• Overall score 88%
• Fun Factor 8.5
• Visuals 7.5
• Story 8
• Sound 8
• Longevity 7
• Originality 8

User score80%

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0100%

• Publisher: Ubisoft
• Developer: Ubisoft
• Platform: Ubisoft Montréal
• Release date: 2009-11-20
• Genre: Action Adventure

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The original Assassin’s Creed was a victim of its own hype, laying all its cards out on the table at the beginning of the game and never really evolving past that. This resulted in it becoming repetitive very quickly and even though its story and presentation were top notch many felt that it was just too short and too repetitive. Assassin’s Creed II attempts to redeem itself with enough new idea’s to fill several titles.

Assassin’s Creed II is a direct sequel. Picking up moments after the first game’s end, it assumes the player has played Assassin’s Creed and does not re-introduce them to the control scheme which can lead to even veteran Assassin’s Creed players walking most of the opening level since they can’t remember how to run and no hints are given. 

For those who missed the first game here is a quick recap of the story so far: Desmond Miles was kidnapped by a pharmaceutical company called  Abstergo Industries and forced to use a device known as the Animus to relive the genetic memories of his ancestors who where Assassins. The story then twist and turns its way through the 3rd Crusade with the player killing 12 high ranking Knight Templars to retrieve the Piece of Eden, a mythical device that creates powerful illusions and with which the Templars hope to brainwash the population of the Holy Land.

Once again the player takes on the role of Desmond Miles. This time Miles will relive memories of late 15th and early 16th century Venice, experiencing the world through the eyes of his great, great, great, great, great grand pappy Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a young Florentine noble on a quest for revenge against the people responsible for the murder of his 2 bothers and father. From there the story spans almost 40 years and the life of Ezio on his journey to become an assassin and avenge his father and brothers.

Leap of Faith

The story in Assassin’s Creed 2 is much deeper and more rounded than that of its predecessor. The missions flow together and no longer feel like just a hand full of random assassinations held together by cut-scenes. Though some would complain about Ubisoft’s decision to return to a more linear form of storytelling, it benefits the story and makes for a far more compelling game. Do not be fooled however, as AC2 is still very much a sandbox game. While the plot progresses in a linear fashion, the player is still free to explore 3 of the major cities of 14th century Italy at his/her own leisure.

One of the predecessor’s flaws was its story structure; from the outset players knew there were 12 Templar’s to kill, this caused the plot to feel almost forced at times and a bit predictable. In AC2 the player never knows how many targets they have and the bigger picture is also obscured until very late in the game. This makes for a far more compelling and well crafted story arc.

Assassin’s Creed’s main failure was the repetitive nature of the quests leading up to the assassinations. Between eaves dropping, pick-pocketing and beat-em-up side missions there really wasn’t much to do in Assassin’s Creed.

In AC2 however no mission is ever repeated. These side missions also tie-in much closer to the story and keep the player involved in the plot. From taking out roof top archers, placing groups of mercenaries in strategic locations and freeing captured thieves from cages, nothing is ever repeated.

The blending mechanic has also been completely reworked; no longer does the player need to press a button in low profile to blend. Now walking at the same pace as groups of NPC’s allows the player to hide in plain sight, also groups of courtesans can be hired that provide mobile cover, that move with the player. These courtesans can also be used to distract guards, giving the player a chance to slip past unnoticed.

There are also thieves and mercenaries that can be hired to distract guards or fight alongside the player in larger scale battles.

The combat system has evolved in AC2, and Ezio now has the ability to disarm enemies and take their weapons. This rewards the player with a variety of counter-kill moves from each of the different weapon types. The range of weapons available to Ezio has also increased greatly with Ezio able to acquire a fair selection of swords, daggers and warhammers. These are purchased from the different blacksmiths scattered around each of the 3 cities & 2 towns. Each weapon also has a damage, deflect and speed rating, naturally scaling up as the player progresses though the game.

Assassin’s Creed 2 introduces and economy system to the series. Money can be earned from looting the many chests scattered throughout the world, looting dead bodies, pick-pocketing and from the income generated by the Villa Auditore; a town of your own, where money can be spent upgrading and renovating the different shops thus increasing the value of the villa and the money generated for the player. Money is also rewarded for completing missions, discovering secret locations and so on. With the money earned players can buy new weapons or armor, different dyes for Ezio’s armour and even art work for his villa which will in turn add value and increase the income generated by it.

The system of constantly rewarding the player that Ubisoft incorporated into Assassin’s Creed 2 adds greatly to the overall experience. Every action the player performs has some sort of reward, be it long or short term. One such reward is the ability to obtain the best armour in the game; the armour of Altair

A Ledge too far…

Many of Assassin’s Creed 2’s innovations are also its weak points. The combat is still too easy with hordes of guards being easily dispatched by simply waiting to them to attack in turn before countering and one-hit killing them.

The addition of armour also means that Ezio becomes almost impossible to kill. In one particular mission we leaped Ezio off a 3 story building no more than 4 times without him dying.

Sadly the AI also hasn’t been improved, enemies loose Ezio if he simply drops from a ledge and are ready to beat him senseless if he so much as bumps into an NPC carrying a crate. The neutral civilian NPC’s have improved a bit.  Also everybody and their mother seems to be able to free-run over rooftops, with guards leaping from beam to beam with the grace of a master assassin.

Some of the new equipment Ezio gains access to also feels needless. The hidden musket does add a long range weapon but it feels out of place as do the warhammers and maces Ezio can purchase. The same can be said for the med-kits the player can purchase, as they take away any real challenge from the fighting since a simple push of the left d-pad restores a large chunk of Ezio’s health.

The visuals - although by no means ugly - have lost some of the edge they had in the original.
 
Lastly, although free-running remains fun, it only works well in large open environments. When certain platforming sections require a bit more control the once awesome control scheme becomes clumsy, and when the player is asked to make a concession of 10 jumps on a timer it becomes very frustrating.

The Killing Strike

Despite some flaws, Assassin’s Creed 2 is an excellent game, with its pros out weighing the cons by far. Though not game of the year material, it has a lot to offer to both returning fans of the first game and new players.

Reviewed on Xbox 360

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