Assassins Creed II
Overview
Assassins Creed II follows the life of a young Italian romantic named Ezio Auditore Da Firenze, who witnesses most of his family get hanged right in front of him, and as a result, goes on a quest for revenge against those who betrayed his family, and in the process, he uncovers a conspiracy that has been brewing for centuries, and he learns about the war between two ancient orders: the Templars and the Assassins, and he learns of the Assassin ways and as a result, and becomes one of the greatest Assassisn the order had ever known.
Information
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Engine: Anvil, Havok
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
Release Dates: November 17, 2009 (PS3, X360) - March 4, 2011 (Microsoft
Windows) - October 21, 2010 (Mac OS X)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Open-world, Stealth
Mode: Single Player
REVIEW
The story takes place from 1476 to 1499. It follows Ezio Auditore, a young Italian romantic who is the son of Giovanni Auditore, a political power in the city of Florence, Italy. When Ezios Father and brothers are executed publicly by hanging, Ezio goes on a quest for revenge on the death of his family. And in the process, he uncovers a conspiracy that has been hidden for centuries.
The story is quite interesting, and keeps you hooked on it until it's stunning and mind blowing conclusion.
There is a group of characters that always contribute to the story significantly.
And what about Desmond? You know, the guy that was being held against his will by the Mega-company called
Abstergo Industries? Well, he was rescued by an under-cover assassin named Lucy Stillman, and she takes him to an Assassin hideout where Desmond meets the other 2 members of the team: the know-it-all named Shaun Hastings, and Animus 2.0 supervisor named Rebecca Crane.
The story mode is very long, at around 20 hours. But with all the side quests and distractions, it will probably land at around 30 hours.
There are only two things keeping this game from getting a perfect 10, and one of those things is the Graphics. During gameplay, the graphics are great, but during cutscenes, it suffers from: Undetailed textures, mediocre mouth movement, and Minor framerate issues (On extreme occasion), even glitches such as dead bodies flying into the air, or a civilian randomly spawning out of nowhere.
New in AC2, is an economy system, where you get money by either stealing it, or earning it by completing missions. There are several shops you can spend this money at, like Blacksmiths, who will sell you new weapons, Tailors, where you can change the color of your assassin robes, Doctors, who will sell you medicine and poison, and Art merchants, who will sell you treasure maps and paintings.
The weapons you have are: Sword, dagger/knife, hidden blade, poison, hidden pistol, and throwing knives. All of these are earned through story progression, but different TYPES of swords, daggers/knives can be purchased from blacksmiths, as well as pistol ammunition and throwing knives.
The combat system has stayed mostly the same. Counter-kills are still the main combat move, and offensive movements have been made weaker. This is the second thing that keeps this game from getting a 10: How offensive movements in combat are weak to almost non-affective, so you have to sit and wait for the enemy to attack, and it slows down combat.
There are several cities in Assassins Creed 2, and you must progress through the story to unlock new cities. The cities are: Florence (Available from start of the game), Monterigioni, San Ginimiano, Forli, and Venice.
The side missions in AC2 have a lot of variety. They are: Race challenges, Courier Assignments, Beat-up event, Assassination Contracts, and probably the most unique of them all are the Assassin Tombs.
Assassin Tombs each vary in appearance and setting. In them, you must go through a series of obstacles, and/or puzzles. And some tomb challenges require you to chase after an enemy guard who will alert the others of your presence. Once you complete these obstacles, you will have access to the Assassin Tomb itself. Inside, you will aquire an Assassin Disk. Once you have all six Disks, you will aquire the armor of the Legendary Altair, a very grand prize.
The Verdict
Assassins Creed 2 is a HUGE improvement over the original game, and is a huge step forward for the series. Here is my final decision:
The Good:
- Amazing Story
- Cities are unique and varied
- Plenty of characters
- Fun Gameplay
- Stunning Ending
The Bad:
- Occasional Glitches
- Undetailed Textures
- Combat can be slow
All around, Assassins Creed 2 is a textbook example of a great sequel, that improves on the original in almost every aspect. If you were a fan of the original, you need to play this game.
Score: 9/10
