Nulla è reale, tutto è lecito. Requiescat en pace.
I’m going to be honest. The first Assassin’s Creed was one boring and repetitive game which I will probably never play again. Sure, it brought something different to the genre with its mix of action, platforming and open-world gameplay. The storyline, replete with conspiracies and interesting characters, greatly enhanced the action and kept things from stalling. Of course, being able to experience all this from the point of view of a lithe free-running assassin was just icing on the cake. I still pretend I’m Altair every time I pull my hood up and walk through the thick crowds inhabiting London’s streets. However, the experience was hampered by the incessantly repetitive mission structure. Moreover, the side missions felt tacked on and displayed a complete lack of imagination and variety. These were what I considered to be the biggest issues. There are probably more but I can’t remember them, nor do I feel like experiencing them again for the sake of this review. In any case, if you played the first one and thought it had flaws then you know what I mean. They weren’t game breaking but they definitely held the game back from achieving its true potential (how it got such high review scores I’ll never understand). But I am a forgiving soul, most of the time, and can absolve Ubisoft on the grounds that the first game was merely a prototype for a new action-adventure franchise. Why am I feeling so generous? Well, that’s because I have just finished Assassin’s Creed 2 and it is an entirely different beast.
The story continues right where it left off with Desmond getting the proceedings of to a flying start. From there the player is introduced to new allies and a new ancestor: Ezio Auditore Da Firenze. Ezio is the lead Altair never was. He’s charismatic, endearing, egotistical and lackadaisical. At first glance you wouldn’t think he has the chops to become an assassin who could escape his own shadow. But tragedy has a way of altering a man and that’s exactly what Ezio goes through. I don’t want to give too much away but the story really drives the games forward this time around. It takes place over a long period and we see how Ezio becomes the master assassin he was always meant to become and the trials and tribulations involved. Simply put, a predictable tale of revenge gets superseded by a conspiracy that promises to shake the very boundaries of the virtual world depicted in the game. And what a world it is.
From the start you are taken aback by the size of the world maps. In truth the open world is so big that it is easy to get sidetracked from the main story. Every city you visit is spectacular and different. My personal favorite would be Venice for the sheer number of districts and missions the player can undertake. The architecture is simply gorgeous and startlingly varied. Famous landmarks are clearly represented and are accompanied by their relevant historic information in the game’s extensive database. Heck, you can actually see the little holes in the walls that Ezio clutches at to climb. Speaking of climbing, Ezio’s animations are wonderfully realized. The running, fighting and climbing just flow so smoothly and realistically that you can rarely tell where one animation stops and the next begins. Most impressive were the minutiae of character animations. Watching Ezio climb and see his hand twist to grab a small protrusion on a wall left me astounded at the level of detail and work Ubisoft dedicated to this. Even swimming (yes, Ezio swims with all that heavy armor and weaponry) and flying are done well and don’t feel like gimmicks. In fact, I was surprised by how well the controls handled for the brief flying and chariot chase segments as well as on the whole.
The side missions have been greatly expanded upon as well. The staple ones from the first game remain, albeit with a few twists. I thoroughly enjoyed the new assassination missions, even though I felt they would never end because there are just so many of them. Combat also seems to have had an overhaul of sorts. No longer do enemies just crowd around you waiting for you to initiate an attack with them. In this outing they gang up on you and some are downright difficult to counter. To aid Ezio Ubisoft has included a whole range of devastating new weapons and flamboyant moves for our hero to employ. The coolest of these has to be the second hidden blade which Ezio can, with a leger de main, utilize to dispatch two enemies at once. Each of these weapons is accompanied by 2 or 3 brutal scripted finishing moves which can leave remaining enemies fleeing in terror. There are also new armor sets, smoke bombs and a rudimentary revolver. There is also a new economy system in the game where you can buy upgrades for your villa/hideout, which in turn can get you discounts at stores and keep your pockets full. This isn’t on the level of say Scarface but it adds an interesting side element to the game. However, it must be said that the feather quest was a waste of time and I’m a mama’s boy (you’ll see what I mean if you play the game). Other side quests include finding hidden symbols (to unlock “The Truth”) and deciphering their puzzles, some which I thought were quite crafty and complicated.
The game engine has clearly been reworked to accommodate the stellar graphics. Everything just looks so polished (not in an UE3 kind of way) and the attention to detail is mesmerizing. The facial animations are also eerily well rendered to the point that you find yourself staring at the lips of the characters. The day and night cycle also adds to the realism of the world. This is most noticeable during the Venice carnevale as the entertainers go about their business and you’re just a blade in the crowd stalking your prey, similar to the Hitman Blood Money level in New Orleans. Last but not least, I have to bestow praise upon the musicality of Jesper Kyd’s score. The soundtrack keeps your blood pumping during the action sequences and tugs at your heartstrings during the more dramatic scenes.
Overall, I enjoyed the many, many, many hours I poured into the game. One gripe I had would be that I never felt particularly challenged. The game isn’t that difficult. Moreover, I had issues where getting detected was just too damn easy. Maybe I wasn’t being careful but it is only a minor issue. Similarly, Ezio would from time to time grab onto ledges I didn’t want him to, usually during a frenetic chase sequence, making the free running seem a bit wonky. Also, I played this on my PC with the new DRM from Ubisoft. All I can say is that I had ZERO issues with it. Yes, the game crashed and disconnected sometimes, three times in total, but it never made me throw up my fists in dissent. I was just too impressed with the final product that I didn’t care for the complaints of the community against, what they consider an infringement of their rights. In short, you would be doing yourself a great disservice by not picking this game up.
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