Assassin's Creed 2

Assassin's Creed 2 is the sequel to Ubisoft's moderately popular Assassin's Creed. The game improves upon many of the shakier aspects of the original while maintaining the things players enjoyed from the first game. AC2 is a third person stealth game. The player controls a character known as Desmond Miles, a bartender in the near future who is abducted by the mysterious Abstergo Cooperation. As veterans of the first Assassin's Creed know, Abstergo is actually a front for the ancient organization known as the Templers, founded near the begging of the first crusade. The Templers have spent the last thousand years searching for Pieces of Eden, mythological object supposedly left behind by God. By 2012 they have developed Animi, devices capable of rendering DNA as memory sequences. In AC the player navigates through these memories while Abstergo uses the information gleaned from them to help search for the Pieces of Eden.

As AC2 opens the player finds himself being led out of Abstergo by Lucy, the reluctant assistant to Dr. Warren, who reveals she is part of the Assassin's Guild and is rescuing you from the Templers. You are "escorted" to a safe house where Lucy and other technicians have constructed a more advanced version of the Animus. From here the player begins to play as Ezio Auditore, a young Italian from a wealthy family. The game starts out slower than the first AC but pays for your patience with an excellent game. Player favorites from AC have been tweaked and tuned to help create an even better gaming experience. AC2 boast a faster, smoother free running system and a much improved combat system. In addition the player now has a variety of content within the game to earn through completing missions and collecting florins. Armor upgrades, weapons, medicine, poison and smoke bombs are several of the new features that can be purchased. Additionally Ezio obtains a primitive musket built into one of his gauntlets, allowing for long range assassinations. The player can also spend florins on changing armor color and upgrading the Auditore family Villa with businesses, art and public works.

AC2 brings a much broader range of weaponry to the table than its predecessor. Where AC had only one sword and one dagger, AC2 has dozens. Ezio can also carry more throwing knives. Additionally Ezio gains the use of smoke bombs, gauntlet musket and dual assassin's blades. You can even poison a target, causing them to go into frenzy, swinging about wildly before dying. The combat system has also been greatly improved upon. Moves such as 'taunt', 'disarm' and throwing dirt have been added, The AI of opponents, one of the major detractions from AC has also shown vast improvements.

The graphics have improved as much as could be expected in the time period, but at times feel to smooth and clean. Occasionally objects pass through walls if you swing a blade wide while standing against a wall. One highly pleasing aspect is the low level of difference between cinematic and game play graphics. They are relatively the same, both are impressive. I dislike games with exceptionally cinematics but terrible in game graphics.

Free running in AC2 is faster, smoother and more intuitive. Ezio doesn't awkwardly pause on ledges before continuing the way Altair did in AC; A welcome change from AC. Another less important but appreciated change is Ezio's ability to swim. Falling in water does not bring immediate death for Ezio the way it did for Altair. Another large change from AC is that AC2 is more of an open world game. Scaling a building and checking for messages from career pigeons will allow you to take part in side-quest for florins. These could be anything from a traditional assassination to beating up a cheating husband. The story line missions are also not required. They can be completed whenever the player wishes. The notoriety meter is a welcome addition to the game. It allows the player to control the likelihood of random assaults from city guards. The more illegal activity the player commits, the higher the meter rises. Opportunities to lower the meter appear in several forms, bribing heralds, tearing down posters and assassinating city officials.

Rating:

Gameplay: With the much improved free-running, huge weapons and extras available for purchase and the exceptional new combat system AC2 merits one of the best rankings I have given. The only detractions are some of the optional components which were sometimes annoyingly difficult or banal.

3.75 Out of 4.0

Graphics: A truly beautiful game, designed as much for the architectural accuracy as for gaming. A tendency for things to glow and sparkle a bit too much doesn't diminish the artistry that is AC2. Take some time to look at the historically accurate world around you.

1.75 Out of 2.0

Storyline: There was genuine effort put into making this game as realistic as possible. If you look up some of the assassinations you would find that they actually happened, and at the time and place the game presents. AC2 is a true work of historical fiction in every sense. You can almost believe in it. Except for a certain part...

2.5 Of 3.0

Bonus Point: Of Course! Everyone has their personal favorite part of AC2, something that sticks in your mind as being just too cool. For me it was my first double assassination from the roof of a building.

Final Rating: 9.0 out of 10

SPOILER ALERT!

Note on the Ending: I hope the creators know what they're doing with that ending. I wasn't a fan of the ending of AC either, but this time I was just flat out annoyed. Why did they need to have Desmond confronted through Ezio by "Minerva"? Seriously? An ancient race of gods killed by a solar burst leaving records of it in mystic objects that unlocked a secret hologram in the basement of the Vatican?

Whatever.

By Hegemon

Date: September 1, 2010