Assassin's Creed II

The Good
The Original Assassin's Creed game was a good start; it had a unique and fascinating story and Ubisoft's Scimitar engine is arguably one of the best engines created but not just for the pretty graphics - it perfected platforming controls. No other game with platforming elements that I have played in recent memory has had such tight and natural controls. Regardless - AC1 was flawed. When playing as Altair, he had a strange American accent. The ending was oblivious and bizarre, making no sense at all and was somewhat infuriating and as fun as the game was at times it got repetitive with only a small handful of samey missions to do before you actually got to the assassinations.

Ubisoft clearly had an ear out when making this spectacular sequel. It takes the good elements from the first game, including the beautiful and fluent Scimitar engine, brushes away most of its flaws and injects the game with all new ideas and gameplay twists. Although you will still do side missions of the same type, they will actually be different each time rather than just repeating. The most fun side missions are the races in which you have to race across roof tops to beat someone's record, and as a majour platformer fan these games are exciting and exhilarating; and then of course there are Assassination side missions! So you'll actually feel more like an Assassin with a wide variety of fun and diverse assassination missions that take place inbetween actual story missions.

The story picks up right where the first game ambiguously left off. In case you missed the first game, here's the gist of what happened: A man named Desmond Miles was kidnapped by a corporation called Abstergo, who created a machine that can access the memories of ancestors and Abstergo used this machine to reveal the memories of an assassin named Altair to find an object known as The Apple - a "Piece of Eden." Turns out that Abstergo are the remnants of the ancient order of the Templars, and Lucy, an assassin spy at Abstergo whisks you away to meet a few other Assassins and once again place Desmond into the shoes of an ancestor - this time to train him to become an assassin to fight the Templars in the future.

This new ancestor is Ezio Auditore De Firenze, and the time period is now renaissance Italy!! Yes, those exclamation points were purposeful. I friggen' love Italy, particularly the language. I also love History, and Ubisoft has put in an incredible amount of detail into the historical elements. Many key cities are recreated accurately and you'll meet numerous people both fictional and real. Probably the most hyped historical figure is Leonardo Da Vinci, and as a freak for history, talking to Leonardo Da Vinci, seeing him decode codex scrolls and invent new tools was downright awesome. The game has a database that keeps track of people and locations, and you might just learn something you probably didn't know. I sure as hell learned a lot, and as a history freak, that's a good thing.

The gameplay is much faster paced and varied this time around. You no longer have to walk two inches per minute to fool guards and there's a nifty fast travel system that really comes in handy when you don't want to run around the country side forever. The game has a steady pace, its not blazing fast but its not sluggish either. It always keeps a steady pace allowing the player to acclimate to their surroundings, which is truly key when planning assassinations. The game itself also eases the player into the role of their character better than the first game did. Hardly any history was given to Altair, you just started as an Assassin and the only progression given to his character was re-earning his rank. Ezio's story begins when he is a teenager and you grow attached to the character and the game leads into a logical reason for him becoming an assassin, as well as actually teaching you the ways of an assassin throughout the course of the game.

There's a larger variety of weapons this time around, from poison blades to the kickass double hidden blades advertised on the cover which can down two enemies at once. Slowly dropping behind two marks and then ramming your double blades into their skulls is satisfying and fun. You can also use weapons that enemies drop temporarily, which is useful against tougher enemies sometimes. You can also buy new permanent weapons, as well as new armours and other items such as medicine and poison for a special poison tip blade.

As always, platforming is a joy. You can still climb towers if you want to challenge your vertigo and sometimes all you want to do is race across an entire cities roofs and find various nooks and crannies. Ubisoft has created the most impressive sandbox game world since Grand Theft Auto IV Like GTA IV, this world feels alive. There's an incredible attention of detail to all the cities, from Florence to Venice you'll see lots of beautiful architecture and locales filled with crowds of people and guards just living another day in their life. You can hear the sound of life going on, people conversing, heralds shouting the latest news, etc. The world is so inviting and detailed you'll forget you are holding a controller. There were times that I literally felt like I was sucked into the screen and was truly controlling Ezio through the Animus. I also wasted about 8 hours of my time running around, exploring crypts, performing assassinations, looting, beating up adulterous husbands and having a bucket load of fun. Even though most will consider it a menial task, I even had fun renovating my villa and seeing it expand and become more and more lively.

