Written by: Chris W.

 

 

I enjoyed the original Assassin’s Creed. But there’s no getting away from the fact that it had an overly repetitive structure and much in the way of unfulfilled potential, both of which gave one the sense that it was merely framework to be built up on for much better future iterations of the series.

 

It turns out that that’s exactly the part that the original game played, as "Assassin’s Creed II" is a substantial improvement.

 

The story is the same likeable nonsense as the first game and sees the return of Desmond Miles, a trainee assassin who is developing his skills through the Animus: a machine that allows him to live the memories of his ancestors. In the first game he followed Altair, but this time around proceedings jump to the 14th century and the perspective switches to Ezio Auditore da Firenze and the Italian renaissance.

 

Ezio is a more well rounded and likeable character than his forebear, particularly as in the early stages of the game he is not an assassin, but a mere energetic teenager, albeit a very athletic one. The death of his father and brothers pulls Ezio into the world of the assassins, resulting in him donning the familiar hooded robe.

 

For the most part, it’s an enjoyable enough story, though the closing scenes do prove to be quite baffling.

 

Again, the game takes place over multiple locations, the two main areas being Florence and Venice. Unlike the original game there are much more disparities between the towns and cities, and Italy of the 14th century has been brought vividly to life, thus climbing the many large buildings of each area is once again a great joy.

 

Each area also has much more interesting things to do, too. Structurally, you’re no longer forced to carry out the repetitive tasks that you were previously required to, before you were even able to attempt the primary missions. This time these side tasks are relegated to mere diversions, though they are certainly worthy to be so much more. There’s races and courier missions (both make great use of the very intuitive free running), assassination missions (kill people who very much deserve it), and beat-up events (rough up unfaithful husbands again and again), all of which are fun and great ways for making money.

 

 

Speaking of making money, early in the game you’ll come across a villa which can be upgraded to earn you income every 20 minutes. Upgrades are carried out with cash and income appears in the villa for you to collect.

 

One big diversion is the quest for Altair’s armour, which sees you exploring 6 tombs. These are platforming sections with some light puzzle solving elements, all of which brings to minds Ubisoft’s own Prince of Persia series and are a welcome change of pace from the rest of the game. It’s just a shame that more of the main missions couldn’t have been designed like these very sections.

 

But the main missions still offer much more variety than the original game, and are no longer just simple assassinations, but are often preparation prior to the main event of the nasty deed of killing your targets. Sadly when it comes to this, whilst it’s never less than enjoyable, there’s little in the way of challenge and tension. Additional level of difficulties would certainly have been welcome.

 

Also, I’ve got to say that assassinations are still all too simple, and Ubisoft could take inspiration from something like Hitman, at least in the sense of making things feel that little bit deeper. I realise that they’re attempting to woo the casual audience, though us hardcore players are also an audience that are deserving of being pleased, as well.

 

 

The combat, too, whilst satisfying enough and undoubtedly better than it was the first time around, could be a bit better than what it is. It’s great that many enemies now counter your counters, making for encounters that encourage more than just sitting back and waiting until you’re attacked, but it’s a bit simple and just doesn’t bridge the gap between accessibility and skill as, for example, the sublime Batman: Arkham Asylum manages to do. It’s a good example of combat looking far better than it actually is, whilst Rocksteady’s game looks good and immensely satisfies, as well.