This was the game I was most looking forward to. Ever. My hype for a game's never reached that sort of hype, I was confident it'd be brilliant... once Assassin's Creed II hit stores in 2009, I didn't like it... but I didn't hate it much either - it wasn't on par with my expectations, the story was... dumb... my unreal expectations drowned out anything this could've been. Then I begun replaying it, again, and again, and again, and I begun to like it lots once the hype had died down and I forgot about my expectations surrounding this title. I'll be discussing spoilers, meaning I'll mark them with a Spoiler - meaning, for all means, if you've still to play this game, feel free to read - and enjoy!
Summary
Beginning in the modern day era - Desmond Miles awakens greeted by Lucy Stillman, a newfound ally, blood splatted on her clothing for some reason... Lucy brings Desmond out of Abstergo, breaking him out of the walls of his warden, and uniting him with other Assassins, kicking off training for Desmond, molding him into an Assassin, as he revisits the memories of Ezio Auditore, an Italian assassin who would be connected to the apple of Eden, a charismatic young man who's father, a banker, and his brothers, were killed as a part of a conspiracy - thus Ezio dons his father's robes, embarking on a quest to kill those who took a part in his father's death... avenging his family.
Storyline and Characters
Assassin's Creed II's narrative is much more varied than the first entry - packed with a variety of missions... however... that belongs in the gameplay section of this review. Nonetheless, ACII places the player in the 1400s, Italy, the Renaissance - with a number of studio recreation of historical events, placing Ezio with the likes of legends such as Leonardo Da Vinci, the man who crafted the parachute, and Nicollo Machiavelli, the man who wrote The Prince etc. etc. If you'd like to follow the story, piece by piece, it's intelligent and simplistic - it'll require a good amount of attention, considering there's many characters throughout - some of them fleshed out and some of them aren't, however - those without backstory are still awesome, because you get a good sense of their character - the storytelling of Assassin's Creed II is it's weak point, and weak point doesn't equal bad, but it doesn't equal great either - the characters are unforgettable, and memorable, but the story itself isn't anything brand new, bogged down by too much exposition. This is minor, considering the game's splendid gameplay elements and characterisation.
Ezio Auditore is a terrific character - throughout the game, you're able to witness his transformation as a character, as we witness him as a young teenager enjoying his youth, into a young man coming into maturity, his lust for vengeance, as he begins to age into a lethal killer - a specific scene where I almost shed tears in the Bonfire of The Vanities DLC honestly makes Ezio my favourite protagonist, and I'm sure to hell most of you people will agree. We also team up with many figures, who begin to aid Ezio into putting an end to these conspiracies.
Leonardo Da Vinci and Ezio's dynamic and friendship is also at the core of the game - it's heart warming to watch the two brought on screen together many moments, and was glad the character was able to return to Brotherhood - sadly enough, he wasn't what I'd like to call a main part of the story, in Brotherhood, although he did add to it. Anyways, I wont be discussing that game now. Going by the timeline of the renaissance, which Ubisoft does go by, Leonardo was only a few years older than Ezio Auditore, which was nice to see the two characters, not too dissimilar in age, coming to know each other. Uncle Mario is also able to share the spotlight - as he begins molding Ezio Auditore into an assassin, - I would've honestly liked to see more of Mario Auditore, but it was understanding that, with all the characters around, they weren't able to focus on every single one of them.
It's great we were able to experience Ezio's journey from his birth, and into a teenager, and into an adult assassin - if Ubisoft were done, they would've done away with the backstory and would've thrown us into the assassinations, but Ubisoft kept story in mind while putting together this game. However - what bothers me is the Templars. It's almost as if Ubisoft labelled them "Assassins = Good Guys" and "Templars = Baddies!", there isn't any grey areas, and the targets begin spewing out these clichés such as something like "you wont make it out alive!"
This was done much better in III, thankfully, once this game was handed down to another studio - and I would've liked more focus on Rodrigo Borgia, the antagonist of this game. However, I completely loved being able to encounter and combat Rodrigo twice throughout the entire game, akin to simply packing their encounters all into the climax. Patrick Desilets told us Desmond will do more than just walking, which he certainly does, because we begin to grasp a better, much more interesting, entertaining take on the character - being pulled out of the Animus and thrown into the character of Desmond wasn't bad, not at all.
