Assassin's Creed II
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Sometimes you have a formula for a game and in trying to realize that one particular formula you stumble in some other areas. If you are lucky enough, and that one formula strikes a tone, you can parlay that success into a second game. Here is your chance to take that winning formula and then shore up the defects from last time. Ubisoft Montreal took this train of thought to heart and pretty much scored on every single mark with Assassin’s Creed 2. Yes, the story is still unfortunately jumping between its duality of streams and you still have to navigate a world of old. However, if you are a fan of the latter, you can forgive the former and thoroughly enjoy this game. At least this time around, they keep you for the most part in the past.
The story of Assassin’s Creed 2 picks up at the moment from where the first left off. For those who did not play the former game there is an extremely short and almost useless recap before the game starts. Thrust as you are into Desmond’s body, you have to navigate your way out of the Templar stronghold, Abstergo, with the help of Lucy (Kirsten Bell) and into the arms of the resistance, Assassins. Quickly you are brought up to speed with the help of your new compatriots and you strap yourself into another Animus to take on the memories of your ancestors. The game waists no time into thrusting you back into yore, because quite frankly it knows why you came. As Ezio, you are first born, and then you take on menial tasks for your father. As you relearn the ropes of the controls, your father falls victim to a plot he is attempting to stop against the Medicis. Things go bad and you are left with your sister and mother, fleeing Florence. Taken in by an uncle, you start on your path for revenge.
The story takes a long time to develop. It is staggered and at some points you find yourself flailing around to get a grip on the larger picture. This aptly mirrors the situation Ezio is in, but unfortunately the viewers are more interested in the bigger picture than Ezio. Ezio is driven by rage and revenge alone and when he finally opens his eyes you breathe a sigh of relief..jpg)
However, it happens a little too late in the game and that can be frustrating for some. Ezio himself is a well done character. He abandons the brashness of Altair and takes on some of the charm of the Prince from the Sands of Time. Walking in his shoes never feels cumbersome and you never get to hate him. Since you are with him for about two dozen hours and he does talk a lot, that is a pretty admirable thing. The other characters in the game, both in and out of the Animus, are all well voiced as well. Though their motives might baffle you it inevitably all becomes clear. However, the “aha!” moment is a little too deus ex machina, but depending on your disposition it is a tolerable one. The bigger problem with the story however is the ending. The game introduces a final revelation that will be all too familiar for fans of Stargate SG-1. Suffice to say that the developers seem to have borrowed hard from the Ancients and the central theme of SG-1. Such borrowing is not a bad thing, but seeing the relevance is difficult and the need to move the story to such a level was possibly even unnecessary.
The gameplay itself is spectacular, though somehow issues have creeped in where none were before. The free running feels a little stiffer this time and Ezio is not as good as Altair in anticipating and going where you need him to..jpg)
You wrestle with the controls a little bit more this time as you scale Florence, Vence, and even Rome. Moreover, in attempting to improve on combat the developers might have actually hurt it a bit. In Assassin’s Creed 1 becoming a master of combat required timing and a small bit of luck. Now, it seems the luck quotient has been raised even higher and it is nary impossible even at your best to dispatch of a large number of guards without getting hit. It is more realistic undoubtedly, but it trades off in not allowing a skilled player to be his/her best. Yet, these two core mechanics of the game are still some of the best in the industry and small issues aside, they make for an enjoyable game.
These mechanics are put towards more varied missions, one of the chief complaints of the first iteration (but one that I did not have), to provide one with more than the basic killing, tailing, and stealing. Unfortunately, while they made more varied missions, they also took away from the preparation before each kill (really only in one mission in the sequel). That was an admirable quality of the first game..jpg)
Now you run out in full force to commit a kill, without all of the tactical knowledge you once garnered. I understand how this would not make sense in the second game with our neophyte assassin, but it still would have been nice to adopt as he grows into his role. Still, the varied missions and the lack of a pure hierarchical structure will probably bring a smile to those with complaints and I must admit does make for a still enjoyable experience.
Supporting these mechanics, both an economy and a number of collectables (that actually have some value) litter the game. At your uncle’s mansion you can spend your time improving the shops and renovating the small town. This gains you bonuses and increased cash, cash that is necessary to buy health and ammunition..png)
The developers seemed to have worked in this economy as a side-effect of having to ameliorate the first game’s lower difficulty. The collectibles range from art and sculpture to more esoteric markings and nary impossible to find feathers. All in all, they provide adequate replay value after the game is done. Speaking of that however, while you could replay missions in the original game, that feature seems to have been inextricably removed from this game (even though you get Animus 2.0). This would not be an issue, but one of the achievements requires a specific action to be done during a mission. Not doing it means you have to replay the entire game just to get that one achievement. Over all though, a lot of the slack that the game picked up was in the area of collectibles and even the economy. This helps round out the distant past better and more importantly provides a lot of replay. It is hard not to look upon the more fully realized cities within Assassin’s Creed 2 and not see the glimmer of Grand Theft Auto. In this respect, it also seems that the team borrowed admirably from Arkham Asylum to provide you with a map for collectables. One wonders why they could not extend this to the feathers as well.
The graphics in Assassin’s Creed 2 see very little of a leap from the original game. There is now more pronounced bump-mapping, but the character models seem to have suffered worse this time around. Moreover, there is no vast distance between cities as well..jpg)
However, the cities are still as beautifully realized as ever. Venice itself is absolutely massive (maybe too massive with just your feet to traverse the distance) and amazingly intricate. All of the cities also have an incredibly claustrophobic feel when you are in the streets, with almost no sunlight reaching the bottom. The feel is spot on and it immerses you completely into 15th century Italy. The virtually authentic recreation of ancient cities was the biggest draw with the original Assassin’s Creed and the same can be said for the sequel. Much like in the original, when you go up to the highest point of Venice and look down… It is like a world has been recreated for you. Running on the tiled roofs feels apt. The entire game is pitch-perfection, just like the first, in setting a mood and ambiance within bustling cities. The recreation alone is worth the price tag.
Assassin’s Creed 2 does everything the first game did right, the same attention to detail and recreation of an environment. It then adds in mechanics relegated to open world games and even a few RPG elements to boot, as well as relevant collectibles. The entire package is nothing short of excellent and easily one of the best game of 2009. Yes, there is a larger story and a nefarious plot that spans centuries. However, you can ignore all of that and just focus on our protagonist of the past. It is frankly a rewarding experience to be immersed in 15th century Italy.
