Media Consumes Me

Assassin’s Creed 2 is the new release from Ubisoft, following the story of Desmond as he uncovers his family’s secret legacy. Met with equal parts praise and criticism, Assassin’s Creed was equal parts brilliance and mediocre tripe (which I guess is an accomplishment in and of itself). But the real question is this: is Assassin’s Creed 2 any better? (Warning: thar [may] be spoilers!)

In the beginning, the player is greeted with a flashback/narrative sequence, meant to fill players new to the franchise in on the events of the original Assassin’s Creed. However, the first improvement shows itself before the game even begins, simply with the menu screen. The first game was simple and straightforward enough: “Press X to begin.” However, this often left me wondering what would happen if I wanted to start a new game. Would it overwrite my existing game? Did I need to start it under a different profile? Was I even allowed to? It’s very comforting to see three save slots when starting a new game in Assassin’s Creed 2, though I do have to ask, “Why only three?”

The flashback goes into a good deal of detail about the previous game, something I wish games like Gears of War 2 did, but we can probably assume this is because the mixed press surrounding the original Assassin’s Creed prevented many from playing it. I might even go so far as to say that this recap could suffice for anyone who didn’t play the original, as the plot was a little difficult to follow or – at times – find.

Fly Ezio, fly. Fear not the water like your ancestors did!

After being filled in, the player is shown a wall with cryptic writing on it. As with the first game, there are plenty of easter eggs to be found here, most notable of which is a reference to Quetzacotl, which leads me to believe the next game will be set in the Mayan empire. However, there are plenty of straws to grasp at, with theories ranging from WWII to present day.

A bloody birth, quick escape, lots of swearing, and comically tragic fight sequence later, we are finally brought to what we’ve been waiting for: The Animus 2.0 (the device which allows Desmond to relive the memories of his ancestors). There have been a significant number of upgrades to the system, and more than just a little bit of mischievous tinkering from the mysterious “Subject 16,” who has a secret to reveal to Desmond through a series of (surprisingly fun) encryption puzzles.

Upon entering the Animus, we finally get to see Assassin’s Creed 2 in all its glory, and with all its flaws (which are admittedly few).

The Good:

• Holy crap, there’s an actual plot, complete with character development! In a story that borrows slightly from Romeo and Juliet, we see (and play) the story of Ezio, as he goes from womanizing troubled teen to a man driven by vengeance, to assassin. The story, while not exactly heart breaking, is quite compelling.
• While being chased by the guards, climbing rooftops and leaping from flagpole to flagpole, I reached the river which runs directly through the town. Remembering my experience in the original Assassin’s Creed, I began to get nervous – Altair, while a badass assassin, was unable to swim. Not only that, but it seemed just touching water meant instant death. On a whim, and with nowhere else to go, I jumped. To my enjoyment, Ezio began moving his arms in a motion not completely dissimilar to a breaststroke. Not only that, but diving under the water can be used to break line-of-sight with the guards.
• More options as an assassin: you can now throw money as a distraction, buy poisons, and throw smoke bombs. You can fight with a sword, a dagger, and not one but TWO hidden blades (Double face stab? Yes, please). You have more mission types, though some of them do feel like slightly re-skinned versions of the old ones.
• The world is more massive and beautiful than the first. Day/night cycles and highly detailed textures bring the massive cities to life.
• The combat has seen some improvements. While all your favorite moves are still there, you now also have the ability to disarm and use your opponents’ weapons. Yes, an assassin is trained in the use of all weapon types.

The Bad:

• As mentioned above, more mission types doesn’t exactly mean more mission types. However, there are more than in the first game, so it’s an improvement.
• Free running is still a little less than smooth. After playing a game like Mirror’s Edge, Ezio just feels clumsy.
• The accents are pretty bad. Every character sounds like a reject from the Super Mario Bros. voice casting calls.
• This game suffers from a common malady of the modern console game: DLC hell. Already, there are 3 different DLC packs available (2 dependent on where you bought the game from and a third unlockable through Ubisoft’s latest experiment, Uplay), making it difficult to get the full game right off the bat. There may be more DLC planned down the road, which may not be a bad thing, assuming the core game has a decent amount of content.

The Neutral:

• There is a lot of history in this game. At times, it almost feels like a walking tour of Renaissance Italy, with all of the contextual database entries that pop up as you pass landmarks. This really helps to flesh out the world, and make you at least feel somewhat educated as you stab peoples’ faces.

I haven’t completed this game yet, and hope not to for a while. Without multiplayer and no DLC yet, I’m hoping to draw this one out as long as possible. However, based on these early experiences, my suggestion is to go out and buy Assassin’s Creed 2 ASAP. It definitely addresses all of the issues the first game had, and managed to throw in a few extra things to boot. If I can get 20 hours of gameplay out of this one without needing to drop more cash on DLC, I’ll be a happy camper. Something tells me I’ll be getting way more than that, though.

Assassin’s Creed 2 released Tuesday, November 17 for PC, XBox 360 and Playstation 3