The game's world also monitors your notoriety. Being a thief or loudly assassinating/hurting people will gain notoriety and people will be more wary of you and guards will become more uptight, and you will have to bribe bad mouthed heralds, track down corrupt officials attempting to frame you, and pull away wanted posters to reduce it and become incognito yet again.

The graphics are wonderful. I've already mentioned the extreme detail on the architectural design, but I don't know if I've mentioned the fluent animations, expressive facial expressions, or the enticing and beautiful art design. Every piece fits together, once again the all important immersion is enhanced by the fact that this is as close as you will ever get to seeing 15th century Italy in person. The animation is life like and beautiful and just as alive as the people and objects that use the animation. It's just as fun to watch Ezio's platforming as it is to have him perform it. His cloak freely flaps in the breeze as he realistically grasps ledges or leaps across a gap and everything is fluid and natural.

There are 20 puzzle sections hidden around the world, and they are very well thought out. Although it does cross into Dan Brown territory a little (Okay, in fairness to Dan Brown his ideas are great; its just his inability to write that is a nadir of the literary world) they are all clever and bring true historic together with the fictional aspects in order to create a bridge between the historical elements and the futuristic/fictional elements. It fills in a lot of gaps and enriches the universe, while challenging and tantalizing the brain and setting up some more mysteries for the future.

The Bad
As great as the game is - it still has flaws. For one, while the new monetary system helps draw you in and is a welcome addition, you'll barely ever have to watch your wallet after a certain point. Once you get to your Villa you can rob every civilian and since you own the place no guards will come down on you for stealing and no notoriety is gained. When you get a special cloak, some of the cities will not increase notoriety and guards will be more lenient so you can once again go back to picking pockets and walk out of a town with more gold than El Dorado. You also gain income from renovating your Villa, money will be stored in your chest every 20 minutes and although there is a cap on the chest as you increase the Villa's worth the overall income will increase and you'll very quickly be getting over 9000 (Yes, I did that on purpose - but I'm actually being serious too) Florens every 20 minutes so you can practically buy all the best armour weapons and other objects without ever worrying about your funds.

The guards are also a little too lenient at times. There was a time that I lept off a roof and landed on a guard, and slit his throat and somehow his buddies just barely started getting suspicious rather than immediately reacting. It's also easy as hell to shake them because running and climbing roofs no longer alerts them (Just the archers) and sometimes its a bit anticlimactic to get a take down and not have a following chase or battle.

Swordplay, while at times fun, is still a bit too easy. All you really have to do is block and do counters, the only time swordplay is really any interesting is if you are brave enough to use your hidden blades as a weapon rather than a sword or if there's a big brute in armour with a giant axe that can't be countered.

The story, while fascinating, does get a bit hard to follow as things progress. Around the 60% mark you'll be baffled and unlocking "The Truth" doesn't really give much truth, and it is a lingering question that follows the game way past the ending and other things only raise more questions; and while the ending isn't as ambiguous or ridiculously vague as the first games ending was, we get yet another cliffhanger and a big bucket of questions that I kinda don't want to wait 2 and a half more years to learn about.

The graphics do have some issues; mostly regarding pop in. Just about every object pops in at some point, grass grows and shadows wobble into existence shakily, and sometimes even civilians pop up out of nowhere. There was one time I was in an intense guard chase while freerunning, and I had the chase camera on so the camera was much farther back behind Ezio than it would normally be and I saw a ledge to grasp but only seconds before I thought I would grab the ledge a group of civilians popped up and blocked me. There are also problems with the PS3 version of the game, which is the version I own. There are various glitches, freezing issues, and a very annoying white screen of death that plagued me for about 2 weeks before finally letting up.

You only get to use Leonardo's flying machine once or twice :(

The Bottom Line
I wrote this review on New Years eve, so it's most likely this won't be up until the year has started, but it being the end of the year its that time where everyone has to name a game of the year. I had missed out on many games this year but recently caught up, and many of them entered my contenders list but when I delved into Assassin's Creed II I barely had time for them and I realized there was no competition.

