Assassin's Creed
II
What can I say about this game. Although there are a few
quirks, I found it totally stunning. It almost became my all-time
favourite and as I already mentioned I was completely hooked for
a time, even playing at four in the morning when I couldn't
sleep.
Storyline
The main story revolves around the animus Ezio Auditore da
Firenze who lives in the Italian town of Florence in 1476 . When
the game starts Desmond witnesses Ezio's birth in 1459. When
Desmond revisits the animus, he is a 17 year old boy who likes
to play around, do a bit of fighting, go for a drink, seduce his
girlfriend and who dearly loves his family (father, mother,
sister, older and younger brother). Then fate strikes him a
massive blow. His father and brothers are arrested to be hanged as traitors. As Ezio wasn't at
the family home at the time, he is still free. This gives him
the opportunity to speak to his imprisoned father, who tells him
where Ezio can find the papers that will acquit him. In the
hidden room Ezio also finds his fathers assassin's outfit. Ezio
delivers the papers but the next day his father and brothers are
still hanged, betrayed by the man that should have acquitted
them.
After the execution Ezio takes revenge on his father's betrayer,
using his father's assassin's outfit His
first assassination is public, as he seeks revenge, but it
reveals to Ezio that there is more to this betrayal. Still he
has no intention to step into his father's footsteps, instead he
wants to take his mother and sister to safety in Spain. His uncle Mario persuades him to stay on
at the family villa in the mountains, where, after
another incident Ezio sets himself the
task to kill all the major conspirators involved in the murder
of his father and brothers. This takes him to other places in
Italy (apart from Florence also the cities of Forli, Venice and
Rome). The storyline ends in
1499 when Ezio is 40 and a master assassin. It is a classic
hero-king myth and the storyline itself is completely linear,
but the intrigue and conspiracy makes you want to play on to
find out what happens next.
Setting
As I wrote above the game takes place in Renaissance Italy.
The graphics are stunning and it is a great pleasure to walk
around in the Italian towns and countryside. As I have been to
Venice and Rome and in the Italian countryside it made walking
around in these locations extra special because it was so
recognizable. And as I understand Italian I had no difficulty
understanding Ezio, the shopkeepers etc. when the spoke Italian.
This certainly ads to the immersiveness of the setting. Could the game take place in
another setting? Perhaps, but the time setting was spot on and
if you want intrigue and conspiracy the rivalling city states of
Renaissance Italy are a very good choice on the part of the game
designers. At the time Tuscan towns also were in competition who
of them could build the highest clock towers (campanile).
Therefore it is not strange to see so many of them (especially
in San Gimignano), which of course gives logic locations for
Ezio's leaps of faith (and new moves to master for the gamer).
Gameplay
Assassin's creed ii
is a sandbox action adventure game. This means that you can
choose how you want to play the game. You can choose to follow
Ezio's storyline. Then you have a very linear game. The
challenges in the storyline are not too demanding (I played the
game immediately after my cast was removed from a broken left
wrist and still managed, although I
did have to have several tries before I mastered the capture the
flag challenge). The codex pages are a great find, they not only
give you extra health and new weapons and techniques (courtesy
of Leonardo da Vinci, who fits in well in the hero-king myth),
they also link this story to that of the first game, answering
questions about Altaïr's fate.
You can, however, also step out of the
storyline to manage the family's villa in and village of
Monteriggioni. When I first read about
this option, I was not to keen. But it really is a great
addition and a legal way to get extra income to invest in better
equipment. If you do both (storyline + economics) your
suspension of disbelieve at times gets severely challenged as
the storyline tells you to be at a certain place the next
morning, whereas you go blissfully wandering of to do some
housekeeping (sometimes taking several days). Off course you
could also steal the money (and invest it in treasure maps) but
that still takes you away from the main storyline. The main flaw
with the village economics is that you rather quickly have added
all the improvements needed and therefore get a lot of money you
cannot spend on anything substantial anymore. I do hope that in
the downloadable missions you can do something with the fortune
you are amassing.