Minor spoilers ahead, Desmond begins to develop the bleeding effect, in which he begins suffering from hallucinations of all sorts, the ancients constructing right in front of him - this offers a decent amount of characterisation, which was also expanded on in Brotherhood.
Gameplay, Visuals and Soundtrack
Assassin's Creed II's gameplay is much better than the first game - we're now able to explore many cities in Renaissance Italy, beautiful landscapes, beautiful scenarios and beautiful cities rendered by a beautiful art style - the cities are larger than the ones in Assassin's Creed, and there's the basic's covered - you're able to parkour around the cities, notably Florence, Ezio's birthplace, Venice, Tuscany, Monteriggioni and Forli - covering the builds are guards of all sorts patrolling the roofs, which is honestly an annoyance - I would've liked to be able to explore the city with little disturbance, which is being fixed in Unity - this, however, is a minor shortcoming considering the superb cities. The parkour is thrilling, being able to scale buildings in mere seconds allows for some pretty cool animations, and overall, it adds uniqueness to the game. The climbing is somewhat clunky, though. It isn't what I'd call bad, because the parkour is truly great, but there were moments were Ezio was, for a lack of better words, stiff.
The Hidden Blade makes a return as the Assassin's signature weapon - you're now able to engage in combat with the blade, hacking and slashing at your enemies, making it much either to swiftly eliminate guards - the weapons are much more smoother, whereas they were stiff in the first game. With the return of the weapon comes a number of brand new features - air assassinations, assassinating from hiding spots and double assassins. The gameplay elements in AC2 results in a number of approaches to eliminate your targets and complete memories.
Enemies are difficult in comparison to the first game, and the combat, overall, is engaging - you're now able to disarm your enemies, or hold them in a grip - able to slit their throats, hold them in place, throw them against some of the other enemies etc. etc. you wont necessarily require every single one of these gameplay elements, but I reckon it's awesome they had a presence in the film, making the player able to explore a variety of stuff. There's also standard enemies, agiles, brutes etc. meaning there's always a refreshing enemy archetype. Horses make a return - you're still capable of making out into the outer skirts of cities with your horse, a mechanic which was also refined from the first game.
There's also a number of unique memories - one which throws you into Leonardo Da Vinci's flying machine, in which you're too fly the thing throughout the cities for a singular mission - if you bought the Bonfire of The Vanities DLC like I did, you'll be able to get into the flying mission at any time, out of missions - which I appreciate. Another unique mission is commandeering a carriage, and fighting off against enemies, as they begin boarding your vehicle two by two - I enjoyed this mission, it was a breath of fresh air and a departure from the usual - another unique memory was disguising yourself as an enemy and infiltrating an encounter between the Spaniard, the man who killed Ezio's father and brothers, and a group of Templar's in an exchange. The fourth unique mission is one in which you complete many activities in a carnival, to win over a golden mask which will allow Ezio access to a place he's required to be in a specific time, in a specific moment. These unique memories are the foremost highlight of the gameplay section of the game.
The Soundtrack was also a major part in enhancing the experience - with certain themes adding to the atmosphere, providing a good amount of tracks with oozed atmosphere, recreating the beautiful cities of Venice - certain soundtracks make you want to tear, and others which make you want to cheer through and through.
Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed II is surely flawed - but the good eventually outweighs the bad by lots - Ezio is a terrific character, his arc in general becoming a classic, the Italian renaissance setting is the best in the series by far - beautiful cities, beautiful graphics and memorable characters which were able to craft a unique experience - sure, the narrative is the weak point of the game, but the characters add many layers to it - it was also great Ubisoft were able to develop Desmond as a character and set up plotlines which were carried onto the other games. Thus, I'm rating ACII a...
9/10
- + Ezio is Terrific
- + Large, Gorgeous Cities
- + Fantastic Setting
- + Memorable Characters
- + Tons of Stuff to Do
- + Fantastic Gameplay Elements
- + Legitimate Emotions
- - Weak Narrative
- - Bad Templar Depiction
Thanks for reading - hope you enjoyed and don't forget to comment below, I'll be covering the other games in the series, so... um... yeah - it'd be cool if you checked this game out because it's kinda awesome, XD!
- TAS
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