If I were to be rocketed into the past via some soft sci-fi plot device, Renaissance Italy would definitely be at the top of a long list of places I?d check out. Aside from the socio-economic climate going north and south like a yo-yo and the whole famine/plague thing, I?d be jazzed about the whole experience. As long as everybody spoke English in delightful Italian accents while only breaking into their full blown romance language occasionally to remind me that I am, in fact, still in Italy, it?d be gravy. So, thank you so much, Ubisoft! Thank you for taking the time to craft my oddly specific time travel fantasy!
Well?not exactly. Actually, nowhere near exactly. Whatever.
While the original Assassin?s Creed threw us into a colorful grayish brown world of theological conspiracy (DaVinci Code anyone?), flowing parkour, and head-butting beggar women, the title fell very far from the whole ?instant classic? business due to its general mission structure being as flexible and varied as dried cement and combat that sucked a fat one. AC2 expands on the whole DaVinci fad by actually making the dude a main character, supplies a mission structure that should have been in the first game, and throws everything in Italy. That?s?.pretty much it.
Say what you will about the old AC, but love doesn?t feel like a strong enough word to describe my feelings. In retrospect, my attraction to the game bordered on the fetishistic considering how many times I replayed the damn thing. The concept of slaying a target in broad daylight and then making your exodus straight into a crowd of onlookers or losing your pursuers by scrambling up the sides of historical landmarks was just so?beautiful-so absolutely intoxicating, that I couldn?t put the game down. It didn?t matter that AC?s attempts fell completely flat. I was so immersed in the presentation of this new world and the philosophical war between the assassins and the templar that I could forgive such minor details like a broken combat system (which is a game fundamental by the way), fulfilling the same three chores over and over again, or the fact that every templar and militia man could match Altaire?s uncanny dexterity and rooftop antics while wearing full plate mail. I suppose extreme parkour is a military standard throughout the holy land.
AC2 now jumps onto the scene with dubious apologies and promises of BIGGER, BETTER, FASTER, SEXIER!! While these all sound like great things, I?m no fan of Daft Punk and there?s a real issue that?s been itching under my skin; said issue being that goddamn Ubisoft told me everything about their goddamn game before I even got my goddamn hands goddamn on it. I really cannot wrap my head around this. Why would Ubisoft want the consumer to know all the wonderful little do-dads and gimmicks they?re equipping Ezio with considering that the metaphorical cat has already been let out of the bag in terms of plot since AC2?s forebear? I?ve never known so many details about a game that I hadn?t already played, beaten, discussed with friends, and then replayed then I did about AC2 pre-release.
The new gimmick flaunted more than anything else in this iteration is the country of Italy itself. To be fair, I really don?t want to diminish Ubisoft?s new device. There are moments of true jaw-dropping beauty to be found in AC2; whether you?re riding horseback through the Italian countryside, or scaling the side of the Palazzo Del?Ravioli?or?whatever. Suffice to say, the authenticity paid to each minute detail is truly impressive. The bevy of historical figures and land marks each come with plenty of information on the who, what, where, and when that is automatically placed in your journal if you?re ever in the mood for a bit of heavy reading; however, this does work to the GAMES (emphasis there) detriment. The experience is often times akin to watching some sort of special on the history channel instead of playing a VIDEOGAME.
AC2 provides a new protagonist: Ezio Auditore Da Firenze. Son to a wealthy Florentine banker, Ezio provides all of us AssCreed enthusiasts a breath of fresh air with his chauvinistic yet charismatic demeanor. Shakespearian by no means, Ezio is still an absolute treat when compared to our previous hero: Altaire ? a deadpan, emotionless lemming.
After a brief tutorial demonstrating game mechanics and just how Happiest Millionaire-esque Ezio?s life is, the young man watches half of his family get executed on false charges. AC2s developers reach into the old bag of videogame plot clichés, but it works just fine. If some Florentine politician had my family murdered, I?d want to stab the guy repeatedly too.
This is where I started to become truly confused. AC2 is fairly expedient in doling out retribution upon the one responsible for betraying Ezio?s family. After another brief tutorial where Ezio hangs out with some Florentine whores, I found myself stabbing the bastard repeatedly at some market gala. Yet, not satisfied with publicly murdering the man directly responsible; Ezio browses the dude?s Myspace page and decides to murder all of his top friends as well.