AC II was the best game of 2009. Even if you didn't like the first game, this is worth a look. Like any great sequel, it expands and nearly perfects what its predecessor set out to do. For history and speculative fiction fans, this is also worth a look. I'm serious when I say it actually has educational merit. But most importantly its engaging, fun, technically impressive, and there's a lot of people speaking Italian. Sorry, I really, really like Italian. It sounds great, it looks great, it plays great and its one of the most immersive and mind blowing games in a long while.

The Good
To start off I never played the first Assassin's Creed, but I know the basic premise of it, in the not too distant future a man is taken to a secret facility, put into a machine that lets him relive his ancient relatives life through their eyes and discover their secrets and find things that can change the course of mankind. This game is the same way, picking up where the last left off, but this time being rescued by the order of the Assassin's and put into their own version of the "Animus" and relive another relative's life in 15th century Italy by the name of Ezio and discover another dark secret that can change the course of mankind.

The game's story itself is very well written, with a great cast of characters and voices and a nice alternate take of actual people that actually existed, some of which I'm sure will piss off people in the Vatican and other people of the Christian faith, but still the game is just a fantasy and shouldn't be taken seriously. The script has it's moments as well including some very subtle humour, some of which includes Ezio's mother at the beginning and a little homage of sorts to Nintendo's mascot, Mario, whether intentional or not.

The graphics are gorgeous too, with large open areas, bright colors and gritty backgrounds really makes the game shine, plus all the spurting blood when you cut the artery of an enemy which adds to the realism. Even the small things stand's out such as the droplets of water dripping from you as you emerge from water or the bits of hay after you perform a leap of faith and the cutscenes are pretty well done as well. The sounds and music are impressive as well, the music really delves you into the atmosphere of the period and the sounds of the clanking swords, flesh tearing, it gives it the feel of an interactive movie.

The controls are decent and it lends to the gameplay, climbing buildings and towers, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, surveying your prey, plotting your next move and when to strike...or you can just simply run up to him and casual stab him. The openness of the assassination's give the game some replay value, while there are times where stealth is required, most of the time you can sneak up on them and be sneaky or you can just run in out of nowhere and grab them before they can react. It also helps that the arsenal of weapons at your disposal is so diverse, giving you throwing knives to dispatch archers, smoke bombs for quick escapes and even a poison filled blade which can cause some hilarity at times when watching them go berserk. There is even a pistol modification which comes in handy from time to time, but it quickly draws attention.

Not only that the A.I. is very smart, they just don't watch idly by as you massacre people, they will act accordingly. Some citizens will run in fear, others will look for nearby guards, some have even confronted me, also the guards react too in different ways. While the larger and more armored guards will stay and fight to the end some of the less than adequate guards will flee in terror when you slaughter enough of their comrades.

The Bad
While this game has so many good features to it, there are some nuisances that does somewhat detract from it. While the graphics are great, some of the character models seem a bit strange at time during the cutscenes, the teeth looks weird and their eyes always appears glaze, but luckily the acting and script keeps your mind off of it. However, the sounds can detract from it a bit, there are times where it was late when I stabbed a guard and just seconds after he fell to the ground, you then hear the sound of the sword piercing him, but this rarely happens. Though I have noticed when you are on a horse and you go across a small puddle there is no splashing sounds, likewise when you go across cobblestone it's the same sound as if it was running on dirt.

There is a bit of collision detections at times, there are times where I have been to close to an enemy on a ledge and it seems like the game glitches and has it where you can't defend yourself and once you get hit you go flying off, luckily you can grab onto anything nearby if you are luckily enough. This also works the other way around, there is times where I have trapped guards into a corner and was able to keep them from attacking me just be simply standing to close to them on an edge. Plus there has been times where it seems like the game doesn't react properly, sometimes when I hit the button to deflect a shot it acts like I didn't press it or it occurs to late and I take a hit, but I have noticed that deflects don't work on the brutes, which are these huge guys with knight armor and battle axes. For some reason you can't deflect their shots and they can take half your health with one shot....but if you are unarmed you can easily grab their axe away from them when they swing and bury it deep in their skull. That to me bothers me, if the guy is large enough to overpower when you have a sword then it shouldn't be easy to overpower him when you basically helpless.

