A robust, incredible sequel that seamlessly blend atmosphere, story and great gameplay. An essential purchase.
Pros:
+One of the most impressive, engrossing environments in recent years
+The gameplay mechanics work wonders, being thrilling and refreshing
+A story that is, without a doubt, a masterpiece of storytelling
+Great voice acting and general sound
+Environments are detailed and beautiful
+A large amount of extra missions and collectibles
Cons:
-Combat almost never presents a challenge
-Platforming aspects can feel stiff and hard to control
-Some texture pop-up in large areas
-Not much variation in gameplay when you venture further into the game
-Combat is, most of the time, simply an easier option than stealth
Review:
Assassin's Creed is a series that took many by surprise. Its weird blend of modern and past concepts attracted much attention, and naturally, opinions were split. Assassin's Creed II came forth two years later, and it's impossible to say that it's anything else but a triumphant success. Telling a magnificent tale of betrayal and honor, along with boasting an amazing atmosphere and exciting gameplay, ACII is a polished, brilliant masterpiece that leaves you more than satisfied when the credits roll.
To avoid major spoilers, important terms from Assassin's Creed will be mentioned here in ways only those that have played the first game can understand. The game starts where the last game ended. Desmond, the main protagonist, is bewildered by the enigmatic markings left by Subject 16, a deceased test subject Abstergo used in their experiments. Abstergo is an organization run by the infamous Templars, and they were the ones that kidnapped Desmond in the beginning of the first game. Emily, Desmond's long-time acquaintance in Abstergo, arrives suddenly to help him escape the corporation's headquarters, which they succeed in doing after some small scuffles. After having reached a safe house, Desmond is tasked with entering the Animus 2.0 (an upgrade of the memory-exploring, ancestor-finding Animus in the first game) to continue scouring his latent ancestral memories to find what the templars were trying to find by experimenting on them. He finds himself in Renaissance Italy as the wealthy philanderer Ezio Auditore da Firenze. However, as certain events transpire, Ezio's life is changed forever. No longer can he be a flirtatious, charming gentleman of Florence. To achieve his goals, he has to transform into a merciless, silent assassin. All his actions are controlled by Desmond, but to the best of Ezio's knowledge, this is his own personal quest, to seek revenge for the tragedies he has had to endure.
Both Desmond's and Ezio's stories are merged with incredible care, and are both absolutely amazing in how they are told and presented. The Renaissance Italy that is created is simply incredible. The breathtaking scenery, gorgeous buildings, realistic presentation of city life and hint of realism makes Assassin's Creed 2's atmosphere one of the best out there. The inclusion of the Templars in the formula, and religious conspiracies that would make Dan Brown drool, makes the story even more intriguing for the thinking mind. The characters are equally intriguing, with Ezio being the standout. His development as a character is a joy to witness, and it makes you identify with him instead of just seeing him as another bland protagonist. You grow to understand his habits, his passions and interests, without so much as a feeling of it being too formulaic, which ultimately makes the story so unforgettable. Desmond also makes an appearance in some sequences, where the contrasts between past and present are brilliantly accentuated, but he takes a back seat to his Italian ancestor.
However, the most important thing to realize is that Desmond is the actual puppeteer of Ezio's life, in regards to the fact that Desmond is reliving his ancestor's life. It is a game of sorts, and the controls relate to that. Each face button corresponds to a certain body part, and combining various button sequences lead to Ezio performing a number of impressive moves. As has already been said, you play as an assassin, and Ezio is relatively new to the trade. You don't start off with that many options, but as the game progresses, you learn a number of nifty and useful techniques to make you all the more lethal. You can equip a number of weapons, including hidden blades, swords, maces and knives. How you use them is your choice. Both stealth and combat are viable options, so you can choose the method you feel is best in every scenario. However, that is not to say both are equal in efficiency.
Like with general techniques, you have much freedom in how you fight. You can guard, attack and counter, and later on, you'll be able to dodge, counter-kill and disarm, to name a few. Unfortunately, most battles can be won by simply attacking like crazy and never relenting. Of course, if you aim for more styIish maneuvers, you have the freedom to do so. Still, it would've been much better to balance the combat so not all battles could be resolved with relative ease. In the same way, there is almost no need to use stealth when you simply have to rid an area of enemies, other than the fact that killing in plain sight will raise your notoriety level. The more notorious you are, the more prominent you become in the eyes of the guards. It can be lowered by removing posters, bribing heralds and killing withesses, all relatively simple tasks. This makes notoriety not a difficult thing to handle, so if stealth and combat are both available options, combat will almost always be the better choice.