AC2 sets a strange standard after the Auditore?s flight from Florence. Ezio learns to fight proper from his uncle Mario and, being an impressionable young Assassin, takes up arms for just about anyone as long as they ask nicely and say please. Replacing the feuding warlords of the prior game, AC2 offers up a group of fat geriatrics wearing tights and funny hats; and in place of the old methods of meticulously planning your attack on a target coupled with the frenzied escape is some sort of odd, forced emphasis on the linear cinematic experience. Fight against it all you want, but there is no escaping the predetermined fucking route Ezio must take to kill each target in a very specific way. Finally, the death sequences of each target have been made much more concise. Gone are the lengthy, philosophical conversations between two warring factions to be replaced by watered down tripe?
Unfortunate Victim: ?I?m not ready??
Ezio: ?We rarely are.? (Something in latin)
Many people may laud this, but I feel it?s more a blow to the game?s art if anything. Adding a skip feature would have sufficed.
Combat is still wholly laughable and monumentally stupid with the same going for the AI. Enemies line up around Ezio in an aberrantly courteous manner to take turns biting the dust like they?re lining up at a fucking concession stand or something. AC2 approaches the concept of challenge as would a doting grandmother ? showering the player with shameful health upgrades, additional equipment, and more health upgrades. Topping it all off is AC2?s economy system blatantly stolen from Fable II just in case things were getting too difficult. In a nutshell, you?re presented with a shitty villa that you can upgrade into a very nice villa for a price; you get LOTS of money every few in game minutes for doing so, so not doing so would make you borderline retarded.
AC2 had me questioning whether I was genuinely interested in what was going to happen next, or was I just proceeding so that I could write this review in its entirety without feeling like a hack. Both Ezio?s allies and enemies are entirely forgettable and the plot becomes fairly convoluted later in the game. Ezio himself is interesting until his character development comes to a grinding halt and he becomes this sad, stunted mess. Ezio?s malnutrition of character is epitomized (more than anything) in the last scene of the game. Check it out if you want; I?m not spoiling that.
Bottom Line: After just a couple hours, it becomes plainly obvious what AC2 is. AC2 is the kid that got a ride to school every day but no one ever saw his parents because he told them to park a few blocks away. Plainly embarrassed with its source material, AC2 puts on a charade that he?s some sort of new cool kid who changes it up, but fools no one. Everyone can see he still has his dad?s parkour pathfinding system that?s severely in need of an update and broken combat structure. I don?t care that you?re wearing an authentic Italian jacket, kid. You?re still your father?s son.
Recommendation: Nothing I gripe about is a game breaker. It would have been nice to see some real changes in the core fundamentals, but the gameplay is definitely sufficient. Rent it. This game still falls short of being worth full retail.
Well?not exactly. Actually, nowhere near exactly. Whatever.
While the original Assassin?s Creed threw us into a colorful grayish brown world of theological conspiracy (DaVinci Code anyone?), flowing parkour, and head-butting beggar women, the title fell very far from the whole ?instant classic? business due to its general mission structure being as flexible and varied as dried cement and combat that sucked a fat one. AC2 expands on the whole DaVinci fad by actually making the dude a main character, supplies a mission structure that should have been in the first game, and throws everything in Italy. That?s?.pretty much it.
Say what you will about the old AC, but love doesn?t feel like a strong enough word to describe my feelings. In retrospect, my attraction to the game bordered on the fetishistic considering how many times I replayed the damn thing. The concept of slaying a target in broad daylight and then making your exodus straight into a crowd of onlookers or losing your pursuers by scrambling up the sides of historical landmarks was just so?beautiful-so absolutely intoxicating, that I couldn?t put the game down. It didn?t matter that AC?s attempts fell completely flat. I was so immersed in the presentation of this new world and the philosophical war between the assassins and the templar that I could forgive such minor details like a broken combat system (which is a game fundamental by the way), fulfilling the same three chores over and over again, or the fact that every templar and militia man could match Altaire?s uncanny dexterity and rooftop antics while wearing full plate mail. I suppose extreme parkour is a military standard throughout the holy land.
AC2 now jumps onto the scene with dubious apologies and promises of BIGGER, BETTER, FASTER, SEXIER!! While these all sound like great things, I?m no fan of Daft Punk and there?s a real issue that?s been itching under my skin; said issue being that goddamn Ubisoft told me everything about their goddamn game before I even got my goddamn hands goddamn on it. I really cannot wrap my head around this. Why would Ubisoft want the consumer to know all the wonderful little do-dads and gimmicks they?re equipping Ezio with considering that the metaphorical cat has already been let out of the bag in terms of plot since AC2?s forebear? I?ve never known so many details about a game that I hadn?t already played, beaten, discussed with friends, and then replayed then I did about AC2 pre-release.