The puzzle aspect is fun at times when you have to unlock the videos though some puzzles are very vague on what you have to do and you have to experiment, unless you are in a hurry and check out Youtube for a quick and easy answer. The collecting aspect isn't bad at times when it comes to collecting the statues around the villa, 10 or 12 if I recall and the glyphs that uncover the puzzles, 20 scattered throughout the maps, but those feathers, oh man, 100 of these small white feathers scattered through the maps which is a bitch at times. On the smaller maps they aren't bad, but at Venice...good lord, there is over 40 scattered on these huge environments and it took me 2 hours alone just for that and that was with the help of a map online. Plus it acts as though it was going to contribute something major to the story, kinda like the glyphs and the codex pages you collect, but...meh...it was disappointing that they basically did nothing but give you a cape and weapon, though it is essential to getting the required trophies.

However, there is one thing that I really didn't care for and that was the lack of replaying old missions, even when the game is complete. The only thing you can do is show the mission names and the objectives, but other than that you can't replay them. Now to me that is really detrimental to the gameplay, not only does it keep me from replaying some of my favorite missions, but it also can mess you up in case the game glitches. During my first play through, for some reason the game glitched and three story trophies didn't kick in for whatever reason, well if there was a replay option that would have been an easy fix, I mean after all I does that way with the Assassin's Tombs, I discovered one and the trophy didn't kick in and I replayed it and got it. But without the replay option for the story missions I had to start another game and it took me over four hours to get the required trophies.

The Bottom Line
In the end this is a phenomenal game, with great storytelling, character models, voice acting and environments it really stands out in the action/adventure genre of the consoles and can even be considered for a Game of the Year nomination for just about every organization out there. Not only that, but the game lends to the assumption that there will be a third game, which will be fine for me. I just rented this game and beat it within 15 hours, but that was mostly sticking to the main story and not the many side missions that lay throughout the game, but still the game has some replay value and with downloadable content coming soon, supposedly two, it may give it some more replayability. Hopefully they will keep with the same formula with the third edition and maybe even add a multiplayer option to that one, still this game is definitely worth looking at, even if you didn't care for the first.

The Good
From the moment Assassin's Creed 2 (AC II) was first released worldwide in 2009, it has received a remarkable amount of critical acclaim. The average critic score here on mobygames.com is an impressive 91%. On the other hand, many of the more comprehensive user reviews (that are written on this website) consider AC II to be the game of the year of 2009. 'Kadath Bird' writes that "AC II was the best game of 2009", and 'Big John WV' similarly believes "it really stands out in the action/adventure genre of the consoles and can even be considered for a Game of the Year nomination for just about every organization out there." Unsurprisingly, AC II is considered to be one of the highest rated games in the whole franchise, and to contribute my own opinions to such a list of commendations is no easy accomplishment.

AC II is set in the golden age of the Italian Renaissance, more specifically during the second half of the Fifteenth Century. Desmond, after he escapes from Abstergo Industries with the help of Lucy Stillman. uses another animus to relive the genetic memories of his ancestor, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who lived in Italy during this period. The way the game's artistic designers have rendered the beauty and diversity of Renaissance architecture throughout the game is truly worthy of much of the critical appraisal the game has received in this regard. The cities of Florence and Venice stand out in particular, you cannot but appreciate the detail that has been given to all of their numerous historical landmarks. From 'Palazzo Medici' in Florence to Venice's 'Palazzo Ducale', there is no shortage of awe-inspiring vistas in this game.

Having played the first Assassin's Creed to exhaustion, I must emphasize what an improvement AC II is, gameplay-wise, over its predecessor. The first major change is the addition of the so-called 'economic system'. You can accumulate a certain amount of money (florins), by doing certain missions, by looting crates scattered throughout the game or by simply stealing someone's money pouch, which you can use to buy paintings, weapons, armor, medicine and so on. Later on, you even get to manage your own villa and estate in Monteriggioni, where all of the items you have collected are stored. As you increase the value of Monteriggioni, by upgrading the properties found in the debilitated commune, the whole town starts to change for the better. You literally get to witness the fruits of your labour. This gives the player a huge incentive to collect and find everything the game has to offer, and it is very satisfying to fully upgrade Monteriggioni to its Renaissance glory.

