Wow, it has been awhile since my last review, I hope I still got the stuff! Anyway, Assassin's Creed had all the makings of a classic, but because of some major faults it never was able to claim the status of a true classic, does Assassin's Creed 2 take the series to classic status, or should you leave it off your hit list?
Story: Assassin's Creed 2 starts off almost immediately after the end of Assassin's Creed's ending, which can make it quite confusing for those who did not finish the first game, luckily it is not so bad that you can't enjoy the story, but I suggest you look up what happened in the first game before playing this if you don't want to play through the first game.
Anyway, the game begins with your butt getting busted out of Abstergo by none other than one of the researchers keeping you there, Lucy. It turns out Lucy is a fellow assassin and has been working undercover. She takes you back to the Assassin hideout and asks you to help them out, and you agree. The story in this game is presented for the point of view of yet another ancestor of Desmond, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a young nobleman from the Italian Renaissance, who is out for vengeance after his family is murdered. Those are all the details that I want to give about the plot, you will need to figure out the rest on your own.
The story, while quite interesting, is not really presented in a spectacular way, besides the fact that you are just living out your ancestor's memories. Many of the characters are not really that fleshed out and sometimes you are not entirely clear who is living and who isn't! That being said, the story seems to be more based on what is happening, not who is involved, in this sense it preforms quite well, I found myself quite surprised quite a few times, and sometimes the things happening were just so cool I could not help but smiling. I also really enjoyed how the game incorporates many historical figures. The most prolific being the famous inventor and artist, Leonardo Da Vinci, who they really use well.
My fellow history buffs have probably seen that glider before
Gameplay: There is one main question you probably have about Assassin's Creed 2 is most likely something along the lines of "Am I going to be sitting on benches all day again?!?!?" I am glad to answer the a resounding "No". Unlike it's predecessor, Assassin's Creed 2 has a much more open world, with many side quests and collectibles that can easily take hours to do, a great advancement from Assassin's Creed's style where you found yourself doing the same thing over and over. These side missions include many things, such as races, assassinations, and the occasional delivery job.
Possibly the most interesting addition to the game is The Villa. The villa is for all intensive purposes, your own little town. You can order architectural upgrades which increase your income, which you will use to buy weapons, armor, paintings, treasure maps, and much more. This is a great addition if you ask me, but if you play your cards well with the Villa, you can easily buy all the collectibles, which really takes the value out of having them. That being said, there is one set of items you will most defiantly work for, and you will love them when you get them, I won't tell what it is though!
You Are the Master of Your Domain.
Another interesting addition to Assassin's Creed 2 is the ability to hire groups of either Thieves, Mercenaries, or Courtesans(that's whores for those who don't know) to aid you in your quest. While they all do different things, they all serve one main purpose, distraction. They are there to make sure the guards don't take interest in you, the only exception to this is the Mercenaries, who are quite handy in a fight.
Teamwork is Fun!
Another common complaint about the first Assassin's Creed was that every time you entered combat enemies would only attack one at a time and could easily defeated with a counter kill. IN Assassin's Creed 2 enemies will still attack one at a time, but there are many types of enemies this go around. While the standard rank and file troops still fall very easily, many of the tougher enemies that show up in force later in the game can represent quite a challenge, especially if they are wielding spears. That being said, you also have many new toys this go around, including double hidden blades, smoke grenades, and a gun, which all do a good job of evening any fight, which takes away much of the difficulty. I gotta say though, it really does feel awesome when you annihilate an entire group of hostiles in a few seconds.
Ezio Hates Spearmen
Presentation: If you have even given any of the screenshots in this review a glance you can easily see that this is a beautiful looking game. When you climb up on one of the many towers you will find in the various cities you will be treated to a vista that is incredibly hard to come by in video games. The cities in this game are incredibly lively and realistic, which gives the feeling that you are really in fifteenth century Italy. The animations are also as fluid as ever, making combat look amazing. That all being said, the game really drops the ball when it comes to the faces of many characters which range from passable to straight ugly.
In contrast to the graphics, the music is a little underwhelming in this game. While there are some moments have music that really fits the scene, most of the time you will barely notice it is even there.
