Review: Assassin’s Creed II – back with a new bag of tricks?
Assassin’s Creed is back in the highly anticipated sequel putting you in control of Desmond Miles once again. The sequel brings back the historical authenticity and immersion that was seen in the first game. However, without the fresh hook or twist from the first game, will Assassin’s Creed II manage to one up its predecessor?
Story
In Assassin’s Creed II, you take control of Desmond Miles once again continuing from exactly where you left off from the first Assassin’s Creed game. For those who may not have played the first game, the sequel does provide a short video recap of everything that has happened up to that point.
The sequel continues the main overarching story of the fight between the modern day Templars and Assassins with Desmond in the middle. As in the first game, the sequel will take you into the historical virtual world via the Animus. However, this time you take the role of your ancestor Ezio in Italy during the 15th century Renaissance period.
The story within the Animus has the hooks to draw you in and makes sure that you forget about the outside modern day world quickly. Ezio initially suffers a significant tragedy that forces him into hiding, where he quickly learns the ways of being an Assassin. The story picks up from here to unfold a sinister conspiracy that impacts Ezio greatly.
Ubisoft Montreal definitely has done a great job with the story in Assassin’s Creed II. One of the biggest criticisms given for the first game was the lack of depth in the story. In the first game, one big mission was dolled out to you with a somewhat lackluster delivery mechanism causing many gamers to feel that they were just repeating the same quest without much motivation. This has clearly been remedied in the sequel. As Ezio you will have strong convictions to continue in driving the story to completion not only for revenge but also for redemption.
Controls
One of the biggest hooks from the first game was the unique parkour platforming element. The first game showcased the platforming mechanics and it looks like the developers took the time in Assassin’s Creed II to refine the controls. The automated actions seamlessly blend in with the manual climbing, providing a more natural looking movement when scaling buildings.
However, at times it still feels like the climbing mechanism could still use a bit of tweaking in the reaction time. Niggling issues such as a slight delay in getting that speed boost when climbing can break the platforming flow at times. Also, the fact that it is still difficult to platform sideways in order to grab onto a ledge on the same wall can be annoying as well. However, these are just minor issues when looking at the grand scheme of things.
There are other games out there with platforming in an open world setting, but none of them are as detailed as seen in Assassin’s Creed II. The fact that you can climb practically everything within the open world sandbox speaks volumes about the amount of time the developers spent on refining the environments within the game.
The battle system remains largely the same with impressive counter-kills. A great tutorial within the game really shows off how much the battle system has been enhanced for Assassin’s Creed II.
Design/Visuals
The visuals in Assassin’s Creed II remain fairly similar from the previous game. The game also has some of the same issues seen in the first game as well. Lack of detail to the characters when viewing close up and shadows popping in within the game still persist. Its difficult to fault Ubisoft Montreal for these issues as it can be extremely difficult to refine close up details when dealing with a massive open world game.
Assassin’s Creed II manages to one up its predecessor by scale and design complexity. The game now features more elements that help break up the monotony of going from assassination to assassination. The missions are more expansive, reminiscent of Grand Theft Auto, where multiple objectives must be achieved in order to accomplish the quest. Some of the missions will require a mix of sneaking, stalking, capturing and killing. Ezio also has to micromanage his villa by fixing up businesses and upgrading them as well. This in turn generates more traffic to the town earning you revenue from the tax.
The villa in-game economy system is interesting, but it can also take the fun out treasure hunting. Gathering money can be a difficult task, but once you obtain the villa it will generate more income than you know what to do with it. This takes the fun out of treasure hunting completely as it renders them pointless. A more balanced approach where the villa didn’t generate as much money autonomously could have certainly helped.
With weapons upgrades, tons of puzzles, and secret catacombs to explore, the amount of time spent in the game can easily rack up.
Wrap-up
Assassin’s Creed II is a truly unique experience from its historically accurate architectures to the authentic voice acting by the cast. There is no other experience like this out there currently. Assassin’s Creed II does an excellent job of making you feel like you are immersed within the Renaissance time period. Also, the fact that there is a main overarching story that spans several games doesn’t hurt in making you want more in order to see what happens next. Assassin’s Creed II is a original idea that mixes history and sci-fi perfectly. I would highly recommend all gamers to give this must buy title a try.
