Assassin's Creed II Review

Story- Assassin's Creed II picks up right at the end of Assassin's Creed. Desmond is in his bedroom when Lucy Stillman runs in and tells him that they need to leave Abstergo. Before they break out, Desmond syncs in with another one of his ancestors, Ezio Auditore Da Firenze. Desmond is then taken to a hideout where he enters Animus 2.0 reliving the life his ancestor in Renaissance Italy.
Ezio is a young Florentine Noble who lives the life that everyone dreams of. That is until one day he is betrayed by people who were close to him and his father and two brothers are executed. Giovanni Auditore leaves Ezio his Assassin's gear and Ezio heads off seeking revenge upon those who have betrayed his family, only to uncover a conspiracy larger than anything he could have imagined. Although the story may be a bit overwhelming at times, it is definitely a memorable one and very well written.
10/10

Gameplay- The "wow-factor" of the Parkour mechanics seen in Assassin's Creed have definitely been subdued this time around. The scaling and free running is largely the same from AC1 and there was no need to change it (why change something that is already excellent?). The addition of another hidden blade and 3 new types of assassinations (Ledge Assassination, Air Assassination and Hiding Spot Assassination) really adds a new twist to the gameplay as Ezio can now approach his targets in new ways. Also the ability to swim will also silence alot of the critics out there. Although the combat has been improved with new weapons and techniques, it still has that "this is too easy" feel to it as enemies attack you one at a time and watch their friends die. The mission structure has also been vastly improved over ACI. Repetition is gone, instead Ubisoft went for a more Grand Theft Auto style structure where you would go to an area marked on the map, that would trigger a cutscene, you do the mission, cutscene. The gameplay is a lot more narrative driven this time.

9/10
Graphics- This game is nothing short of stunning. The two main cities, Florance and Venice have been recreated with incredible accuracy. It is really a visual delight to the eyes seeing such landmarks such as the Rialto or the Basilica. There is also a great amount more colour in this game compared to the grey and barren Assassins Creed 1. The only criticism would be occasional pop-in and poor character faces especially when up close.

9.5/10

Replayability- The story mode takes around 20-24 hours to complete if you just focus on it. After that there is just a huge amount of side quests for you to do. This time, there are actually in-game rewards for completing them. The side quests actually take what is great about the game, and putting a twist to them, such as the assassination contracts and the Assassin tombs. This game will keep drawing you back until you are 100% synchronized with your ancestor.

9.5/10

Assassin's Creed II is an amazing package. The team at Ubisoft really listened to the criticisms of the first game and fixed just about everything they possibly could. The engrossing story will keep you hooked until the end. Italy is just a delight to run around and kill every guard you see with a wide array of Assassination Skills. If you loved AC1, you will want to get a second job just to buy this, if you hated AC1, give this a try and see if AC2 lives up to the promises of AC1.

Overall 9.5/10

Huh? Looks awesome. I totally want this game. I hope I get it.

I played it and it is amazing despite that I didn't want to admit it. I think I prefer the first one though so I'm going to get AC1 and ACBloodlines before getting AC2

demondragondude wrote:

I played it and it is amazing despite that I didn't want to admit it. I think I prefer the first one though so I'm going to get AC1 and ACBloodlines before getting AC2

I'd say dont get bloodlines. I played it and i really didnt like it. For me to say an Assassin's game sucks is big since AC2 was my fav game of the decade. But yeh i dont think bloodlines is worth it. You can basically learn everything about the storylines in bloodlines through the codex pages in AC2

Yeah I'm in the middle of this game and its way better than the first one. And the graphics look awesome especially the textures and lighting. Nice normal mapping too. Anyway I'm having alot of fun playing it.

It is a really great game.

It deserved GOTY....having played and completed both UC2 and AC2....AC2 was amazing.

It should have gotten GOTY.I had doubts when i first got it but that soon changed.This game is so sweet.A huge improvment from the first.

I didn't love Assassin's Creed, and I was a bit disappointed with Assassin's Creed 2. Then again, I didn't play much of AC2, so maybe I should go back and play a little more before fully judging it.

But then again, maybe the AC series just isn't for me.

xSTONEYx187x wrote:

It deserved GOTY....having played and completed both UC2 and AC2....AC2 was amazing.

It deserves it.

The story in the end was pretty freaky...

RagnathePhunkGamer wrote:

xSTONEYx187x wrote:

It deserved GOTY....having played and completed both UC2 and AC2....AC2 was amazing.

It deserves it.

It did deserve it