Luckily, the assassination aspect of the gameplay is far more appealing. You can assassinate in a large variety of ways, from a ledge, from the air, with throwing knives and with subtle stabs in the back. It's disturbingly satisfying to stab two guards swiftly in the neck without raising a single suspecting eye, and the game feeds on that satisfaction. You are given many chances to show your skills, and those moments are the high points of the experience. From time to time, you are assigned special targets which you have to "take care of." These are exciting missions which try more on your different abilities than in the rest of the game, and are therefore welcome changes of pace. You will, of course, need incredible acrobatic skills to succeed in these tasks, and you are more than capable of such amazing feats.
Ezio is a fantastic athlete, with superior strength, speed and vitality. Climbing large, Florentine houses, great Byzantine churches and large palaces is simple, for both Ezio and the player. If compared to games like Uncharted 2, the controls simply aren't as smooth or easy to use, but the game does a good job at keeping it accessible and fun to play. You are given incredible, yet slightly limited, freedom to explore the enchanting locales. Since you are reliving Ezio's life, you can't go too far from where he roamed so many years ago. If you go past a certain point (obviously marked by a large, white barrier), you will get a warning in-game about imminent "desynchronization." In fact, if you do anything Ezio didn't do when alive (die, kill innocent people or fail a mission), you will be desynchronized and start at a checkpoint. This is a smart way to both keep you from deviating too much from the main story line and offer an actual logical reason for restarting missions. Don't go thinking that the story is the only thing in the game, however. It's quite the opposite. There is an abundance of side-missions and collectibles that offer different types of missions, and will help keep the experience fresh. On top of that, there is a special side-quest regarding your Monteriggioni-based villa. It acts as an economic hub, where you can upgrade certain shops and institutions in Monteriggioni to make it more prosperous. You can also decorate your villa with paintings, weapons and armour you've bought from merchants. These add to the value of the villa, and the value of Monteriggioni as well. Part of Monteriggioni's profits is yours to keep, and this adds to the money you need to upgrade equipment, buy medicine and many other condiments. Controlling your villa's value is far more fun than it sounds, and is a pleasantly surprising addition to the AC formula. So no matter what you do, there is always something to do outside of the story.
Even the side-missions, however, can start to feel monotonous after a while. There is little in terms of novelty in the side-missions and it's mostly the same thing over and over again. It isn't exactly a gaping flaw that optional missions are so alike in structure, but some variety would have been optimal. Still, the story is enchanting enough that it will only be an afterthought.
The story's effectiveness would have been diminished if it weren't for the remarkable visual presentation. Italy's natural beauty is only amplified by how accurate the developers made the cities at the time of the Renaissance. Jumping over tiled roofs in Florence, riding horseback in the Tuscan countryside, riding a gondola over the calm waters of Venice, all are experiences that are unforgettable and incredible on every level. Add to the fact that many of the buildings you'll see are real and stand today, and it becomes easy to see the amount of effort put into the game. Aesthetically, ACII is in a category of its own, and is truly one of the most beautiful games you will ever get to lay your eyes on.
On the sheer technical side, ACII is no slouch. Smooth textures and frame rate are present, and the character design is detailed and varied. There is frequent texture pop-up when in vast areas, and a few characters (mostly soldiers you meet on the streets) seem quite bland in appearance and animation, but overall, Assassin's Creed II is a visual feast from both a technical and artistic perspective.
Sound is also something ACII succeeds in, though not as much as the graphics. The voice acting is superb, blending pure Italian with Italian-accented English. It isn't particularly realistic, but it's the closest the developers could get to authentic without having the whole game in Italian. Sound design is also great, the clinking of swords sounds real and the bustling sounds of city life add to the sense that you are actually in Renaissance Italy, not just a program found in a video game. The game's music is fantastic and fits the mood of every situation you find yourself in. It may not linger long in the mind, but it works while playing, and that's what matters.
Assassin's Creed II is not a short game, taking about 25-30 hours for the normal gamer, though finishing all missions and getting all the collectibles can take quite some time. Thanks to the game's charming and original gameplay, it's not so unlikely that you'll take it upon yourself to do everything available in the game.
Bottom line, Assassin's Creed II is a stellar game, that appeals both to those that value a great story and great gameplay. There is really nothing left to say. ACII is a prime example of a how a sequel should be: keeping the basic structure and feel, while improving on every aspect that was in need of fixing in the first game. The game's ability to keep you spellbound in the stunning environments and sublime story is almost second to none, and is a real testament to how far games have gon in the last few years. Exciting, mysterious and beautiful, ACII is a triumph.
Story: 9.7/10
Graphics: 9.5/10
Sound: 9.3/10
Gameplay: 9.5/10
Replayability: 9.3/10
Final score: 9.5/10
-Calvinsora