Assassins Creed 2, and its drug-like properties

By JJWeatherman January 3, 2010 9 Comments

As stated in a previous status update by yours truly: "I have an addiction... to Assassins Creed 2".
 

Very few games manage to get me to actually want to collect every last hidden collectible--whatever they may be--in a game. Assassins Creed 2 really is one of those games. There have actually been three games this year that have done this to me. The first being Resident Evil 5. I was completely obsessed with upgrading every weapon and getting infinite ammo for every gun that I actually use. I played that game non-stop. Then came Shadow Complex which awakened this urge in me yet again to collect every single thing possible. Of course this is a situation that is a lot easier to find your self in when it comes to Shadow Complex. Basically because every item is listed with a question mark before you find it, so you really can't unintentionally miss anything. So I thought that two games that brought out this OCD-type nature in me was already a lot for the year. Then I played Assassins Creed 2.
 
Right off the bat I wasn't expecting to be pulled into this game the same way I was with Resident Evil 5 and Shadow Complex. If anyone doesn't know, you start off the game as more or less a regular guy. It takes a little bit before you get to truly become an assassin. So I was kinda just expecting the same types of things that you could collect in the original Assassins Creed. A few flags around the city or something similar was all I was really expecting as far as collectibles go. Man was I surprised when I found out that not only were there feathers--that basically have taken the place of flags--but also an entire myriad of other much cooler and interesting things to collect.
 
With each new kind of collectible item that was introduced, I had somewhat mixed feelings at first. I initially thought collecting all these different things sounded really interesting in what could possibly come out of them, but it seemed like an impossible chore to actually go out and find everything. After putting a considerable number of hours into the game, I can indeed confirm that it is in fact a chore, but is somehow done in the best possible way. I'm constantly finding myself purposely avoiding story missions in order to collect everything I can as soon as possible. I think it's a sickness. From what I can tell, I think Vinny has this sickness as well.   :P
 

Anyways, I don't want to go on too long about stupid collectibles. But there is one specific "collectible" that is peticularly interesting though. I think most people know about it, but it's basically a series of like twenty or so glyphs on certain notable structures throughout the game. These really have me hooked on finding them at the moment. I have diverted all resources lately in the game to finding these so that I can hopefully make some sense of the video fragments you eventually recieve after finding them. The puzzles you are forced to do before you get the videos are pretty awesome so far as well. They are pretty clever and usually contain some incredibly interesting--although mostly fictional--information about historical things like the assassination of JFK for example.
 
So, yep. I felt like telling the world about my obsession with Assassins Creed 2 and more specifically the collection aspect of it. It's a great bunch of additions to the overall story line that I hope will pay off in a big way once I start to complete some of the collections. How bad do you fellow Giant Bomb community members have this OCD nature to collect everything possible in certain games? All I know is, I have the fever, and the only prescription... is more Assassin's Creed 2! (In addition to cowbell of course)
 
And now, what has become my favorite sign off:
 
Peace out ya jive turkeys!

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