Assassin’s Creed II – Xbox 360 and PS3.

The original Assassin’s Creed and its protagonist, Altair, seemed to divide the world of gamers. There were those of us who understood its open-world aim and stringy-but-interesting storyline and were able to play it without too much judgement and then there were those of us who were unable to get past the bizarre science-fiction setting of the actual storyline and its all-too-linear missions to really enjoy the game underneath it all.

In the end, this left Ubisoft with a game that was a commercial success but that left a sizable chunk of its audience desperately crying out for improvements in the sequel. One of the most astonishing things about Assassin’s Creed II is that the opinions of us gamers got taken on board during development.

To date, I have played around 10 hours of the game (equivalent to around 36%, according to the in-game statistics, which sounds like nothing at all…but believe me, that couldn’t be further from the truth – this is a fairly sizable game).

Since the evening that was mentioned by Cameron in the previous post, I have yet to actually find myself dragged out of game-play and back into the dreary grey science-fiction world so familiar to us from the first game. As you will no doubt find out upon playing, that drab back-drop from the original game is no more, as in the beginning moments of the game, we escape from the Abstergo Labs with Lucy, a returning character from the original game, to a warehouse where a group of Assassin’s have set up their base and have their own Animus system (This is also where we get to meet a scarily life-like Danny Wallace!) As soon as the game-play drifts into the memories of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, it is easy to find yourself swept away in the immersive world of 15^th-century Italy, with all the satire and humour you would expect to find! Again, as Cameron has mentioned, the script-writing is particularly impressive (especially when you consider how lacking it was in the original). Personally, the times I find myself most amused by it all is when something you found yourself thinking moments earlier is suddenly echoed in Ezio’s narrative.

That being said, it would be easy to criticize the story by mentioning that it is slightly clichéd (avenging the death of your family, and all that) but regardless of this, it has been enjoyable so far!

One of the things that struck me the most about the plot of the game is how much better it seems to flow than the original. We are now given choices as to whether we choose to proceed with a certain mission at a certain time. Yes, we will eventually have to go and do certain missions in order to proceed with the storyline, but until that point, we are free to explore the expansive world of the game, with new areas regularly opening up on further completion of missions. The view-points (and the stupidly enjoyable leap-of-faith moments from them) are still present, but in addition we now have courier missions, races and assassination contracts that we are able to carry out. These bring a ‘free-flow’ aspect to the game and are enjoyable spacers to have a bit of fun with between missions.

There are also side-projects (for want of a better word), some reminiscent of Fable II, such as the reconstruction and improvement of the Auditore family villa and accompanying town/fort. This also brings you an income too, which is quite handy for picking up some of the new items that you find in-game, such as smoke bombs, medicine vials and poison. You also are able to do small side quests, involving the infiltration of landmarks to find ‘assassin’s seals’ which in turn enable you to unlock an room containing the armour (passed down through generations of assassin’s) of Altair.

These are both fun and challenging and will serve to prolong your enjoyment of the game. There is also a plot-angle where you get to learn about ‘Subject 16’ and find out ‘the truth’ via the means of puzzles/mini-games, but I’ll leave all that for you to discover.

The control system, in particular the free-running, is a lot looser than in the original game and is entirely better for it. Combat has also improved opening up more options during fights, like the ability to taunt or disarm your opponent. These enable you to develop your own combat style and play in the way you want to.

In addition to the game-play aspects, the graphics have improved substantially too. I, personally, found the original game to be quite glitchy on occasion. Granted, it was mostly after I had just fallen from a substantial height. On reflection, it could have been my fault(!)

The fly-overs and view-point synchronisations are breath-taking, giving you beautiful (albeit, virtual) views of renaissance Florence, Tuscany and Venice amongst other places. Ezio is beautifully animated, as are a number of the non-player characters in the game. Even the general peasant/gentry population are smooth and detailed. It is easy to see, looking around the towns and cities at ground level, just how much effort has been but into this game. Ezio can swim too! Thank goodness! It was extremely frustrating with Altair to think that you were getting to safety only to realise that you’d fallen into a river and drowned, having to start an entire mission again.

All these little tweaks and improvements have not only created a game that is a major improvement upon the first of the franchise, but a game that is able to stand-out on its own, regardless of its previous incarnation. The final result of Ubisoft’s labour is a polished title, free from most of the shortcomings of a lot of other games in its genre. In my opinion, it is an utter joy to play and I feel that it is capable of impressing many people: those who enjoyed the original, those who found the original irritating and difficult to cope with, and those who are taking their first step into the realm of Assassin’s Creed.