone.
When I heard that Italy was the setting I was exited, even more so when I learned that you controlled Ezio from when he was 17 to his late 30s. I anticipated a dramatic story where Ezio's life turned completely shit and everything was dreadful. He won some battles, but also lost from time to time, and at the end he would've failed and left to hide for years, growing older and weaker. But he took up his sword again for the final time on his final mission for revenge, and the final part of the game would've been an older Ezio finally defeating his long time enemy.
And I wanted more mystery in the future-story as well. Questions would be answered and I would be satisfied, all my hype would've been rewarded. What I got was really what you should have expected... And perhaps this is spoilers, but it's revealed in the first 5 minutes anyway, so who cares? But I'll warn for spoilers anyway
Everything is revealed extremely fast, that the scientist is a member of the Templar (which was only hinted at in a very subtle way in the first game) and you must run away with his assistant who is part of the Assasin's Altair was a member of. You travel to another place where the mysterious and evil scientist that you where very curious about his motives has been replaced by a smart, ambitious girl in her 20s who can do anything the Templars can do even though she doesn't have any where near the amount of money they have, and also she is a very hyper girl, the assistant, who has the hots for you, and the stereotypical British guy who is constantly sarcastic.
Ezio's storyline starts of promising, with the darkness over it that I wanted, but it quickly disappears. No hints of demons that haunt him in almost the entire game, no other lovable character you get to know gets killed of and in the end, nothing really tragic has happened expect in the beginning. I wanted a dark and depressing story, but that was only in the beginning.
Ezio's storyline starts of promising, with the darkness over it that I wanted, but it quickly disappears. No hints of demons that haunt him in almost the entire game, no other lovable character you get to know gets killed of and in the end, nothing really tragic has happened expect in the beginning. I wanted a dark and depressing story, but that was only in the beginning.
So you can see, while the gameplay is better than ever and it's a really fun game, the tone and story is a disappointment, at least for me.
Was I really the only one that felt this? I expected something in the way of a classical Italian quest for revenge that is harsh and cold, but what I got was plot twists in the spirit of Shyamalan, and stereotypical characters. Also, I didn't like that it was humor in the game, I know it's fun, but I want more seriousness. In the beginning it was OK, but later it was just stupid.
