There’s No Conspiracy About This Assassins Creed II Review

It's difficult to believe anything in Assassins Creed II as every event and every word uttered is drenched in deception and conspiracy. Having said that, there is absolutely no deception in saying that Assassins Creed II is a much better game than its first incarnation. Assassins Creed 2 takes all the intrigue and adventure from the first one and delivers an action packed and consistently enjoyable sequel.

The most notable change from the first one is the snappy pace of gameplay that the Ubisoft Montreal developers have injected into it. While the first one had a great start to the game and then slowly drifted off into what some might call the doldrums of gaming, this one starts strong and continues the exciting pace through cleaver improvements in the mission design. Ezio, the games protagonist can go from following a target to a secret meeting spot whereby he'll proceed to dispatch the entire group with the silent grace that is an assassin. He'll then proceed to his good mate Leonardo Da Vinci for a friendly chat and new weapon. There are also plenty exciting side assassination missions that are left entirely up to the players discretion.

ACII follows two parallel story lines the same way the first one did. Desmond in the present time and Ezio who resides in Desmond's DNA, accessed through the Animus. The story picks up with Ezio when he is only an adolescent in the midst of his youthful shenanigans, completely unaware of his mysterious ancestry. It follows him along a path of revenge and discovery as he becomes a deadly assassin. Where ACI followed Altair within a story, AC2 takes a different route making Ezio the story and by establishing a personal connection between him and the player, Ubisoft has created a more engaging story.

The game is set in Italy and the developers have undoubtedly done an excellent job of creating an authentic and inspiring reincarnation of what it was like in the 1700's. You will explore city's like Venice and Florance and mingle with the citizens as they go about their daily lives. Attention to detail is staggering and added with Ezio's prowess to scale almost any vertical surface it creates an entirely new dimension to traversing the expansive maps. While climbing and leaping from ledge to ledge is nothing new to AC, it has been polished and almost perfected in AC2.

The Montreal team have also brought more life an purpose the citizens of the cities. Ezio can seamlessly blend into any crowd of four, hire lustrous ladies to distract stubborn guards as well as purchase items from merchants who operate store fronts across the different locations. What was particularly notable is that Ezio can visit a tailor to have his clothes dyed in order to alter his appearance which is a welcomed change from the assassins deathly white robes.

If Atair's skills as an assassin were a glowing light bulb, Ezio's skills in comparison are bright flood lights. He can assassinate two enemies at once using his hidden blades, one concealed on each arm, he can now wield axes and spears along with his knifes and swords and take an enemies weapon to in order to use it against him. Ezio can also secretly administer poison to unsuspecting enemies to create a distraction, eventually ending in his unsuspecting victims death. He can use a Ninja like smoke bombs to flee potentially fatal confrontations. The game allows you to be creative in so many ways that in the end, the way Ezio's target dies is left entirely up to your imagination.

The developers have also toned down the frustration levels that many experienced in ACI due to control errors and insanely capable climbers on the enemies side. ACII has prompts all over the place that help guide you along the right path and the controls are tighter and shinier than before. Very seldom can one blame death on the controls not behaving as they should. Another welcomed improvement is they way the enemies have been toned down in terms of their pursuit skills. It's now much easier to get away from a blood thirsty mob by climbing a building and finding a place to hide, giving you more time to enjoy the missions rather than playing a continuous drone of escape.

Graphically the game sits up there with the best of them but whats more impressive are the new animations Ezio has acquired. His climbing actually does not looks as effortless as Altair's in ACI which is a good thing because it's not. His body moves as it should and the result is that it's more realistic and enjoyable to watch. Ezio is a master at hand to hand combat and he posses a bunch of deadly moves, each one resulting in a glorious spray of the enemies blood and even though they are repeated from time to time, they are always a pleasure to watch.

Assassins Creed II captures the true essence of a sequel, it remains true to the original, builds on it and improves it in almost every way. If you were a fan of the first one, you will love ACII and if you did not enjoy you will almost certainly change your opinion. Escape to a world that is Assassins Creed for a true gaming spectacle.

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