Score
4.5/5
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52 Responses to “Review: Assassin’s Creed II – back with a new bag of tricks?”
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December 23rd, 2009
Well i completed it (100%), its amazing.. Much better than the first one..
December 23rd, 2009
The first one was a great game, although a tad repetitive. I can’t wait to get my hands on AC2, although it may be awhile.
Can you actually swim this time? I know it’s a small thing but it was actually one of the things I found most stupid about AC1. If you fell in the water it was instant death. Kinda detracted from the experience a little bit.
“What? I am an uber assasin but I can’t swim? I can fall from heights higher than 150 feet into a small pile of hay and survive. I can scale just about any building… but I can’t even get my toes wet? WTF!?”
December 23rd, 2009
The first one was very repetitive. The assassins guild made you jump through all sorts of mundane tasks before they let you have any fun.
AC2 flows more like GTA now. The missions are parts of the story. The side missions are even a lot better now.
And YES you can swim. It makes a getaway in Venice a breeze.
December 23rd, 2009
btw Resonance of Fate is up on the Japanese PSN store. Downloading now…
December 23rd, 2009
the game or the demo?
December 23rd, 2009
I’m glad to hear that you can swim now, considering Venice is full of water. Not being able to swim in AC1 was an epic fail and it have been worse in 2
December 23rd, 2009
Boxing day Deals in Canada.
Best Buy:
Xbox 360 Elite $239.99 with 2 games Lego Batman, Pure
PS3 160GB $299.99 3 games Unchartered, LBP, R&C
Wii $179.99
Future Shop:
Xbox 360 Pro $179.99
Xbox 360 Eliote $249.99 2 games Lego Batman, Pure
PS3 160GB $299.99 3 games Killzone, Infamous, Unchartered
Nintendo DSI $149.99
Wii $199.99
Walmart:
PS3 120GB $299.99 2 Games Batman, Infamous
Xbox 360 Elite $249.99 2 games Lego Batman, Pure
PSP $149 with Family Guy Bundle
Nintendo DS Lite $109
December 23rd, 2009
All games seem to be under $40 with many going $20 or cheaper at all stores.
December 23rd, 2009
A part of me is thinking about getting the DSI or the PSP
December 23rd, 2009
Good deals. Very reminiscent of the Black Friday Deals here in the states.
December 23rd, 2009
yeah my missus is gettin me the psp GO for christmas, cant wait! are u stil thinkin bout a ps3 CAD?
December 23rd, 2009
Roca,
The demo. Actually I never got a chance to download it and I’m leaving for the holidays. I’ll check it out later when I have a chance.
December 23rd, 2009
@Liquid
did you add me on the PSN?
@BJ
where are you going?
@CAD
there will be another version of the DSi, personally I prefer the DS lite as you can get GBA games for it. the GBA library is waay better then the DS one.
Nintendo now is also making DSi games that won’t work on the DS lite. how stupid is that!
…….now, since your a digital guy I think the PSP will be your best option. you can download movies and PSN games, you can also get access to the Digital Comic store where you can get Digital Comic book (some of them are free right now). and also you can download the bests games from the PS1 library
December 23rd, 2009
“Nintendo now is also making DSi games that won’t work on the DS lite. how stupid is that!”
About as stupid as making a PSP that won’t work with the PSP games you already own.
CAD, my advice would be to get the PSP 2000 over the 3000 if you can, the display quality being the main reason… this link has some pretty good pics of the differences: http://www.gamingbits.com/content/view/4785
UNLESS you want to utilize the mic (I never have found a need for it in game as I only play single player games on mine).
With the 2000/3000 you can just get a 16GB memory stick and still be able to play UMD’s, which you can get for fairly cheap used.
DS lite vs Dsi… well, the processor is twice as fast but I hear they only are just now starting to release games that utilize it. I’d still go with the DS lite.
I definitely like my PSP more than my DS… PSOne Classics being the main reason, followed by Final Fantasy Tactics, Crisis Core, Jeanne D’ Arc, God of War Chains of Olympus, etc. As roca pointed out earlier though, you can’t play the top PSN exclusives on PSP, unless you happen to have a PS3 and the game itself happens to be remote play enabled. Digital Comics is nice as well, and it makes a great PMP too.
