Rating:
4.5 out of 5
Short Version: Assassin’s Creed 2 far surpasses its predecessor and makes for a very enjoyable experience. You can find a few flaws here and there, but nothing that should deter you from the game completely.
Game Rant reviews Assassin’s Creed 2
When Assassin’s Creed was first released, I myself had high hopes. After playing the game all the way through, I was ultimately disappointed with the overall product. A good game, yes, but definetly lacking in some areas. Assassin’s Creed 2, released on November 17th, hopes to remedy the mistakes of its predecessor. So buckle up, grab a bite, take a bathroom break for all I care! The review starts now.
In Assassin’s Creed 2, you start out as the main character from the first game, Desmond Miles. Things at Abstergo are a little shaky and you begin by escaping the building with Kristen Bell (ahem, I mean Lucy). There is an interesting little scene before the escape, however, where you get to experience the birth of your newly discovered ancestor, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, first hand. It adds a bit of charm to the game, and it’s nice to see Ubisoft adding a bit of background to this new character.
After escaping Abstergo Inc., you meet up with the Order of Assassins, some old friends of Lucy’s. They introduce you to the Animus 2.0, the machine that will let you live more of Ezio’s life. After you enter and have first tried out some of the adventure, you can already tell this is a whole new ball game. The interface is cleaner, the graphics more crisp. Where the first game didn’t offer much for customization, the second game has nothing but. You can do everything from choosing new weapons, to changing the color of your clothes, to even getting new (and old) sets of armor. It makes the game much more enjoyable, and makes you really feel like Ezio is progressing with you.
Altair, the first ancestor you worked with, is a far more quiet guy than Ezio. Where Altair was an angry individual, caring only about his job, you really feel for Ezio. The murder of his family early in the game drives him to become an assassin, similar to his father before him. Mind you, much time has passed since Altair’s time, set in 13th century Israel, and Ezio’s 15th century Italy. With this change in time, your technology improves as well. That’s where your friend, one “Leonardo Da Vinci”, comes in.
Leonardo, a friend of the Auditores, will equip you with everything you need for your quest. The first game gave you a sword, dagger, hidden blade, throwing knives, and your own bare hands. Ezio is a much luckier guy, equipped with two hidden blades, one of which can later have poison added, all of the above, a flying machine, a pistol (just a small one…), and much more. It pays to have friends in high places.
Speaking of paying, these items may all come for free, but your upgrades do not. You are now given currency, called “florians”, and you must spend them on whatever takes your fancy. If that means buying the newest sword, it must be done. Need some medicine for the ailing assassin? You have to budget your cash. It adds somewhat of a role-playing element to an otherwise straight-forward game, and makes your decisions more strategic. I never had much trouble finding money, handed out during main and side quests, but you have to dedicate yourself to doing everything if you want all the upgrades.
Now, the central theme of the game: Combat. Combat is improved, and I found myself enjoying the random visits from the guards more than I did with the first game. Assassinating two guards at once is a blast, and I couldn’t get enough of seeing the shocked faces of their comrades. Using bullets and poisoned blades on your opponents adds an element of strategy to the game, and can make your battles much easier.
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lol,
I LOVED THIS GAME… spoilers ahead.
playing as desmond was awesome. it was like finally the story is starting.. CANT wait for 3..
they cliffhangered us but what more of a good cliff hanger could you ask for. The way Ezio was told hes just the prophet, hes just to carry the message was an AWESOME twist.
and like desmond, i was like wtf haha
oh and the credit sequence rolling while your dispatching enemies is sick.
then the absolute craziness
during the final credits your told that the whole purpose of the assassins now and all that eden crap is to prevent a catostrophic solar flare.
are you kidding me???
assassins creed just went from the way past to beam me up scottie… lol i love it.
hopefully in three youll be pulling off movies against bullets and modern.
Modern Assassination 1.
Coolz lol
After playing through this game i would give it a 4, it was AS repetitive as the first one, but i still found myself just stabbing guards in the face with counter moves with the dual blades. The money was easy if u just upgraded your fort, by the end of the game i was getting over 80k of florians when my box filled. Overall i am excited to have them finally reveal the games actual story line. It would be cool to play as Desmond in a futuristic type setting instead of the past. Also the girl, Lucy, i didnt realize was Kristen Bell from Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Overall i was entertained but i still found it overally repetitive, tho not nearly as much as the first. The final boss fight kinda sucked too.
**it was not AS repetitive as the first one, was what i meant
Yea, I had a feeling this game still would fall into repititive nature. Tho not nearly as much as the first one. Also statues and stuff to find in the world for me isn’t worth playing thru a second time so the replay value would be low in my book. I’ll still check it out thanks for the review.
not to be a spoil sport or anything but the game did come out a few weeks ago.
im getting this after i get the borderlands DLC (not released yet in australia), i didnt play the 1st one much (didnt like the combat) but my brother loved it to some degree, and if all the hype is correct then #2 will keep him hooked for weeks
I really liked this game, although I was let down in some areas. Yes, the game did fall into a repetitive nature again, but it did vary compared to the first game. I was really hoping Rome would be playable. I know, I know, it is a lot to ask for. But when you opened up your map and locations and Rome was listed, Im not going to lie, but that excited me more then Venice and Florence. I was all about scaling the Colosseum. I did enjoy playing as Desmond and enjoy even more that its Nathan Drakes voice. All in all it was a good game, and if they keep the trend up of enhancing the experience, then the third time is a charm.
@jwalka – Sorry about the latency, but I am a very recent member of the team, and their previous reviewer did not do this as agreed. I enjoyed the game very much, so I thought I’d give reviewing it a go
It is a briliant game with a good story and amazing graphics. But it does take a little while before you get used to the controls because there are so many!!! But it is a really good game and you should get it for PS3 of Xbox360
Great review and couldn't agree more. This game is miles better than the first. I did like the first one and found it enjoyable. However when I really got into AC2, I realised just how bad the first one was. I mean AC1 had some great ideas but was very boring.
I loved the characters, especially ezio and leonardo. You get into the story and the characters very much and what I liked was that their are endless things to do once the story ends that are actually enjoyable and worthwhile with the currency system in place. Again, great review, very well written
It with sand and expansive world style game play this is a great improvement over the original, despite the fun that can get old doing the same thing three side missions over and over again. Even now determine the Italy of old time, which is wonderful, it is more fun than the Middle East from the last match. Ubisoft listened to its fans and made this great chain re-tightening, which it deserved, if you enjoyed the first game will definitely enjoy this one.
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