VENI, VIDI, VICI
Love and hate are two of the strongest emotions one can feel. One can’t exist without the other. I absolutely loved Assassin’s Creed II, but at some moments, I hated it. Without spoiling anything, Assassin’s Creed II takes place in the near future. Your character, Desmond, enters into the “Animus” (think Holodeck from Star Trek), where he gets to relive the memories of a famed Italian assassin, Ezio Auditore.
The bulk of the game takes place across popular Italian cities in the 1400s. As Ezio Auditore you must avenge the death of your father and unveil the underlying Templar plot to limitless power through ancient religious relics
Ubisoft Montreal definitely poured their hearts and souls into this project. The amount of detail in each area of Italy is unrivaled in any sandbox game. The experience feels very authentic as you hear some Italian and English with Italian accents throughout the entire game. The graphics are great and the amount of activity happening throughout the city is incredible and really brings the in-game world to life
Aside from the main quest there are plenty of side missions and collectibles adding hours of game play to this title. As Ezio you can choose to take on freelance assassination contracts, courier assignments, races or help out troubled wives by beating the snot out of their cheating husbands.
The controls are where the game feels most conflicting for me. At some points the controls feel perfect. Climbing and jumping from building to building across entire cities is very empowering, but every once in a while Ezio will not jump or climb to where you intended him to and it can be very frustrating. Especially when performing a timed race or mission.
The combat at times can also feel a bit flaky and unresponsive. A few weeks before playing Assassin’s Creed 2 I had been playing Batman: Arkham Asylum and absolutely loved the combat system in that game. It has become my point of reference as to how 3rd person action games should control and Assassin’s Creed 2 just doesn’t compare..
Another peeve of mine is that in order to activate some missions you must go to a marker on your map. Once you get to that marker generally you are given an objective that takes place at another point on the map. If you mess up during the mission, you are forced to go back to where the mission was assigned to you. This sometimes forces you to travel across the city over and over which can be disheartening. I wish that Ubisoft would have you start over from where the mission actually starts and not where it is assigned from.
It may sound like I have more complaints than compliments for this title but my feelings overall towards the game are extremely positive and I highly recommend it. If you are a fan of 3rd person action/adventure games like Legend of Zelda or Okami, you absolutely need to play this game. Without a doubt one of the top 5 games of 2009.