December 23rd, 2009
@CAD: Woah! A Xbox 360 Pro at $179.99!? Pretty neat deals there.
Both handhelds have their pros and cons.
I could have convinced my girlfriend to get a DSi some time ago but we don´t early adopt. Also, I personally prefer DSLite because of the GBA slot too.
PSP is fun too. However I would just go for the 2000 or 3000 and avoid the Go. The Go is all about digital, but the former two have that AND physical media.
Do you have friends with any of the 2 handhelds? That can help you to decide because of game sharing.
About the topic: I´m not very attracted to this series, however I have been reading very good things about this sequel lately.
December 23rd, 2009
for the price of a PSP Go you might as well add $50 more and get a PS3. I dont mind that it is a digital-only PSP but that damn thing cost way too much!
December 23rd, 2009
Guys I think I’m even more confused after reading all the opinions.
Carl B
Is the picture quality between the PSP 2000 vs 3000 because the wide coulur space setting was on. Someone said if you set it back to normal you can get the same visual as the 2000. It was because of the new firmware update.
December 23rd, 2009
So I find this a bit crazy. There are games being made on both Nintendo and Sony’s portables that don’t support all the handhelds. That makes the decision harder.
December 23rd, 2009
well the PSP-3000 can play all PSP games, including UMD, downloable, PSN games, PS1 games and Minis.
The PSP Go cannot play UMD but it can do everything else.
the DS Lite can play DS games and GBA games but not DSi games
the DSi can play DS games and DSi games but not GBA
December 23rd, 2009
*head explodes*
December 23rd, 2009
lol @ Phranc
dont act like you didnt know about all this
December 23rd, 2009
DSi=Fail
December 23rd, 2009
I guess my problem is that I just don’t know the games for Nintendo beyond Mario but I’m more familiar with PSP. I think the 3000 is the best choice. UMD isn’t going anywhere right? So I guess this is the best option plus in my opinion the games should be better for the PSP.
December 23rd, 2009
“Guys I think I’m even more confused after reading all the opinions.”
Whoops! perhaps it was too much info in a nutshell. =0
December 23rd, 2009
Does the PSP have Internet?
December 23rd, 2009
yes**
** as long as you have wifi access
December 23rd, 2009
also did you know that in the uk the royal navy are using psp’s to teach weapons engineers. theres an intersting fact.
December 23rd, 2009
the Air Force is using PS3s for super calculations and whatnot
December 23rd, 2009
Assassin’s Creed 2 has been recommended to me by a heap of people. If only I had the money/time to actually get it.
December 23rd, 2009
hahaha mike delted me_’s comment lol
December 23rd, 2009
holy crap, he did too! well that kinda sums up this website.
December 23rd, 2009
me_ does have a point though. Taking a game like inFamous for example, it rated 85 on metacritic but was given 5/5 here, and Assassin’s Creed 2 was rated 92 on metacritic, but was given 4.5/5 here.
I know the reviews here are just the opinion of one person, but still, interesting nonetheless.
December 24th, 2009
Most Sony exclusives are anyway given 5 here, so nothing new here
December 24th, 2009
Yeah but the fact that me_’s post was deleted because he mentioned this is a little lame.
December 24th, 2009
what did me_ said? I didnt see any post from him?
December 24th, 2009
God forbid a reviewer have an opinion that doesn’t match the norm!
December 24th, 2009
@ roca,
He just said that if it was a PS3 exclusive it would have been given 5/5.
December 24th, 2009
@SW,
I don’t have an issue with that at all, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I just find it amusing how me_’s comment was deleted for mentioning this.
December 24th, 2009
Well that’s because most ps3 exclusives are worth the 5/5 rating..They are just more superior all around.
December 24th, 2009
Never saw the comment from me_
Always hate it when that happens, feel so left out
December 24th, 2009
“if it was a PS3 exclusive it would have been given a 5/5″
Blorge has been accused of being every sort of console fanboys. Back in 2007 or so, I’m sure that they were accused of being 360 fanboys. There’s a reason why they lean towards the PS3 ATM. Like Ghost said, most of those games were deserving of a 5/5. I’m sure that this is a better game than inFAMOUS, but remember that it was released earlier in the year. Now with Uncharted 2 and MW2 out, Mike’s opinion of 5/5 probably changed and/or he found enough flaws to only make it worthy of “more than good” rather than “Excellent”. Or he’s an undercover Sony employee who’s main goal is to reak havoc over the internet like all other Sony employee Nazi’s (I’m sure that some people would believe that one).
