Unbridled One-Sidedness Personified

• 22Dec 09

  Jbul's Game Of The Year

  

  Every once in awhile a game comes along that's like a slap in the face. It catches you with your guard down. Perhaps you were expecting a good game, but the experience surprises you by lifting you up, and never letting go until the credits roll. One such experience is Assassin's Creed II.

  I was definitely expecting the game to be good. A Metacritic score of 91 with 70+ reviews usually means a game has some real redeeming qualities. But AC2 takes the redeeming elements of Assassin's Creed part 1 and instead of giving them to the player at certain fine points, it gives them from beginning to end, expanding upon gameplay ideas of the original, and replacing AC1's repetitive down-moments with unique, memorable experiences that exhilerate and involve the player from beginning to end.

  The gameplay is very similar to the original. The combat is improved with new moves, dozens of new weapons, and memorable and enjoyable ways to dispatch enemies. To be honest, killing people is alot easier in AC2. The weapons are more powerful, plentiful, and far more deadly. But this turns out to be a beneficial design decision, because for once you feel like a gifted killing machine, cutting a vengeful, meaningful path through anyone who is foolish enough to stand in your way. Gone are the long, sometimes dull swordfights of the original. In this game, it is much easier to step in between two enemies, legs together in a crucifix-pose and pierce their jugulars in grueseome fashion with your dual hidden-blades. The platforming is also improved. Not only does Ezio have all of Altair's skills, he is even more agile and gifted... and as the game progresses, you are given a steady diet of new abilities, some of which pertain to climbing and jumping. There is alot of exploring to be done, and rarely has discovery been so rewarding.

  It's hard to describe the visuals in Assassin's Creed II except to say they surpass the originals by a longshot, but also surpass almost any expectations, however high they may be, of a high-profile game in this era. The cities of Renassiance Italy are so lovingly and beautifully recreated I felt a sense of awe and granduer and was honestly overwhelmed when I first visited Venice (the game's largest and most beautiful city). I don't know if I've ever seen a game this beautiful. Many moments of Assassin's Creed II are filled with conversation. In this scenes, the in-game engine is used in a close up. The characters faces, although not perfect, all give a sense of authenticity to the era -- nobles with grungy teeth, old men with weary eyes. And since the game takes place over a decade, the main characters also age, changing facial hair and hairstyIe as time passes.

  But these cosmetic improvements pale in comparison to the heart of the game -- a heartfelt and intimately told tale of a young noble who's life is dictated by his family's past. You feel his pain and disillusionment as he goes from a carefree teenager on the streets of Florence, chasing girls and running from their fathers, to a haunted murderer chasing vengaence and answers always just slightly out of his grasp. The game lets you play the backstory, for the most part (it begins at Ezio's birth... literally), but also reminds you with a large back catalog of documents, letters, and glyphs for you to discover. Ezio has alot of personality, one of the more flushed out characters in recent gaming history. No more nonsensical blatherings like Altair in the original. As the game progresses, your character makes friends. One of which is the famous artist Lenoardo Di Vinci. This character essentially becomes your best friend, and you are with him through his triumphs, downfalls, and tragedies, as he is with you. The game creates a very convincing bond with most of the characters, and Ezio's interactions with his friends are warm, comfortable, and effortless -- with his enemies, cold and merciless.

  The game's soundtrack also deserves praise. Jesper Kyd once again takes the reigns as the composer, and I'll be damned if he isn't one of the most gifted VG musicians ever. Of course, this is no synthesized, feaux-orchestral nonsense. The music is hauntingly beautiful -- well composed, crafted, and very obviously performed by a real orchestra. It adds alot to the game. As does the voice acting. Much of the game is spoken in Italian and broken-english, so it's best to put on subtitles as not to miss a syllable. The game is well written and beautifully performed. Not one time will you ever take pause from poorly delivered dialogue. I can't think of a game this generation with a better voice acting cast.

  Assassin's Creed II is a superior piece of work, bordering on art. There are no lulls or dull points in the game. In fact, there are so many surprises and unexpected gameplay twists that I'd be a fool to ruin them here for you. The game's only real flaws are the stupid real-world storyline (just ditch the Animus.. please, and let us play as Assassins), and some minor bugs and occasional crashes. The game took me 28 hours to complete, and I still have much to do in the game -- difference between this and many others -- I will be doing them all.

