Fashionably Late Review
Assassin’s Creed 2
By Jorge Figueiredo - April 18th, 2010
After my whirlwind tour in the shoes of Altaïr ibn La-Ahadh, I was left starving for more; my appetite had been whetted, and I was ready to draw my hidden blade once again. Luckily I was late to the party for the first Assassin’s Creed; late enough to be able to buy both the original and the sequel; no waiting between stories for me! This lack of delay between games allowed me to continue without having to re-play the first; more importantly, it offered an immediate contrast and a revelation: Assassin’s Creed 2 had all of the elements that made the first game awesome – and then some!
AC2 picks up immediately where the first one left off: you are Desmond Miles (voiced by Nolan North) and you are continuing your journey of self discovery with the assistance of Lucy Stillman (Kristen Bell). I don’t really want to reveal too much of the “present-day” plot; suffice to say that Desmond has changed quite a bit since he was first accosted by Abstergo Industries. As with the last game, the adventure takes place as a nested plot: Desmond Miles utilizes the Animus to discover what lies within the memories of his ancestors, specifically Ezio Auditore da Firenze. The setting behind the story of Ezio is 15th century Italy, removing the player from the sandy palette of the first game and replacing it with a somewhat more colourful background.
One of the first things that I noticed about AC2 is how incredibly fluid everything is; transitions between gameplay and cutscenes are incredible, allowing the game to flow at a comfortable rate, considering the complexity of the plot. The integrated tutorials are great for those that are new to the game, as well as to those that are old hands; Ubisoft makes great use of the console controllers, bringing even more complexity to the main character in a way that is intuitive and easy.
Graphics are stunning, with no stuttering that I noticed when moving Ezio about. I had initially thought that this was due to the fact that there were fewer people present in the cities. I cannot be certain of this though, because even if there are fewer people, they are all doing more complex tasks; not to mention that Venice is an incredible piece of artistry, and can’t possibly be less demanding to render than the largest city in the first game. I only mention Venice as a comparative because of its size; every city in the game is beautiful. While there is the common thread woven through each speaking of the country that they are all a part of, each city is unique in its own way. City architecture and landscaping aside, the populace of each city is also engaged in activity: whether it is a domestic dispute that has spilled onto the streets, an artisan plying his or her trade, or even city structures being actively maintained, everyone has a personality. More than the first game, the sequel really feels alive.
The only real weakness in AC was the number of mundane tasks to perform; it is one thing when side quests are boring, but some of the main quests were a bit tedious as well. In any game, it is inevitable that missions are going to become similar after a while, but there are ways to make them engaging by changing certain elements slightly, if only to prevent boredom. AC2 does a great job of this. In fact, I found myself looking for things to do because I was having so much fun doing them; they offered a way to move around the cities in a more meaningful way. To add to the wonderful mission structure, mobility is greatly improved in AC2. Ezio can run, climb, and fight, as his ancestor did in the first game; however, there are new ways to get around town: swimming; boating; extended climbing skills; Eagle Vision while moving; a more realistic blending system; poison – all welcome additions to an already full experience.
To add balance, there are tougher enemies as well. Brutes will refuse to be knocked down like normal opponents, causing you to rely on skills other than simple dueling; some guards will be very agile, catching you fairly quickly as you try to escape; there are also guards with polearms, which cannot be approached as you would a guard with a sword: there is a lot of strategy involved here. Victory against these enhanced foes will be easier to attain if you start to enlist help: mercenaries, thieves and prostitutes each have their uses (and their price), and will help you win the day if you use them correctly. You can also pick up weapons dropped by guards that you have dispatched, which means that you, too, could become potentially unapproachable.
So numerous are the features of this game that I have surely forgotten some in my writing. Between the improved mechanics, better graphics, solid soundtrack, and guest appearances (hello, Leonardo da Vinci!) can you blame me? Suffice to say that Ubisoft has another winner on their hands. I played this game to completion (and beyond) thanks to the addictive and relevant trophy set. It is highly likely that I will return to the game, too. My wife noted that the game was pretty accurate in the layout of each city (she has been to a few of them). In fact, she named a few of the cities just based on their architecture. Kudos to the designers for their attention to detail. I would recommend that you pick up this game if you want to be enthralled. Make sure you watch the “Lineage” video on the disc before you begin playing. It is many flavours of awesome.
Assassin’s Creed 2 is available for the PS3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows.
