Assassin’s Creed II Review
Played on Xbox One (base)
Developed by Ubisoft Montréal
Released 17th November 2009
2009 was a fantastic year for video games. We had legendary titles like Batman Arkham Asylum and Infamous release and beloved sequels like Uncharted 2, Modern Warfare 2 and Left 4 Dead 2. Despite that, there was another game that was released in the same year and was considered better and a generational hit: Assassin's Creed 2. AC2 was so good when it launched that it ended up winning Game of the Year awards from GamePro, Eurogamer and The New York Times; Best Action Adventure Game from Spike Video Game Awards (the predecessor to today's The Game Awards) and was primarily the reason as to why Ubisoft started to pump out more AC games viciously. Even to this today we can feel AC2’s impact as it ended up defining a blueprint that all future open-world games would follow.
On June 1, 2009, the game was officially revealed with a four-minute cinematic trailer at E3 (R.I.P). Despite the rumours it was set in the French Revolution, the trailer displayed a beautiful Renaissance Italy and a more agile protagonist. Since the first game, the development team's size had increased to 450 members and 240 of those had the opportunity to go to Italy, travelling through the cities that the game ends up accurately portraying. This jump in developmental power and the expectation-exceeding success of the game had given Ubisoft a taste of unfathomable wealth, for better or worse, and was enough to put them at the front and centre of the gaming industry as one of the biggest publishers of the era. In a way, this was Ubisoft's own Renaissance.
Story
Assassin's Creed 2 is a revenge tale done right. The story continues with Desmond Miles from the first game, escaping Abstergo and their Templar world domination plans. In order to train Desmond as a modern-day assassin and help find the location of the Piece of Eden, he is reinstated into the Animus to follow the life of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, an up-and-coming assassin in 1400s Italy, who aims to dismantle the Templar Order and avenge his family's death. As was the case in the first game, the narrative's primary focus will be the historical simulation, while the present-day antics matter more in the grand scheme of the story. The historical fiction was done nicely. The simple premise of revenge is basic but it works well in this context, even if the tropes of a lone wolf protagonist are tiresome nowadays. The pacing is also done extremely well, as the adventures of Ezio span across 20 years providing a greater development of the narrative, posing the Templars as a more potent threat, and of the characters, creating more moments of bonding and redemption if their first impressions weren't as strong. This and the more cinematic cinematography work better to portray this as a narrative-led experience rather than the "fly-on-the-wall" perspective of the original. The intersections of the story that follow Desmond also work in this regard, feeling less like unnecessary filler and more like significant pauses in the usage of the Animus, and it mostly retains the flow of the gameplay by having the player test their skills with Desmond that they picked up from their time with Ezio.
So the historical fiction is done effectively, what about the science-fiction elements? Well, they work better here than they did in the original but the excessiveness of the mythological-scientific relics partially dampens the experience. The sci-fi components are done to a really intriguing point, especially with the final scene having this eerie mystery behind it that re-engaged my interest in playing the next AC game. However, the Pieces of Eden being used as a writing tool where they dictated the flow of ruling in history, from Jesus Christ to Rasputin, still feels too absurd for me to enjoy, yet, Ezio's trilogy still manages to handle this oddity the best by making it seem interesting enough and being fully integrated into the plot more efficiently.
Gameplay
The gameplay is an improvement on all fronts. In the original AC, you were able to traverse rooftops and run through bustling streets, but the increase in verticality, speed, density and variety of scaleable architecture provide a greater parkour experience in every single possible manner. The faster pace is just more "fun" and that was clearly an intentional direction that Ubisoft took to appeal to a wider audience. While in most cases it provides an incredibly smooth upgrade of parkour with a higher versatility in acrobatics, triggerable animations and better-feeling controls, there were times when this had an inadvertent effect when the game would continue your inputs for you in an attempt to make the parkour flow longer which would do the opposite and cause for some unneeded drops or messed up jumps. Other than this, it was a wonderful, fluid way to traverse these nicely decorated cities.
On the combat side, it has also drastically improved. The faster pace doesn't just apply to the movement as the sword fighting and stealth feel more rapid than previously but it also has an added level of depth. While this depth isn't anything extraordinary by today's standards, it still was a welcome addition. The combat introduces many more weapons, with varying movesets like that of a hammer, spear, longsword, and shortsword, and the enemy diversity feels grander featuring around 4 enemy classes with differing speeds, parrying abilities and more, compared to the first game's singular, bland enemy type. The stealth also benefits from this. While AC2 stands to be as action-packed and cinematic as other third-person action-adventure games from that era of gaming, it doesn't fully abandon the stealth embedded in its DNA, as you're now able to use a variety of new tools like a poison blade, wrist pistol, smoke bombs, etc, and interact with the city more by hiring mercenaries to assist you in combat or courtesans to attract guards away from their post. All of this is in addition to the standard mechanics already present in the first game like hiding in a crowd of people or using throwing knives. The basic stealth is also greatly improved to a standard that fits both other AC titles and other stealth games. Air assassinations, ledge takedowns and hidden eliminations feel more accomplishable to do, and the option to do double takedowns with your dual-hidden blades not only is as badass as it sounds but also makes for a more fluid and accelerated experience.
The only real flaw I found is that I wished that the side missions of Assassination Contracts would have more depth like gathering intel like in AC1 rather than a "go here and kill them" ordeal. Other side quests are done to either a satisfactory degree or bring the best of the game out as you either go to a random area to fistfight a cheating husband or do a timed-based parkour challenge.
Having done a 100% completion (yes, the game is this entertaining), I'd have to recommend it to others, however, you should watch out as two or three achievements may cause you grief with how annoying they're to do and on Xbox (with the Ezio Collection), it's common that an achievement won't always unlock, meaning that you could've missed your opportunity to do a full 100% in a single playthrough.
Characters
Just like AC1, there are some greatly interesting caricatures that get their quality undone by the unfulfilling voice acting and over-dramatised dialogue. Is it as bad as AC1? No. But it hasn't improved to a state that I can fully commend. There are some highlights entrenched in it like Ezio's witty and charming persona or Caterina's strong performance, but most of the characters end up sounding one-note by having all their lines of dialogue too centralised on the Piece of Eden. That goes double for the roster of its mostly forgettable antagonists.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere can be described in one simple word: beautiful. The interpretation of Renaissance Italy is beautiful. Each city, from Venice to San Gimignano, looks incredible and is different enough in its selection of structures for me to recognise and traverse without having to constantly check where I am on the map.
The layout of traversable objects that protrude out of the buildings may look slightly videogame-y at times but it fits the aesthetic well and doesn't sacrifice the intricate detail of the Italian architecture. However, much of the empty space sections felt out of place, they looked beautiful, but felt incomplete to walk around.
The soundtrack was also beautiful. Just beautiful. The greater focus on the 1400 culture of Italy rather than sparsely including futuristic/sci-fi sounds like in the original results in a much more evocative soundtrack that radiates all the keywords that this game built up: brotherhood, family, rebirth, art, and more. Plus, track 3 - "Ezio's Family" - is up there as a contender for the best piece of music in gaming media that I've listened to.
Story - 8/10
Gameplay - 8/10
Characters - 6.5/10
Atmosphere - 9/10
Great
There is a reason why people consider this to be in the discussion for the best video game sequels of all time. It does exactly what a sequel should do: overall improvement in quality and advancement in what the original offered.
