Decent But Highly Overrated
The first Assassin’s Creed was the fastest selling new IP in recent memory and for good reason! The ability to climb virtually anything and assassinate evil doers in ancient times appealed to a huge audience. But the first game felt unfinished in many ways that prevented it from being as good as it could have been. The sequel attempts to remedy this but does it succeed or will Assassin’s Creed 2 just more of the same.
The big thing that hindered the first Assassin’s Creed was the way it was set up. EVERY mission felt the same. You’d climb to the top, talk to someone or maybe follow someone in order to gather information on the target; then find and kill them. After awhile this became incredibly boring. Thankfully Assassin’s Creed 2 has fixed this with a more traditional approach to telling its story. This time you go to a location and active a story Grand Theft Auto-style. I would certainly say that many of the missions within the main story are still far too similar to one another, but there’s no doubt that this is a welcome change and the whole game flows far better because of it. The story itself and the main character Ezio are far, far more interesting than Altair ever was and because of this you’ll feel compelled to keep playing. Another thing I find so much more interesting is the setting, which takes place in Italy during the Renaissance era.
Graphically, Assassin’s Creed 2 doesn’t look a lot different from the first title. It doesn’t look bad but it is kind of dull. Pop-in is plainly visable in many locations along with lots of other weird glitches throughout the world. Still, when you’re riding through the mountains or observing Florence from high above, you will certainly find yourself in awe. It should also be noted the architecture that they've managed to capture is simply incredible.
The music is well done and while it’s nothing groundbreaking it’s suiting and epic. The guards as well as the cities residence have MUCH, MUCH more dialog compared to the first game. This helps to really make the cities feel alive. Battle sounds are impressive with plenty of clanks and clashes. One thing I did notice though was that while I was on my horse riding from one location to the next I would cross a bridge and the sound effect was no different than if I was riding on normal ground. A minor gripe but noticeable none the less.
Gameplay is a real mixed bag. When your climbing these massive structures that are centuries old, heading towards your next target, it’s pretty amazing. But in situations where guards are chasing you or when you’re doing something that is timed and have to get to the next location fast, the controls will go janky on you. For example, while hanging you’ll intend to jump to the building on the other side but instead the controls will misread your action, you’ll jump to the side and into some water. In many ways, Assassin’s Creed 2 doesn’t feel much improved from the first title in this respect.
Combat against enemies is really pretty boring. You lock on, wait for them to attack, press a button to counter-attack, rinse and repeat. On the plus side though, there are a lot of nifty new weapons to change things up a little bit but you’ll find yourself going back to what works more often than not.
Assassin’s Creed 2 does a lot of good things. The story is intriguing and will keep you playing to the end. The five cities are enthralling and large (especially Venice). Climbing massive world-renowned structures as you move about is awesome but tends to get tedious towards the end of the game. Likewise, combat is incredibly bland and cumbersome. So, for all its good, Assassin’s Creed 2 can also be incredibly frustrating at times due to its numerous flaws. I just don’t feel the sequel does enough to improve upon the previous game to warrant a $60.00 purchase. However I can say that it’s an excellent rental. In the end, two words describe Assassin’s Creed 2 best: highly overrated.
