Assassins Creed 2

Renaissance Italy isn't the usual sort of setting for a video game, but then Assassin's Creed isn't one to play by the rules. Ezio Auditore di Firenze is yet another ancestor of modern day Desmond Miles - a nobleman out to avenge the death of his family in the guise of a shadowy assassin. Ezio is just as dangerous an assassin as his forebear Da Vinci's glider is just one of the gadgets on offer The level of detail in the graphics is astonishing The canals of Venice come in very handy for stealth attacks Like the last game you're given total freedom to explore multiple cities, but with greatly improved parkour skills and the new ability to swim. There's also a lot more variety in the missions you undertake - the main complaint with the original game- so you'll never feel...

• Matt Brew July 24, 2012 PS3

  ****

  Assassin's Creed 2 Review
  
  Ubisoft's sequel to one of the most highly anticipated games of this generation had one key purpose: to fix all the problems of the original. Repetitive quests that were almost exactly the same with a slowly paced and almost schizophrenic plot. For the majority this game achieves this, giving a much more direct and fast-paced plot with a lot more variety. Graphical improvements and a much more clear distinction between the historical plot and Desmond's allow a much more enjoyable game.
  
  The game begins directly where the first left off, we play as Desmond shortly after he learns he has acquired the "Eagle Vision" ability from prolonged exposure to the animus as Altair. One of the workers at Abstergo, the pharmaceutical front for the evil Templars where Desmond is being held captive, Lucy storms in and barks orders at Desmond to move out and launches a rescue, sneaking through the building and escaping to a much friendlier Assassin animus base. To begin with Desmond's movements are slow and clunky reminiscent of the first game that gave me a great feeling of apprehension that this sequel would fall into the same traps as the first.
  
  However after this uninspiring intro we soon begin to play as Ezio di Auditore di Firenze: a young Italian nobleman who is the son of an Renaissance Assassin, although he is ignorant of that fact, we begin with a few miscellaneous errands for various members of Ezio's family introducing us to aspects like free running and basic combat. However after Ezio's father and brothers are framed and wrongly executed the plot develops into a tale of revenge and betrayal where Ezio learns of his father's work against the Templars and takes it on for himself after fleeing the city with his mother and sister to his Uncle's estate. This opens a wide narrative and shows how Ezio develops from a naive young man to a lethal assassin. Ezio's plot links in with Desmond's as it shows the locations of the pieces of Eden that the Templar's seek in the modern day.
  
  Combat is a mechanic that has had the least changes made, it is still a basic system of button mashing and countering until about two thirds into the game. Then more advanced techniques like dodging, retreating & swapping weapons come into play allowing for a deeper combat system that is more enjoyable than the basic button mashing at the start. You can be fighting up to 15 enemies at once and requires some hard earned skill to survive and it is very satisfying when you do.
  
  The economy is also a key element in AC2, money can be pick pocketed from citizens in the game, looted from corpses and obtained for completing missions. Soon you are waist deep in money and can use it to buy new weapons, armour, medicine and even art. Upgrading Ezio even extends to dying his robes different colours and offers a significant and entertaining distraction. Also done by wearing one of several capes Ezio obtains through his adventures that are area specific. This is also accompanied by a real estate system where Ezio can upgrade his Uncle's estate by renovating the various stores and even building new ones. This is a surprisingly deep aspect of the game and is an engaging distraction.
  
  The world of Assassins Creed is so large and expansive with so many things to do that it is almost a flaw of the game. You can collect missions from messenger pigeons that normally consist of assassinating a traitor to a noble: you can rip down wanted posters of Ezio and bribe local citizens who spread news of Ezio to remain quiet, allowing him to remain anonymous in the various cities. There are viewpoints to find, where Ezio scales tall buildings to learn the lay of the land revealing hidden chests, then performs a visually stunning "leap of faith" where Ezio swan dives from hundreds of metres in the air into a bale of hay; conveniently placed for a safe landing. As well as assassins tombs where various seals can be found after an expansive section of platforming that is reminiscent of Ubisoft's PS2 franchise "Prince of Persia." The amount of content in this game is amazing, it provides hours upon hours of gameplay where you can explore the various cities, piloting Gondolas through the city of Venice, riding horses along lush Italian countryside: it all adds up to a very rich and diverse game
  
  To traverse this city Ezio uses his impressive free running ability allowing him to climb almost any building through the series of conveniently placed ledges on every building. There is also several piles of boxs piled to allow Ezio to run up them and leap onto buildings, theses boxes are scattered around the city indicating clear points to start free running. The animation is fluid and it gives a real sense of "bad-assery." Archers are scattered around the roof-tops of each city and they all forbid any person from being there (for some reason that is never really revealed) resulting in them raising the alarm or Ezio performing a quick air-assassination using the characteristic hidden blades that allow quick, silent and impressive assassinations. 
  
  There is also collectible feathers to gather in memory of Ezio's younger brother Petruccio after his hanging. There are a hundred in total and are another engaging distraction that encourages in depth exploration of the various cities nooks and crannies. While this may sometimes be cumbersome it is made bearable by how gorgeous every city looks, each building is crafted with care with excellent lighting and little details clearly enhanced. NPCs are also crafted well, often with at least a hundred in areas like markets and various streets all engaging in their own conversations. It really gives a sense of realism to the cities and makes them feel like they are alive. Unfortunately character models are not crafted as well, with rough textures and poor rendering; fortunately for most of the game you are not treated with a close up view of the characters and so this is easily forgivable.
  
  Another flaw with the game is the controls, they are unique to this series and work by each of the face buttons controlling a part of the body. One is to attack with the right arm, one is to push people out of the way whilst in crowds with the left arm, another is to run with your legs and the final one activates the "Eagle Vision" which is similar to Batman's detective vision and allows targets to be pinpointed. Eagle Vision also allows Glyphs to be detected: these are symbols left by subject 16: a previous user of the Animus, that reveal the "truth" (about what though I won't reveal.) These controls, albeit unique are sometimes clunky to use, a high profile option is activated by holding R1 or RB which allows for free running and tackling enemies who run, this is a breath of fresh air from a traditional set of controls and with some work could be very fun to use; but right now it feels slightly clunky and not fully developed. This is seen when you have several errors in the platforming sections of the game, remarkably similar to the frustrations of a tomb-raider game, Ezio will jump randomly falling to his death: he will suddenly run up walls and flip off when you meant him to climb. All of these little things result in extreme frustration and restarting the entire platforming section which if made smoother and more fluid could be one of the best aspects of the game. This and the disappointing character models however are the only real flaws of the game.
  
  Overall Assassins Creed 2 is a rich, diverse and satisfying game with a long twisting story that advances the narrative of the long lasting war between the Templars and the Assassins. Gameplay is fun with lots to keep the player engaged, whether it be stuffed with endless tutorials or not, combat has improved from the first demanding more skill and weapon swapping than the previous button masher of the first. Cities look beautiful, even if characters don't, and running through them along the roof-tops is great fun with fluid free running. Despite the sometimes clunky controls it is a very fun game that will give hours and hours of fun. Definitely worth a ay through, miles better than the original.
  

• Ashley Turner June 16, 2010 PS3

  ****

  Assassin's Creed 2.This is one of the best games I have ever played; it has the graphics down to a 'T'. Gameplay is so fluent and easy to get used to but there is stuff to watch out for. Control in itself is fine but, if you're running up a wall or something you can accidently jump to your death and you could also grab onto the wrong thing. Guards can catch you easily and you can run to England and back but they won't 'let up' BUT all-in-all it's an AMAZING game I recommend it for any gamers. 5/5.

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