Assassin's Creed II Review

TechJunkeez Xbox 360 Editor | November 2009

The first Assassin’s Creed was a fair attempt on an unexplored genre in gaming. But if any of you played the first game, you’d already know how awfully repetitive it gets towards the end. This is just one of many frustrations that Assassin’s Creed was infested with. Assassins Creed 2 works on improving all of the basics of the first version of the game and almost remove all the frustrations people had with it. Find out if Ubisoft pushed a worthy sequel, or just a lame iteration of what we almost liked.

Assassins Creed 2 follows up on the disappointing ending of the first game. It’s a bit difficult to describe the story of the game for anyone who didn’t play the first game. Nevertheless, I’ll try… Some guys in lab coats captured a bartender (Desmond) who is unaware that his DNA holds the story of all of his ancestors, who were experts in the arts of assassination. The guys in lab coats (current time templars) create a device called the animus. The animus can read these memories that are stored in Desmond’s DNA. The story goes much deeper than this, but I just scratched the surface for anyone who wants a basic description. In the first game you experience the memories of your Middle Eastern ancestor Altair, and in Assassin’s Creed 2 you experience the memories of an Italian ancestor, Ezio.

This gameplay trailer shows off some of the new additions in AC2, make sure you watch it in fullscreen

The story is much more improved this time around. The characters are interesting and the plot line adds loads of depth to the game. Italy offers a great setting for the game’s mechanics. As you probably already know, Assassin’s Creed’s gameplay is heavily based on platforming around cities in a fashion that resembles parkour. Ezio is a much more improved traceur, if that’s what you want to call him. He moves around quicker and smoother than Altair did and uses new methods of transportation. Ezio can fly, use a gondola and even swim which used to be fatal for Altair. These new additions make approaching assassinations and other targets more open for the choice of the player.

You have more freedom in how you approach your targets

The mission objectives are also a field of enhancement over AC1, with a wider variety of missions to do. This helps AC2 appear less repetitive and dull than AC1. You can look around the city for codex pages which you give to Leonardo Da Vinci in exchange for cool inventions or upgrades to your sync bar. You also find tombs which are probably the most interesting mode added. Tombs contain certain artifacts which you need to obtain. These segments of the game are heavily focused on platforming rather than combat and evasion. You need to figure out a way to reach the artifacts hidden in each tomb, while solving puzzles along the way.

Tons of weapons and great combat animations make AC2's fighting sequences more engaging than AC1

The combat system hasn't improved much, although you now have access to a larger weapon roaster than what was offered in the first AC. You can pick up the weapons of fallen enemies and you can even go to a dealer where you can buy all kinds of different weapons. A cool new addition that everyone seems to like is the double hidden blades. Ubisoft has integrated a good number of sequences where you’ll find them useful. One more note before finishing off on weapons... Ezio has a gun… nice.

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