Don't you recognize me? It's-a me, Mario!
By Ben Salter
If
Assassin’s Creed 2 has taught us one thing, it’s that games can be based on historic events besides world war II, and be successful. The second Assassin’s Creed is a mixture of historically accurate people and places, and a fictional narrative. More importantly
Assassin’s Creed 2 is a much better game than its predecessor. The first game was by no means bad, but it was establishing a new, hopefully very successful, IP. Ubisoft have taken what they learnt from the first game, improved it in almost every aspect and crafted a rather compelling action/adventure game.
The way that the plot evolves after the prologue in Assassin’s Creed 2 is fantastic. Unfortunately the opening doesn’t quite live up to the rest of the narrative; it’s a shame, and I really hope it doesn’t deter anyone from playing further. You begin as Desmond Miles, as an assistant named Lucy is breaking him out of a high-tech lab. The story behind this is rather complex, but it’s told in a fairly boring manner and it’s hard to follow if you have no prior information about the game.
Lucy and her gang of underground workers strap Desmond to the Animus machine, where he is able to relive the memories of his ancestor, Ezio Auditore, who lived in Florence during the 15th century. Most of the game is played as Ezio, as we follow his rise as an Assassin against the Templars. Meanwhile Ezio’s DNA is being synched with Desmond in the Animus. This is where the story really starts to captivate the audience - the story of Ezio Auditore. The locations, some situations and people are based on historical facts. If you know your 15th century Templar Knights you might find yourself predicting who will come up next in the lengthy adventure – spanning over 20 hours. If you don’t, it doesn’t really matter, as the story itself is fictional. Ubisoft does a great job of leaving the player on the edge of their seat, so to speak, at the end of each mission and sequence. It becomes one of those games that you can’t put down. You keep telling yourself “just one more mission” at the end of the gaming day, but the more you play it, the harder it is to stop.
If you don’t care about an engaging story, the action is just as good. Assassin’s Creed has a distinct Prince of Persia feel about it, and that’s by no means a bad thing. You’ll spend a lot of your time scaling walls, climbing roof tops, and jumping between ledges, just as the good Prince has done so many times. The climbing controls are quite basic, as essentially you run into a wall, or to a ledge, and Ezio will either climb it or jump. The simple nature of the controls keeps everything fast paced, just as it needs to be for an assassin running above the city.
Ezio is also a much better assassin than his processor, Altair. While he had some cool moves Altair never really used them to his advantage. That’s where Ezio comes in. His two hidden blades, for example, can (and need to) be used for quick and silent assassinations on two targets simultaneously. If stealth goes out the window Ezio’s trusty sword, along with a range of other weapons, come into play. Using a lock-on combat system you either aggressively attack, or hold back and wait to dodge or counter. The latter is by far the most effective tactic, as the polite guards generally only attack one at a time, at least in the early stages. For this reason running in swords blazing does tend to get a bit tiresome. Finding ways to avoid hordes of enemies, and mastering silent takedowns are much more rewarding, when possible.
The complex dual combat system works once you’ve mastered it, but to be honest it’s more confusing than it had to be. The climbing and running (platforming) controls are so simple and fluid that they feel like more of a racing game. Combat, on the other hand, feels more like a confusing RTS. Once you know what you’re doing it’s fine, but it’s a lengthy process. You have to lock on to an enemy with one trigger, and it’s often not the enemy you wanted to target, and then either attack with the face buttons or hold down the right trigger to use defensive commands instead. With time you get used to this, but Ezio takes a beating while you're still learning. It turns into a button mashing fest, rather than well thought out strategies, when enemies surround you. It’s not bad; it’s just a little over complicated, and nowhere near as fun as the more stylish assassinations.
Assassin’s Creed 2 addresses a major flaw from the first Creed by including a range of different missions. The main story has you running across the vast open world to the next memory icons, and has a very 15th century GTA meets Zelda feel to it. As well as these there’s a range of things to do outside of the main story. So much, in fact, that it’s almost impossible not to get sidetracked at some point. You can earn money to spend on whatever takes your fancy, including rebuilding your hometown of Monteriggioni. Once uncle Mario (and the Super Mario Bros references are great) introduces you to your heritage most of Ezio’s non-compulsory activities are monitored at his villa. This includes collecting feathers and statues, while finding viewpoints will open up more of the world and increase what you can discover. In total there are six assassin tombs to uncover, which act as dungeons full of puzzles to conquer and guards to avoid (although why all these tombs are filled with guards we don’t know). These provide some nice linear platforming levels, as generally there is more than one way to go about things in the main story missions.
The different tactical options allow everyone to play to their strengths. While moving throughout the city you can, like me, choose the faster, but most dangerous, route and run across the rooftops, risking being spotted by guards and having your notoriety levels rise. If that doesn’t tickle your fancy you can hire a group of prostitutes to tempt guards in your path, or walk slowly and try to blend in with the crowds. There’s a range of different, and rather cool ways to assassinate people, but there’s an equal number of ways to move around to get yourself in that perfect position to make your move.
The new notoriety meter measures how likely the guards are to attack you, based on recent actions. As you kill and steal the meter fills. When you have a full meter guards will immediately suspect and attack you. When it’s empty most of the time you can walk right past without raising suspicion. This is combined with an action meter above the guards’ heads. As it fills with orange they become more curious as to what you’re up to, this will happen when you’re seen being socially unacceptable - like climbing rooftops; turning red indicates that they'll attack. When being pursued by the law Ezio can hide in safe zones, such as bails of hay, as long as he’s not seen entering them. Or he can try and blend in with the crowd. It’s a very realistic portrayal of stealth, as it goes beyond the traditional set-up of being hidden if you’re out of the enemy’s line of sight. Of course, you can always choose to stand your ground and fight when being chased. At first there’s normally only two guards, so if you’re fast enough Ezio can take them down before reinforcements arrive.
Assassin’s Creed 2 is set in 15th century Italy, and the cities look fantastic. The vibrant countrysides, the artistic flair and an array of tones immerse the player into the gaming world. Quite frankly the world is stunning - fitting considering the historical context behind the game’s setting. The voice acting is great, and really helps to absorb the player into the stunning cities of Florence and Venice. The environmental sound effects are also right on the money, as is the background music which is there when it needs to be.
The Final Verdict
Assassin’s Creed 2 is an improvement on its predecessor in almost every way. The story, which starts slow, becomes very engaging and evolves almost perfectly for a videogame. The action/adventure gameplay has the right mix of platforming elements, side quests, assassinations and general combat. Best of all, every one of these things can be done in numerous different ways, leaving the tactics down to the individual player. Assassin’s Creed 2 looks and sounds great, and really immerses the player into 15th century Italy. It’s a great step forward for the series, one of the more mature games out there that uses strong platforming elements, and leaves you wanting more at the end of each mission. This is how to create a sequel for a new IP.
Gamplay
9.0/10
Great adventure gameplay, and assassinations. The tactical variety is also fantastic and the story will leave you wanting more.
Graphics
9.2/10
Stunning world, full of detail and life.
Sound
9.0/10
Great voice-overs and sound effects.
Value
9.2/10
There’s easily 20+ hours of gameplay here, possibly a lot more if you get stuck into all of the side quests.
Overall
9.1/10