Navigation has also been facilitated. Swimming is now possible, and there is, thankfully I must add, the option to fast-travel from one place to another (with the exception of the Apennine mountains). The player can use a gondola for the first time in Venice and also traverse the skies with Leonardo's so-called 'flying machine', but, unfortunately, only at two specific story segments. Another new feature is the way in which Ezio can hire groups of thieves, courtesans, or mercenaries to help him remain incognito, and every group has its own unique characteristics. Thieves follow you while platforming from one building to another, courtesans automatically distract suspicious guards and mercenaries are more adept with heavy combat.

The 'notoriety system' (similar to the 'wanted system' in the Grand Theft Auto series) was introduced in AC II as well. Since the more the notoriety level is increased the more guards become suspicious of Ezio, this system makes the player stay more vigilant when s/he is up to no good. Removing wanted posters or bribing heralds reduces your notoriety, but it is sufficiently cumbersome to help a master assassin perfect the way of the shadows.

Furthermore, AC II's story, without divulging anything here, is as epic as we have come to expect from an Assassin's Creed game, and the major characters are all captivating. Let me just say that the 'revelation' at the end of the game is one of the most memorable that I have ever observed in a videogame.

With such an immersive and detailed game as AC II, there is obviously a lot more to say about its redeeming features. However, that is not my intention here. Considering all the critical appraisal the game already has in this regard, I will not attempt the impossible.

The Bad
'Is AC II a great game?' 'Is it better than its predecessor?' Yes, it undoubtedly is. But I believe that the substantial part of its overwhelming positive critical reception is a result of the almost inevitable comparison with the first Assassin's Creed (AC I) game. However, it should be remembered that it was AC I that laid the foundation for the whole franchise. AC II perfected its structure, to be sure, and is altogether a far better game. But it borrowed everything else. Sure, there are a lot of new side quests in AC II, such as a number of 'assassination contracts' for the players to complete, and a series of races and 'beat-up missions' as well. However, they get repetitive quick, and I did not manage to complete every single one of them in my first playthrough, which is unusual for a traditional 'collectionist' like me. Sure, there is also a new arsenal of weapons at Ezio's disposal, but the differences between one weapon and another are marginal, so I stuck with the sword.

There are also some minor problems that tend to decrease the overall outstanding quality of AC II. I had encountered some 'freezing' issues with my PS3 version of the game, for example, while I was trying to collect the 'No-hitter' trophy. True, this may be an issue that may have resulted from the deficiencies of my own console, but there are plenty of other games that have never malfunctioned on me, especially when I was trying to obtain one of the game's own achievements. My remaining complaints are all minor. At one point, Antonio de Magianis, the leader of the Thieves Guild in Venice, repeatedly got 'glitched out' while he was trying to follow me platforming to a specific roof. Some glyph puzzles are too confusing to figure out on one's own, even with the help provided. And the countryside, that is the areas outside the cities, are not as expansive as they were in AC I.

One of my more consequential gripes about this game is its total lack of religious sensitivity concerning the Christian faith. I understand that, as a videogame, AC II was not meant to be taken that seriously, even though this is a game which assures its players that it was created by a "multicultural team" coming from different religious backgrounds. However, as a Christian, I found the game to be insensitive to my beliefs, at best. It is true that Rodrigo Borgia was quite possible the villain that he is portrayed in this game. It is true that the church was not perfect then, as it is not perfect now. Nevertheless, that does not diminish the game's own self-proclaimed responsibility to be as religiously sensitive as possible, especially with its storyline that puts so much emphasis on the 'truth'.

The Bottom Line
AC II is a masterly game. However, despite some major additions and improvements, I did feel nostalgic at times about AC I. I still think that game was too heavily criticized, for its time it was one of my favourite games. Both games have indulged in the same defects, no matter what the critics say; repetitiveness and religious insensitivity being some of them. But, to their credit, both games have pushed the boundaries of what was expected of a next-generation videogame, and what we will expect in the future, and for that they will always be treasured in my collection.