Assassin's Creed II Reviews

The first Assassin's Creed game was a very good game. This game fixed what few flaws existed in the first game, which makes this an absolutely GREAT game. I was very surprised and happy with how Ezio grows and changes as a character. He goes from a cocky, arrogant Italian noble to a confident determined Assassin swept up in a huge conspiracy and world-controlling plot that plays with historical events and figures.

Justice has been done to this new entry in the Assassin's Creed franchise. Just about all of the previous complaints have been rectified and the storyline (for all you conspiracy theory buffs) goes even deeper into the rabbit hole than imagined.

You play as Ezio, a stereotypical Casanova Italian pimp who's (mini spoiler ahead) father later is revealed to be an assassin taking down members of the corrupt government within Italy. The powers that be eventually capture and sentence Ezio's father (and his sons) with treason (along with a madrid of other crimes against government) and the sentence is...death. But wait one must remain to extract revenge...that's right, Ezio remains. The conspirators of the crime typically dismiss him as not being a major concern, but it isn't somebody gets shanked "OZ" style until they get the damn message.

After all of the chaos, Ezio is taken underneath his Uncle Mario's (yeah, his name is Mario. And yes he even shouts "It'sa me Mario!" when he is first introduced! Clearly an omage to our gaming forefather and not meant to sound...stereotypical...surely) Assassin's Creed II storyline unfolds like something out of a Dan Brown novel. It is highly entertaining and you cannot stab enough people to get to the next chapter of this 30 hour plus storyline.

Many gamers (such as myself) complained about the monotonous gameplay that plagued the first installment, but my fellow gamers rejoice, none of that here dammit! Just some of the many activities that your friendly neighborhood Assassin must do include:
Beat Up Missions (which usually in involves pulverizing cheating spouses. 1500 Cheaters style.)
Racing (next to impossible for me to win many of these. Possibly I just am horrible at it.)
Assassination Contracts (self explanatory and my favorite side activity to do. Bonus points should be added because these also tie into the central storyline.)
Currier (deliver letter(s) from point A to B (sometimes C) in the allocated time. Passed a few of these, but later missions maybe a pain in the ass because there ALWAYS are citizens in the fuckin' way!)
Collect Codex Pages (these pages play a somewhat integral role in the game. So here I will not spoil here. But trust me they are worth collecting.)
The Truth (left behind by another user called Subject Sixteen, these encrypted files have taken up embarrassingly much of my time solving these mind games. At times although I feel like I should be some type of history art buff to solve some of these. Remember what I said about the rabbit hole getter deeper...)

In conclusion, purchase ,Assassin's Creed II especially if you enjoyed the first one. I promise you that all of the repetition has been cleaned up. The game manages to stay fresh even after thirty hours plus of gaming. And I know that I may have used word "stereotypical" plenty, but Assassin's Creed II doesn't live up to my musings. I have embellished it very plentiful.

But if you really must know, yes there are still fuckin' bails of hay available to evade pursuers.

I am a big devotee of the Assassin's Creed Series and love all of the games.
But I still consider the second game to be the masterpiece. Let me make clear why that is- by comparing them to the pre- and sequel.

Assassin's Creed has always been a game with its strongest points being the indescribably marvelous atmosphere.
The first game began to tell the thrilling story of Desmond Miles and his ability to synchronize with his Assassin ancestors.
Getting around in Israel in 1191 AD as Altaïr has been a beautiful experience and to keep it real all the historical aspects were correctly included.
The gameplay was also a lot of fun but still were there small setbacks that became more and more frustrating.



That's what AC2 managed to greatly improve. As Desmond's story continues and one also starts to take part in the epic story of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, the diversity of the game is on a whole new level.
The controls and abilities are now more than adequate and let you master situations with regard to one's own doings.
The game provides the features of an open world game and let's the player explore the world to his heart's content. It also tries to offer a lot of varying missions with the utmost effort.
Nonetheless special missions are way too scarce and short, as also in the sequel.
You are accompanying Ezio throughout a vast Italy which is realistically designed and especially cities like Venice and Florence are met so well that you sometimes just play for the purpose of enjoying the scenery.
That brings me to the important point of looks.

AC1 didn't look bad at all, but Assassin's Creed 2 of course looked way better.
When comparing AC2 and AC Brotherhood I'm conflicted a bit.
Brotherhood's setting of Rome looks so gorgeous that it even surpasses the other cities of Italy but in return I think some of the characters looked more authentic in the second part. And that's not because they were younger.
So Brotherhood probably beats AC2 in the aspects of graphics since that's what a sequel is supposed to do, but still I find them more convincing in 2.



To attain the wanted ambiance there's needed more than just good graphics though.
Firstly it's about well-created personalities. That applies for all three games which all have their own unique characters that also evolve the more time passes.
Still did I empathise the most with the people in Assassin's Creed 2. Their stories had so many twists and turns, passion for detail and actions so very understandable. It can be seen that Ubisoft really spent a lot of work on this.
While AC1 still has too little focus on the characters, in Brotherhood the whole story is rushed too much. Which makes AC2 the most complete one.

Secondly no mood in a video game can be created without music.
Also something that Jesper Kyd has greatly succeeded with in every part.
Of course they are all different so that they match perfectly to their environment.
And yet, the Soundtrack belonging to AC2 has impressed me the most because it is so recognizable, perfectly adjusted to the setting and never getting old.
A lot of themes were even used in AC: Brotherhood again.



So the reasons why I consider Assassin's Creed 2 the best out of the series are that it is able to completely captivate me and not tiring me even after finishing it over 3 times.
Ingenious setting, characters, music and story line let one experience it almost like film (if one cherishes such things in games).
It's got an inspiring influence on me and is one of my absolute favourites.

In my eyes it's a indispensable experience.
(I do not recommend it to people who hated/disliked the first game or are totally not into 3rd person/open-world/stealth though)

Assassin's Creed 2 has been a blast. It has far surpassed it's predecessor. It's maintained the best parts of the first Assassin's Creed - such as the simplicity of the controls, stunning graphics, authentic look for historical places and time frame, free roaming, an intriguing storyline - while adding a great deal more of variety. The best parts of which were the added weapons (especially the new double hidden blade) which added more variety to fighting, the florin system which added more challenge/goals and gave an even more authentic and in depth feel to the overall game, as well as more choice in side missions, which broke up the overall monotony of repetition. In addition All in all, an awesome game!