The new gimmick flaunted more than anything else in this iteration is the country of Italy itself. To be fair, I really don?t want to diminish Ubisoft?s new device. There are moments of true jaw-dropping beauty to be found in AC2; whether you?re riding horseback through the Italian countryside, or scaling the side of the Palazzo Del?Ravioli?or?whatever. Suffice to say, the authenticity paid to each minute detail is truly impressive. The bevy of historical figures and land marks each come with plenty of information on the who, what, where, and when that is automatically placed in your journal if you?re ever in the mood for a bit of heavy reading; however, this does work to the GAMES (emphasis there) detriment. The experience is often times akin to watching some sort of special on the history channel instead of playing a VIDEOGAME.
AC2 provides a new protagonist: Ezio Auditore Da Firenze. Son to a wealthy Florentine banker, Ezio provides all of us AssCreed enthusiasts a breath of fresh air with his chauvinistic yet charismatic demeanor. Shakespearian by no means, Ezio is still an absolute treat when compared to our previous hero: Altaire ? a deadpan, emotionless lemming.
After a brief tutorial demonstrating game mechanics and just how Happiest Millionaire-esque Ezio?s life is, the young man watches half of his family get executed on false charges. AC2s developers reach into the old bag of videogame plot clichés, but it works just fine. If some Florentine politician had my family murdered, I?d want to stab the guy repeatedly too.
This is where I started to become truly confused. AC2 is fairly expedient in doling out retribution upon the one responsible for betraying Ezio?s family. After another brief tutorial where Ezio hangs out with some Florentine whores, I found myself stabbing the bastard repeatedly at some market gala. Yet, not satisfied with publicly murdering the man directly responsible; Ezio browses the dude?s Myspace page and decides to murder all of his top friends as well.
AC2 sets a strange standard after the Auditore?s flight from Florence. Ezio learns to fight proper from his uncle Mario and, being an impressionable young Assassin, takes up arms for just about anyone as long as they ask nicely and say please. Replacing the feuding warlords of the prior game, AC2 offers up a group of fat geriatrics wearing tights and funny hats; and in place of the old methods of meticulously planning your attack on a target coupled with the frenzied escape is some sort of odd, forced emphasis on the linear cinematic experience. Fight against it all you want, but there is no escaping the predetermined fucking route Ezio must take to kill each target in a very specific way. Finally, the death sequences of each target have been made much more concise. Gone are the lengthy, philosophical conversations between two warring factions to be replaced by watered down tripe?
Unfortunate Victim: ?I?m not ready??
Ezio: ?We rarely are.? (Something in latin)
Many people may laud this, but I feel it?s more a blow to the game?s art if anything. Adding a skip feature would have sufficed.
Combat is still wholly laughable and monumentally stupid with the same going for the AI. Enemies line up around Ezio in an aberrantly courteous manner to take turns biting the dust like they?re lining up at a fucking concession stand or something. AC2 approaches the concept of challenge as would a doting grandmother ? showering the player with shameful health upgrades, additional equipment, and more health upgrades. Topping it all off is AC2?s economy system blatantly stolen from Fable II just in case things were getting too difficult. In a nutshell, you?re presented with a shitty villa that you can upgrade into a very nice villa for a price; you get LOTS of money every few in game minutes for doing so, so not doing so would make you borderline retarded.
AC2 had me questioning whether I was genuinely interested in what was going to happen next, or was I just proceeding so that I could write this review in its entirety without feeling like a hack. Both Ezio?s allies and enemies are entirely forgettable and the plot becomes fairly convoluted later in the game. Ezio himself is interesting until his character development comes to a grinding halt and he becomes this sad, stunted mess. Ezio?s malnutrition of character is epitomized (more than anything) in the last scene of the game. Check it out if you want; I?m not spoiling that.
Bottom Line: After just a couple hours, it becomes plainly obvious what AC2 is. AC2 is the kid that got a ride to school every day but no one ever saw his parents because he told them to park a few blocks away. Plainly embarrassed with its source material, AC2 puts on a charade that he?s some sort of new cool kid who changes it up, but fools no one. Everyone can see he still has his dad?s parkour pathfinding system that?s severely in need of an update and broken combat structure. I don?t care that you?re wearing an authentic Italian jacket, kid. You?re still your father?s son.
Recommendation: Nothing I gripe about is a game breaker. It would have been nice to see some real changes in the core fundamentals, but the gameplay is definitely sufficient. Rent it. This game still falls short of being worth full retail.
