I have been playing Assassin’s Creed II for the most part of the last week – having received it for Christmas alongside my copy of Dragonball: Raging Blast. Although I haven’t yet finished the game, I feel it’s time I wrote down my thoughts of the second installment regarding the story of the battle of Assassin’s and Templars.
The original title was a bit of a mixed bag, with a general feeling of uncertainty around a lot of gamers. On one hand, the concept of the game was cool, with a strong lead character, the amazing scenery, the incredibly adaptive animations with free-running and climbing, and the guilty pleasures of performing the silent kill. However, the game was largely flawed with a sense of too much repetition, the simple “side mission-assassination-side mission” formula becoming quite tedious at times, and it all felt a bit like an excellent engine that lacked interesting gameplay. So it’s not surprising that I took up the sequel with a little bit of unease, the Eurogamer demo not doing much to whet my appetite with what I now feel was a rather poor showcasing of the title.
AC2 takes place directly after the end point of the first, taking the role of Desmond Miles once again as he leaves his matrix-like “Animus” chair to make his way on a sudden escape. Unlike the original, Mr Miles has a little more to him than simply providing a bit of dialogue and walking around a couple of rooms, this time taking up a bit of sneaking and bare fist fighting before being stuck on a different Animus, his mind being sent back into the body of another of his ancestors, beginning the story of the game’s real major protagonist, the Italian assassin – Ezio Auditore.
Whereas Assassin’s Creed had you taking the reins of Master-Assassin Altair, AC2’s control covers some of Ezio’s earlier life, and shows his transformation into the Assassin he eventually grows to become. After a very quick interactive scene involving Ezio’s birth (which reminded me somewhat of the start of Fallout 3), you skip forward into Ezio’s life as he frolics around Florence as a young man. Unlike Altair, the young Italian sports a much more lighthearted personality, the games earlier missions involving some pre-assassin street brawls, and showing you the ropes with some parkour-style races and exploration – introducing you to Ezio’s family; his bank-running father Giovanni, his mother Maria, and his three siblings.
As you might expect, however, soon enough things start to happen. His family betrayed, his father and brothers hanged for crimes they did not commit, Ezio finds himself caught up in a conspiracy he knew nothing about – taking up the garb of the Assassin to initially exact revenge on a man he knew guilty of betrayal, and escaping Florence with his mother and sister for their safety. After some training by his uncle, Mario Auditore, Ezio takes up the reins of a real Assassin in order to uncover a plot that spreads much further than he realises. The story is much more interesting than that of the first game, and since Ezio is hurled into the conspiracy unawares, you find yourself sharing his confusion and figuring it out yourself as the plot unfolds.
The general gameplay is very similar to the first, although a little refined – the free-running still fluid and easy to pick up, with the climbing and exploration all flowing together in an almost seamless way. Florence is a wonder to behold, each building being very individualised and having a lot of character, reflecting the real locations to a very impressive standard – I happened to watch a programme about Florence’s old artists only a couple of days ago, and was amazed to realise that I could recognise several buildings and locations instantly – I’m sure it’s not identical, but it’s an incredible representation nonetheless. All of the good parts of the original game are still included, such as the bustling streets, and I can’t think of a single change that has been for the worse. There is no longer a lot of obviously repetitive dialogue in the general conversation amongst the civilians, but the place still feels very much alive. There are so many other little touches that make it even better, such as cut scenes having interactive moments where you press prompted buttons to result in extra little scene elements such as activating Ezio’s hidden blade when showing his new enhancement to one of his contacts.
Staying incognito has been improved – blending into the city being much more comfortable than before – instead of having to walk slowly and hide your face when walking near any people of note, and being forced to blend with set groups of monks that walk along set paths, the game now involves a Notoriety system which means you can walk around the city safely unless you provoke guards or cause real trouble. If you do so, a gauge will fill, and upon becoming Notorious guards will attack you on sight. However, you can remedy this situation by a few little side tasks, such as ripping down wanted posters, killing certain public figures, or bribing the Heralds who spout gossip throughout the city. Once the Notoriety meter is empty, you return to being Incognito and can explore the city without worry once more.
The game’s combat is also similar to the first, allowing for silent kills with the hidden blade, bare fist fighting and fighting with swords or daggers – allowing for fast paced combat with combos that build up by timing button presses as the weapon strikes. Counter-strikes can be used when blocking for impressive dispatches as before. It’s now possible to disarm enemies by timing a button press when bare fist, which allows you to steal enemy weapons for temporary use, all including their own attack combos and allowing for some more gory kills such as spearing enemies in the face for particularly nasty deaths. There are also other weapons to obtain during the course of the game, such as throwing daggers for long range kills, smoke bombs for escaping conflicts, and even an old-fashioned pistol; bearing in mind that Ezio lives in a time which is a little more modern than that of Altair’s.
The game offers the regular story progression by going to markers in order to activate missions. These can include fighting your way to assassinate certain targets, escorting people, tailing suspects, or whatever the story requires. It generally all flows from one thing to the next, so it doesn’t feel fragmented and all intertwines together well. There are more side-missions than before as well – allowing for several tasks such as assassination tasks, courier (delivery) missions, beat up missions where you can scare cheating husbands, free-run races and more.
One of the biggest new things is the inclusion of money in the game. Unlike the first title, Ezio can gain money by finding various chests, pickpocketing civilians, chasing other pickpockets or looting bodies. With this currency, it is possible to buy a myriad of different things – new, more powerful melee weapons such as other blades and daggers, and new heavy weapons like hammers and maces. It’s also possible to alter Ezio’s appearance by dying his clothing (choosing from various colour schemes at the Tailor), and upgrade him by buying new pieces of armour and other items ranging from torso armour, greaves, arm guards, throwing knife belts and medicine pouches (for potions that can be purchased from various doctors throughout the game), and they all change his appearance accordingly, which adds a real sense of customisation – the armour also giving him boosts tao his maximum health and defense.
Along with the new money system, another great quest has also been added, perhaps one of my favourite parts of the game; Ezio’s uncle’s Villa is situated in a small ruined town outside of Florence. By paying Florins to upgrade individual elements of the city – such as shops, key elements like the well and mining facilities, and other buildings of note. As you pay your money into the city and improve it, the area changes and looks nicer, the whole settlement coming to life as you work on it, also rewarding you with access to new areas and discounts on all of the merchants’ wares. The villa also doubles as a huge collection storage area, where you can keep collections of weapons, armour, paintings you may purchase and other things. The more you put into the villa and the city, you get a higher and higher income in the form of a set amount of Florins being added to a chest every 20 minutes that you can access, so you can get rich quick.
There’s simply so much to the game, I could go on and on for a long time but I fear I’ve already said too much. The first game provided a spectacular engine but was wasted on content, but this time they’ve filled the game up with lots of things to do and collect, and it’s simply a joy to wander round doing whatever you see to do as you explore Italy. There are more places that even I haven’t reached yet, but the game has a great length, and you can even access Da Vinci’s legendary flying machine later on in the game for travel in the skies. There are plenty of other things I haven’t even mentioned – but it’s simply too much to put in writing (in a good way).
If you liked the first, get this – it’s better in every way. If you didn’t, I highly suggest trying this game regardless, although some minor points of the overall plot may be lost on you. This could be the best game I played from 2009 – and I hope to see many more games this good later in the year.
-Leon