  Update: Found my impressions of the original Assassin's Creed.

  • Posted Dec 22, 2009 4:43 pm PT
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• 5Dec 09

  Game Trapped

  Many of you know, I've recently began playing the fantastic Bioware RPG Dragon Age: Origins. It is a very good game, and it's taken even further steps than previous RPG's in creating a complex, flexible, and morally tumultuos world. For instance, right now, my character, who is on the surface a very heroic Elven Mage whom most view to be a very good, upstanding citizen, has saved hundreds of lives and is a pivotal role in fighting the evil forces who are invading the land. At the same time, he has a sick fascination with a forbidden magic, and has sacrificed part of his soul, and decieved most of his companions behind the scenes to learn these powerful, evil spells (blood magic). The game is hard to put down.

  But RPG's are also very plodding and slow paced. Even the best RPG's are this way to some extent and DA is no exception. It's almost pointless to pay a game like this for less than a few hours at a time. Andsometimes I feel the need to branch off and take a break from the game.

  Well, I did this recently, and went back to playing Modern Warfare 2. Then I realized... I have lost most of my edge and skill in the game in the last week or so I have been playing Dragon Age! Also, I would need to start playing MW2 for at least afew hours a day to get back to competeitive status in the game, having Prestiged and fighting against some really hardcore players. If I did this, I would lose track of the intricacies of the story in Dragon Age, making the game far less appealing, and it would take me hours to get back into the flow of the game. I am also dying to start Assassin's Creed II, which seems like it's going to suck me in and not let me go as well. God knows if I open that I can say goodbye to finishing Dragon Age anytime in the next year!

  Too many times to count, I've left a great game to play another, only to never finish either because I keep going back and forth. What's wrong with me? This may seem like a funny problem, but it's something that's bothered me for years, and probably the reason I haven't finished almost half the games in my collection.

  So I guess I will just have to stop complaining about get cracking on DA... although sometimes I feel like I'm forced to.

  • Posted Dec 5, 2009 1:57 pm PT
  • Category: Games
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• 30Nov 09

  Goodbye Social Life!

  It's that time of year again. The holiday rush of games is well underway, with the hypeathon that is MW2 here, possibly overshadowing other fantastic titles such as Ratchet And Clank Future and Dragon Age: Origins in the midst of the rush to get all the higher profile games that have advertising budgets 10x bigger than their competitors.

  Which brings me to an aforementioned title.

  

  I am terrible with RPG's. Not that I dislike them. I can count on one hand the number of RPG's that I have finished in the last 5 years. I enjoy them, it's just that I get distracted or boredbefore I finish.Mass Effect was an exception -- and thus one of my favorite titles of this generation. It was my first Bioware game, and I was fascinated by the branching dialogue trees and choices your character makes that affect the gameplay and story in signifigant ways. And it sucked me in like few games ever have. I finished it without glancing at another game. So I picked up Dragon Age, hoping once again Bioware would work it's magic.

  I'm really early in the game (8 hours) but I'm definitely surprised by how much I'm enjoying it. Everything that made Mass Effect so appealing to me is here, but on a much larger scale, complete with therich lore and backstorythat makes other Bioware epics so engrossing. Dragon Age has very interesting and believable characters. I cannot stress how important this is and how few games truly nail it. And kick*** voice acting? Dragonage has it in spades.PLEASE developers... take note here. This is how it's done. The story and writing are also very sharp, and it's obvious Bioware invested alot of time and care in creating this world with painstaking detail. There are also shocking twists and turns (I won't spoil it) that you don't expect from RPG's. Some real gritty, mature stuff that will leave you reeling.

  In short: IT ROCKS.

  I'm glad I found this game. I also PRESTIGED in MW2 and am slowly losing interest in the game at this point. Prestige is disappointing. I can't believe I spent 80+ hours on the multiplayer only to be a level 1 scrub with a pretty emblem. If someone understands why this is appealing, explain it to me. Please.

  I also picked up Assassin's Creed II but haven't opened it yet because Dragon Age has been so good. So I've got some good gaming times coming up, for sure.

  Anyway, good to hear from you crazy *******'s and be back into some good games.

  • Posted Nov 30, 2009 7:06 pm PT
  • Category: Science
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