Assassin’s Creed II Review: Well worth the hype

Reviewed by Arashi

After the utter mess that was the Ubisoft E3 showing, I had nearly lost all faith in Assassin’s Creed 2. I am pleased to say first and foremost, that the game is a total success surpassing its predecessor by leaps and bounds.  This game capitalizes on all the strengths of Assassin’s Creed and fixes many of its weaknesses. Utilizing the powerhouse that is the Anvil engine, Ubisoft Montreal really has outdone themselves with Assassin’s Creed 2. The animation is second to none, each city is its own world that is unique in design from the streets to the rooftops.  If there are any blemishes to be found it is in the Tuscany countryside which acts as a hub between cities. The diversity of the cities is incredible, from Florence’s dingy streets and alleyways to Venice’s sun baked open paths and glistening waterways, to Rome’s very distinct architecture. None of the cities were short-changed in the attention they were given during design. If it looks like you can climb it, you can climb it. The engine is rock solid with barely any frame rate drops to be found, no matter how frantic the action on screen. The Tuscan countryside that serves as a hub is gorgeously rendered as well, if a bit sparse in activity. You get some truly breathtaking views if you choose to scale the highest buildings, with nearly no fogging whatsoever.  It’s quite an amazing feat, being able to see an entire city in the distance from your perch.  The cities look particularly good at night, with great shadowing and lighting effects. The sparks of clashing blades show up very nicely as well.

Picking up right after the startling conclusion of 2007′s Assassin’s Creed, you are dropped right into the shoes of Desmond as he makes his escape from Abstergo.  Lucy, the girl from the original game, has a daring plan to turn Desmond into an Assassin similar to his ancestors by allowing him to experience the memories of his ancestor Ezio. You are taken to a warehouse where you meet the rest of the resistance and eventually enter the Animus 2, which transports you into the memories of a young Ezio before he turned assassin.  The story intertwines the fate of Altair and Desmond like a very skilled seamstress through the use flashbacks and hallucinations. Ezio’s story itself spans years and years of his life, weaving him through historical fact and historical fiction, visibly aging him as you go along.

If you have played the original Assassin’s Creed you probably agree it became a bit of a drag.  The same process of information gathering and fetch quest assassination wore a bit thin after awhile.  Thankfully, Assassin’s Creed 2 has an enormous amount of variety in gameplay.  There are fetch quests incorporated into the story, as well as races, stalking your prey, escort missions, all-out battles, and even capture the flag!  Just wait until you have your first chase of a courier.  It is exhilarating to say the least.  Italy is also a very appealing to look at with its lush detail and environment.  While not a drastic change as far as movement goes, Ezio just has a smoother transition and interaction with his surroundings overall compared to Altair.

The combat engine has been overhauled, with the addition of pistols, dual hidden blades, swords, smoke bombs, throwing knives and a huge assortment of weapons gained off of enemies; each with a unique set of moves and kill animations. Oh, the glorious kill animations, this is one bloody game. They really pushed the boundary of what an M game can get away with.  While not visceral in the way God of War or Ninja Gaiden 2 are, there is plenty of the red stuff to be spilled.  On the ground, on your enemies, even on Ezio you will be satiated with any need for violence.

The voice-overs are very authentic, mixing English and Italian quite effectively.  Thankfully Ezio’s voice is much improved over Altair’s rather nondescript acting.  The pedestrians are lively as well with singing, dancing, conversations, begging, preaching and more.
Occasionally the controls will be a little less tight than desired, and will send you flying off a ledge or missing a leap. Thankfully the damage you take is scaled down greatly from the first entry in the series.  It is a joy to leap across impossible gaps and from tiny poles to bridges, the world truly is your playground.  No other game gets free-running even close to as fun as Assassin’s Creed does and it truly is a sight to behold whether you’re playing or watching.
The character models look crisp overall, with main characters receiving the most attention to detail.  Ezio even gets wet upon diving into water, which is a very nice touch.  Speaking of which, the game is full of little touches, such as the people of San Marco square not walking between the pillars as it is believed to bring bad luck.  Everything is so detailed that it feels almost like a tour through history.  From the tiniest stones to the grandest of structures it all just looks great. Even the little things add to it, like Ezio concealing his wrist blade with his cloak. The only weakness is in the character’s faces, that just feel a little dated.  I would compare them to Half Life 2.  The random people wandering in each city have distinct garments unique to that city’s fashions at the time, and the population is extremely varied with hardly any clones.

The AI is both good and poor, depending on the situation.  Enemy guards have no idea what to do if you go in water and will all eventually jump to their deaths.  Occasionally they act strange chasing you on rooftops as well, but considering how complex this engine is I still give it high marks in general.
This game gives you tons of activities to do if you are a completionist, from finding Codex pages, to the bleeding effect, reading strange glyphs on walls, collecting feathers, assassination contracts, brawls, races and more.  Just try finding all the Vitruvian Man pieces, a quest in itself that will unlock video sequences.  The main story will take an average player around 9 hours to complete all 14 main acts, I could easily see a dedicated player sinking in another 30 hours though, honestly.  There is just that much to do.

Another thing this game does right is customization.  Each city has stores that cater to different needs.  Clothing, armor and weapons, art, medicine and more.  Each city has unique supplies and colors to choose from.  While not entirely unlimited, you can customize Ezio quite a bit, increasing knife pouch size, upgrading your weaponry and your armor are all available to you.  Leonardo DaVinci also supplies you with unique inventions that he crafts based on Codex scrolls that you bring to him.  You can even upgrade your own personal city and reap benefits from doing so.

Overall the game is a terrific visionary piece that comes together beautifully, even if the story was not linked to the past and present; the tale of Ezio is strong enough to stand on its own. The conflict between the Templars and the Assassins that has lasted for thousands of years is very intriguing. The only weak point is the ending cliff-hangs heavily hinting at a sequel. I only pray that the public sees the game and flocks to it so that a sequel may see the light of day.

Graphics: 10
Sound: 8.5
Controls: 9
Longevity: 9
+Traversing the environment is a beautiful and rewarding experience with hardly any glitching or clipping and fantastic animation throughout
+interactions with NPCs can be genuinely or unintentionally hilarious
+Many, many things to do to keep one busy for a long while
-Sometimes missions can become repetitive
-The loading times can be a bit on the long side when changing cities
Final verdict: 9.0/10

[Apologies for the rough nature of the screenshots, our image capture equipment was not functioning properly so we had to resort to screen capture off the tv itself.]