By: Ryan Gan, Reviews Editor
To preface this review, I want to come out and say that I really disliked the first Assassin’s Creed. Some folks in the gaming community have called it a polarizing experience, and I found myself amongst the gamers that really disliked it. If you’ve heard any kind of complaint against the original Assassin’s Creed, I probably agree with it.
As an aspiring video game writer, playing through Assassin’s Creed II served as a powerful learning experience. After giving Assassin’s Creed a try, giving up on it, and playing through Assassin’s Creed II a year later, I learned about an important aspect of game design — that is, the function of the sequel and how to make one properly.
Naively, a sequel in film, literature and video games is supposed to extend upon the initial story presented in a previous installment. A successful video game sequel usually builds and improves upon the story and/or gameplay mechanics put forth by its predecessor. In a perfect world, there should be no reason why a sequel isn’t a better game than the game that came before it. A sequel is usually a game developer’s second chance. And in this case, the game developers at Ubisoft Montreal set many things right in Assassin’s Creed II.
At first glance, the first AC presented gamers with a very interesting premise — you play as an agile, free-running assassin with the ability to climb like Spider-Man. However, the concepts that the first game had were not accompanied with sufficient incentive for me to continue playing. I had no motivation to continue playing on two fronts: from a plot standpoint and from a gameplay standpoint. In AC, gamers take on the role of 12th century assassin, Altair. I felt as if I didn’t have anything vested in this protagonist as we were never given any sufficient background about his angle or situation. From a gameplay standpoint, I got the idea that after each assassination, I would be presented with another piece of equipment that was taken away from me earlier in the game (after the prologue, you lose all of your items). Aside from the hidden blade, these weapons were not particularly intriguing or fun to use.
For most of ACII, the player takes on the role of Altair’s descendant, Ezio Auditore de Firenze. Unlike his ancestor, Ezio does not come off as some avatar that you murder people through. The developers at Ubisoft Montreal did a better job of flushing this character out early on in the game by providing players with a tutorial/prologue to play through. Though a decent number of people have complained about the tutorial for being too lengthy, I think the prologue was necessary. I would gladly trade the ability to assassinate someone during the first ten minutes of gameplay in exchange for an opportunity to learn about the main character’s personality and background. Combine this prologue with some good writing, and Ezio becomes a livelier character than Altair ever was.
From a gameplay standpoint, I felt more motivated to take on different tasks because of the way ACII is set up. The missions and side quests are not only more enjoyable than its predecessor’s, but they also tie into the storyline better. In AC, players were given an hub world to explore, different mundane tasks to complete, and a person to assassinate. These assassinations were the events that — more or less — moved the story forward. Furthermore, it was important to complete these tasks. As you complete them, you would be provided with an increase in maximum health and easier ways to escape after you assassinate your target. But the problem is that these side-missions weren’t very fun.
ACII is set up in a similar fashion. The world map is covered with different icons denoting different missions — fun missions this time. It’s very clear as to which icons denote tasks that are just side-missions or missions that move the story forward. Though still shallow, this allowed me to go through the game at my own pace. I did what I wanted and moved through the game as quickly or as slowly as I wanted to. Missions that move the story forward are not always assassinations, and this is a good thing because it allows the story to unfold gradually. Furthermore, the assassinations never lead to an “out-of-Animus” scene as they always did in AC. As a result, Assassin’s Creed II is well-paced and flows much better than Assassin’s Creed.
Another problem in AC was the in-game world. The environments were designed well and took place in the 12th century Holy Land — a very unique and memorable setting. Unfortunately, the cities that I visited as Altair got old somewhat quickly, but I believe that this is more of a consequence of the choice of setting. AC had a huge — for lack of a better term — hub world which connected the cities together. This hub world seemed like it was “just there,” as it only contained different collectibles such as Templar knights to assassinate, flags, and synchronization points. I had no interest in collecting all of these things, and the hub just got in my way.
In ACII, the (practically non-existant) hub world takes a backseat to the cities. As Ezio, you’ll roam around different cities in 15th century Italy exploring assassin’s tombs, beating up unfaithful husbands in alleys, and competing in foot races along the country side and city rooftops. These micro-events and the places they take place in make up the centerpiece of the game. The setting in ACII is more memorable than any other setting in any game I have played this year. Ubisoft Montreal emphasized the cities and environment by getting rid of the hub world and making the cities larger. Whether I was running across rooftops in Florence or exploring Venetian alleyways and canals, I was always engulfed in a beautiful, thoughtfully-detailed environment.
Many of the gameplay mechanics in AC were also improved in ACII. One of the biggest changes is the new HUD. One new HUD element that has been added is the notoriety meter located at the top-left corner of the screen. The meter will fill up based on the things that you do and how much attention you draw to yourself. You can bribe heralds, tear down “wanted” posters, and kill officials to decrease your notoriety as well. Another addition to the HUD is the arrows that appear on your screen that tell you the approximate location fo nearby guards. The redder they become, the more they are paying attention to you. These elements were never in the first AC and are big improvements that make the game more playable.
Little things like being able to swim and improving the crowd blending mechanics were also addressed. Though improved from the first game, some things like the combat and climbing could have used some more fine-tuning. The combat is not exactly as clean and as tight as Batman: Arkham Asylum, and I still found myself jumping off of buildings when I didn’t mean to.
New additions to the game include a villa (which serves as your base of operations) and the ability to equip different armor and clothes. The villa serves as a source of in come. You can purchase upgrades to your villa that would put more things in its stores or make you more money. The ability to equip armor is a nice touch because it is related to how much maximum health you have. The better the armor, the more health you have. Therefore, increasing your maximum health is just a matter of saving up money and making a purchase from the blacksmith. In the first game, you increased your health meter by climbing up synchronization points. The armor system makes more sense and is less tedious.
Back when the cover art to Assassin’s Creed II was revealed, I’ll admit that I rolled my eyes and thought that it was on par for the sequel to Assassin’s Creed. It’s Assassin’s Creed II. It’s an assassin and two hidden blades — one in each hand. But after finishing ACII, I can say that it’s so much more than that. After finishing this game, I immediately craved Assassin’s Creed III.
Assassin’s Creed II, from a game development standpoint, is very much about righting wrongs — both in story and in design. Ubisoft Montreal did a spectacular job of taking the concepts introduced in Assassin’s Creed and honing them in its sequel. As a result, the final product turned out to be a proper sequel and a must-have experience. I can’t recommend this game enough as I honestly don’t think I have played a better game in 2009. If you don’t have Assassin’s Creed II yet, you should do the right thing for yourself and pick up a copy when you can.
Plus, you get to pal around with Leonardo da Vinci. How can you go wrong?
This review is based on a retail copy of the game purchased by the reviewer.
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