Getting all the glyphs (left by subject
16) isn't too hard
either (although cheat maps help). The assassin's tombs are a
bit trickier but you do not need those to finish the game's
storyline (eventually I gave up on the last tomb (Santa Maria Delle Visitazione), so I played out the storyline without the
benefit of Altaïr's special outfit). I decided to get at least
fifty feathers to get the Condottiere Warhammer, while still playing the
storyline. The war hammer is a mighty weapon but not necessary to finish the game
(you can buy better equipment) and gathering the
feathers does not really add anything to the story, which is a
shame (that his mother spends all this time on her knees is also
a challenge to the believability of the storyline). Getting
everything for the villa and town (including Ezio's outfits and
weapons, the paintings and the statues) I also did while playing
the storyline. I left most of the treasures, so that I
would have
something to do once I had finished. Now I'm left with
the side missions, which keep you occupied while waiting for the
downloadable content. As they are not really part of the story
they are not as much fun as the rest (but it helps you keep in
practice). The extra missions that came with the black edition,
however, were more fun as they do have mini storylines. Here
again you have to use your imagination, as one of the two takes
place when Lorenzo di Medici is still alive (I played them after
finishing the storyline). The same will be true for the
downloadable content.
Verdict
assassin's creed ii delivers all that was promised
for the first game and more. Adding the economic system makes
getting new items a lot more believable (as is the healing). The
factions are a great new addition (especially the courtesans,
using them as a distraction is a lovely non violent way of doing
things). The new weapons system gives you more choices, the
double blades are inspired (a double blade assassination
especially from a high position is spectacular to watch,
consequently
I sometimes went against my own decision to try and kill as few
people as possible). That you can now disarm your opponents and
use their own weapons against them is another great addition
especially the long lances (sweeping and when they get broken).
The smoke bombs, although pricy, also help you in your missions,
especially if you want to avoid killing everyone. Stealth
assassination is entirely possible this time around and in
theory you could play the game only killing the conspirators.
Swimming and diving also add to the gameplay and the enjoyment
of the game although here again you have to take some poetic
licence (in real life you couldn't possibly swim with an
enormous war hammer hanging from your belt). The new planters
(and similar objects) with which you can swing around corners
are also a great addition. Now you just want to use them for the
fun of it and the grace with which Ezio moves. Finally to keep a
long story short, the ability not only to change your weapons
but also your outfit which is carried through to the cut scenes
(yes I know, more games do that now) makes everything even more
immersive.
Wish List
Does this mean that there isn't room for
improvement? No. First of all the visualisation of the
character's faces could be better (note, this is a wish list).
There were scenes in the beginning where the faces really
distracted me from the dialogue. Futhermore, despite installing the patch, my game froze on two occasions
(one of which the whole system froze and I had to switch it off
in mid game). With the money situation, either make things more
expensive or add new ways I can spend it (help people with
money, buy nice things for my friends and family or treat them
in another way, add more property in Monteriggione or elsewhere,
etc., b.t.w. why do I have to have all this money on me, why
can't I deposit it in my own bank?). And why keep the architect
there if I've build and improved everything? Then, if we have to
gather things like feathers could this please be more rewarding?
Or untie it from the story. If you really think about it, it
would be agonizing for Ezio to see his mother suffer so long
(and why do we in the end still not know why Petruccio gathered
the feathers in the first place?) . For the final game, I know
that Desmond is going to play a larger part, but I really
would hate it if large parts of the final game did not play in a
historical setting where swordplay is logical and where there
naturally are high towers to climb and leap from. And finally,
this game looks so great and Ezio is a great character to
identify with, so could we have more downloadable content (than
the two episodes that have been announced) with a storyline for
this game? And if there is to be another game centred around
Ezio (which would be great and which according to rumour might
happen), please make it for the PS3 (or XBOX/PC) and not for the
Wii or one of the portable devices, because that would be such a
waste of everything there is in the game now (great graphics,
great gameplay, great main character, etc.).
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