December 25th, 2009
“Blorge has been accused of being every sort of console fanboys.”
The accs here aren’t so much about blorge as the author. Yes, it’s well known Mike likes his PS3 more and writes much more pro PS3 articles here, whereas Dave in general seems to be a bit more objective overall in his articles. Back in 2007 it was a different crew of authors.
December 25th, 2009
“Yes, it’s well known Mike likes his PS3 more and writes much more pro PS3 articles here, whereas Dave in general seems to be a bit more objective overall in his articles.”
That’s funny coming from you of all people.. I’ve seen Mike praise the 360 and alot of there games. It’s well known lmao..only a x-bot would think that way.
December 25th, 2009
“Or he’s an undercover Sony employee who’s main goal is to reak havoc over the internet like all other Sony employee Nazi’s (I’m sure that some people would believe that one).”
@Saber
Yeah, i wud go with this one, atleast it seems believable
December 25th, 2009
“Blorge has been accused of being every sort of console fanboys. Back in 2007 or so, I’m sure that they were accused of being 360 fanboys.”
I thot u were a new guy over here at blorge
December 25th, 2009
“I’ve seen Mike praise the 360 and alot of there games.”
I didn’t say to absolute exclusion of anything in support of 360, just that he has many more positive PS3 pieces and negative 360 pieces in his portfolio when compared to negative PS3 and positive 360 pieces. Is this really a surprise to you? Looking at this month’s articles alone (the past year doesn’t greatly differ) one can see it is about a 6:1 ratio in favor of positive PS3 coverage.
Still, he has improved over the last 2 or 3 years, I must admit. Besides, it makes for interesting reading and discussion, he has stated before that his opinion is he prefers PS3, and Dave provides a nice balance.
December 26th, 2009
“I didn’t say to absolute exclusion of anything in support of 360, just that he has many more positive PS3 pieces and negative 360 pieces in his portfolio when compared to negative PS3 and positive 360 pieces. Is this really a surprise to you? Looking at this month’s articles alone (the past year doesn’t greatly differ) one can see it is about a 6:1 ratio in favor of positive PS3 coverage.”
So maybe he says more positive things about the ps3 because there is more good things to say about it? I mean your not going to write something bad just for the hell of it would you? The news that’s been coming out about the the ps3 this past year has been mostly good stuff putting the ps3 in a good light. There hasn’t been any real bad things to say about it. Unless your a closet/fan-boy just looking for something to nick-pick about. (Like for example saying something like this “Yes, it’s well known Mike likes his PS3 more and writes much more pro PS3 articles here”). Sorry but I don’t by that, he might very well like his ps3 console more but I don’t see him bashing the X-box or writing anti-360 articles. Just because his portfolio may have more ps3 favorable content does not automatically make him biased or un-fair. To say or to assume that is just a folly way of thinking. Sony has has a bigger year than M$ this year…meaning more things to talk about.
December 26th, 2009
It was last year as well Ghost… don’t remember you back then, so no problem.
What’s wrong with saying, “Yes, it’s well known Mike likes his PS3 more and writes much more pro PS3 articles here” when it’s the truth? Dave doesn’t do this so much, especially not in a 6:1 ratio. I never said he was “bashing the X-box or writing anti-360 articles”, “biased”, or “unfair”, just that he has exponentially more positive things to say about PS3 when compared to Dave.
“Sony has has a bigger year than M$ this year…meaning more things to talk about.”
I can see why your shackles are up
December 26th, 2009
[Mike and Dave] they both seems pretty balance to me
you guys just get mad because lately there has been more PS3 news than anything else (price drop, slimmer consoles, worldwide sales were up, best lineup in 2009, GOTY, Subscriptions services, best looking game, highest review game this year, etc)
aside from the BBC thing there hasnt been any bad thing to say for the PS3 this year, but IM sure I have seen him bash on GT5, Home, low sales on PS3 softwares, premium themes, updates, etc.
December 27th, 2009
Who’s “mad”? LOL.
December 28th, 2009
good question CarlB
December 28th, 2009
“you guys”