The Verdict: Assassin's Creed 2 is an amazing game that is a must by for anyone who enjoyed the first game even a little and for those who just love open world assassination action! This is what the first game should have been.
THE SCORE: A
Story: Assassin's Creed 2 starts off almost immediately after the end of Assassin's Creed's ending, which can make it quite confusing for those who did not finish the first game, luckily it is not so bad that you can't enjoy the story, but I suggest you look up what happened in the first game before playing this if you don't want to play through the first game.
Anyway, the game begins with your butt getting busted out of Abstergo by none other than one of the researchers keeping you there, Lucy. It turns out Lucy is a fellow assassin and has been working undercover. She takes you back to the Assassin hideout and asks you to help them out, and you agree. The story in this game is presented for the point of view of yet another ancestor of Desmond, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a young nobleman from the Italian Renaissance, who is out for vengeance after his family is murdered. Those are all the details that I want to give about the plot, you will need to figure out the rest on your own.
The story, while quite interesting, is not really presented in a spectacular way, besides the fact that you are just living out your ancestor's memories. Many of the characters are not really that fleshed out and sometimes you are not entirely clear who is living and who isn't! That being said, the story seems to be more based on what is happening, not who is involved, in this sense it preforms quite well, I found myself quite surprised quite a few times, and sometimes the things happening were just so cool I could not help but smiling. I also really enjoyed how the game incorporates many historical figures. The most prolific being the famous inventor and artist, Leonardo Da Vinci, who they really use well.
My fellow history buffs have probably seen that glider before
Gameplay: There is one main question you probably have about Assassin's Creed 2 is most likely something along the lines of "Am I going to be sitting on benches all day again?!?!?" I am glad to answer the a resounding "No". Unlike it's predecessor, Assassin's Creed 2 has a much more open world, with many side quests and collectibles that can easily take hours to do, a great advancement from Assassin's Creed's style where you found yourself doing the same thing over and over. These side missions include many things, such as races, assassinations, and the occasional delivery job.
Possibly the most interesting addition to the game is The Villa. The villa is for all intensive purposes, your own little town. You can order architectural upgrades which increase your income, which you will use to buy weapons, armor, paintings, treasure maps, and much more. This is a great addition if you ask me, but if you play your cards well with the Villa, you can easily buy all the collectibles, which really takes the value out of having them. That being said, there is one set of items you will most defiantly work for, and you will love them when you get them, I won't tell what it is though!
You Are the Master of Your Domain.
Another interesting addition to Assassin's Creed 2 is the ability to hire groups of either Thieves, Mercenaries, or Courtesans(that's whores for those who don't know) to aid you in your quest. While they all do different things, they all serve one main purpose, distraction. They are there to make sure the guards don't take interest in you, the only exception to this is the Mercenaries, who are quite handy in a fight.
Teamwork is Fun!
Another common complaint about the first Assassin's Creed was that every time you entered combat enemies would only attack one at a time and could easily defeated with a counter kill. IN Assassin's Creed 2 enemies will still attack one at a time, but there are many types of enemies this go around. While the standard rank and file troops still fall very easily, many of the tougher enemies that show up in force later in the game can represent quite a challenge, especially if they are wielding spears. That being said, you also have many new toys this go around, including double hidden blades, smoke grenades, and a gun, which all do a good job of evening any fight, which takes away much of the difficulty. I gotta say though, it really does feel awesome when you annihilate an entire group of hostiles in a few seconds.
Ezio Hates Spearmen
Presentation: If you have even given any of the screenshots in this review a glance you can easily see that this is a beautiful looking game. When you climb up on one of the many towers you will find in the various cities you will be treated to a vista that is incredibly hard to come by in video games. The cities in this game are incredibly lively and realistic, which gives the feeling that you are really in fifteenth century Italy. The animations are also as fluid as ever, making combat look amazing. That all being said, the game really drops the ball when it comes to the faces of many characters which range from passable to straight ugly.
In contrast to the graphics, the music is a little underwhelming in this game. While there are some moments have music that really fits the scene, most of the time you will barely notice it is even there.
The Verdict: Assassin's Creed 2 is an amazing game that is a must by for anyone who enjoyed the first game even a little and for those who just love open world assassination action! This is what the first game should have been.
THE SCORE: A
