The Trees are Crooked but the Forrest is Breathtaking
First of all, I absolutly LOVE Assassin’s Creed 2. In fact I would venture to say that it is the most interesting video game franchise out today. It takes you to exotic new locations and times, introduces you to some of the most influential historical figures of all time from Richard the Lionhearted to Leonardo Divinci. I love this series.
That being said, this is one of most infuriating games I’ve ever played. The original Assassin’s Creed still tops my list of most frustrating games . This one falls very far from competing with that coveted title, but, in its own right, it has some flaws that make themselves apparent throughout the course of the game.
The problem is that this game is so elegant and awe-inspiring most of the time, that when it doesn’t go your way, it instantly stands out. The best way I can describe it is that Ezio does not work well under pressure.
When he’s chilling out, jumping around the city, he is very responsive and knows exactly what you want him to be doing. But when you are being chased, chasing someone, or trying to maintain a time restriction, which happens often in this game, the gloves come off in a big way.
It seems that when Ezio gets flustered his first response is to jump directly off a tall building. I found myself having to keep a well-stocked medicine pouch not due to formidable enemies, but to counter-act the inevitable time when Ezio decides to jump of the side of whatever building I am currently climbing.
Accept when I am actually trying to jump off a building, that’s a whole different story. If I am trying to jump off the roof of a building Ezio too often daintily stumbles off the edge and grabs the side. At which point I hammer the B button so he will let go and take the fall like a man. Again, by itself, this seems fine, but when I need to move fast this whole maneuver takes chucks out my precious time.
The Story is amazingly crafted and thrilling but, at some point, it feels like I am no longer avenging Ezio’s family so much as I am killing all the sketchy business men who ever talked to Rodrigo Borgia. The minute an old, fancy dressed man comes into frame; Ezio takes out a personal vendetta on them. Many times throughout the game It would have been very easy for me to simple run up and stab the game’s main antagonist and Ezio’s long journey for revenge would have been fulfilled, but instead I cannot. Players criticize Assassin’s Creed for being repetitive and boring but at least I felt like the game set a goal and achieved it.
Also, some missions require you to “remain unnoticed” where in you must maneuver around the guards until you get to your target at which point, you slaughter someone in the middle of a street. It doesn’t seem necessary to be so stealthy when, no matter what I do; the inevitable conclusion will be open combat. It is a game play mechanic that is understandable but seems not believable in this context.
One more complaint: During the middle of the game you run into a rag-tag bunch of thieves that partner with you to take down a tyrant in Venice. The thief girl (I don’t remember her name, big surprise) runs past you and jumps up a building in broad daylight, in the middle of a city packed with archers and guards. She gets shot with an arrow (no, really?) Suddenly you, presumably a complete stranger, take it upon yourself to rescue this girl from her half-assed plan. After a few minutes of her and her thief friend barking orders at you to kill the guards like it’s your responsibility, you arrive at the hideout/ alleyway by the docks. These thieves struck me as the most incompetent band of misfits in Italy. I could not make myself respect or even like these characters (Antonio is cool but, come on man get it together).
OK, done with the bad stuff. Ultimately, none of these thing s detracts from the overall amazingness of this masterpiece of a game. This is my game of the year. The level of character customization is fun and engaging. I find this game so fun to play that I find myself going back to the game to get all the achievements just to have a reason to play it. There were times in this game where I just enjoyed watching Ezio scaling buildings and jumping through the air and finding myself in disbelief of how beautiful this game is. In fact, I am rapidly running out of things to do in this game. I have bought all of the painting, weapons, armor and upgrades. I found all the glyphs, and beat all the Assassin’s Tomb s to unlock Altair’s Armor and fully renovated the villa. (By the way, did anyone else find the architect a little off-putting? It’s like he was saying “Hello Ezio, give me money”)
Without mentioning it in details I will say that if I wrote down exactly what happens at the end of this game, it would sound completely ridiculous. In its simplest form this game seems like the work of a madman, but through skillful writing, amazing graphics, some of the most satisfying platforming of this generation and Thorough character development, Ubisoft has managed to make it into not only my favorite game of this year, but a landmark achievement in the history of video games.
