SPOILERS I will put another Spoiler warning before the actual spoilers.
So, my last review was of Assassin's Creed. Great game, but had its fair share of problems. So lets review its sequel! Assassins Creed Part Deux.
The game starts off literately right where the first one ended. You get a quick recap of the previous game and then your off! Time to escape Abstergo with Desmond and Lucy. Ah Desmond. You were an interesting plot twist in the first one. Now you are just preventing me from stabbing dudes. No fear, because he eventually actually DOES get to stab dudes! But not right now. HAHAHA!
Lucy was an Assassin all along and now she is helping you escape from the Templar run Abstergo Industries. To speed things up, basically, you escape, meet a couple new people, and get hooked into the Animus 2.0. This new one lets you stay in it much longer, so that way you can...be in the interesting part of the story much longer. The reason you're in the Animus in this one, is so that by playing as your Ancestor Ezio Auditore, you can learn from him by way of the Bleeding Effect.
The story is already much improved from the first one. You don't get pulled out of the Animus as often, and therefore, the metastory is less intrusive of the interesting story.
For most of the game you play as Ezio Auditore, an assassin during the Renaissance. Ah, but this time he doesn't start out as an Assassin. You start the game at his birth, and go along with his life as it happens. This makes for a much more compelling character ark for Ezio compared to Altiar. You see Ezio's life, you live it, you spend time with his family, his friends. So when you get down to the mystery of the story, you really WANT Ezio to get to the bottom of the betrayal.
It also may be because Ezio has a personality. He is a fun-loving, wise cracking playboy. But he grows throughout the game, but never loses his personality. It makes for a much more fun character to play as.
The only problems I really have with the story is part of the conspiracy aspect. As you go through the game, you start knocking off people on your list, connected to the conspiracy. Then when you are down to the last person, suddenly more people are added to the list. Its not very rewarding, but it does have a story purpose, so I can't really hate the game for it.
The other is the ending. Talk about a disappointment. SPOILER SPOILER You fucking invade the Vatican! YES! SWEET! Once the bad guy was revealed as Rodrigo Borgia, any history buff knew where this was heading. A goddamn battle with the most corrupt pope in history. And you finally, FINALLY, get to use the Apple of Eden. Suddenly you have five Ezio's helping you attack Rodrigo. Which basically amounts to, keep stabbing so he can't stab back. What the fuck? Then you go down into the Vault, and its going to be a good ol' one on one fist fight. An epic conclusion no? Just keep on punching and he can't hit back...Now for the actual cliffhanger ending of Ezio's story was a disappointment as well.
Okay now we can get to everything else. Is it me or are the graphics worse then Assassin's Creed? Seriously, everything is muddier. The faces are also terrifying. Seriously. Its not a severe detractor to the game though.
Now the gameplay. The combat is a little different from the first game. Because now counters are even more overpowered. Yay. The real meat of the gameplay is in the openworld. This is one of the best open worlds in gaming history. Exploring Venice and other places are just fantastic. There are soooo many things to do and see! And I never once felt like I needed to do any of it! From exploring Assassin tombs, to doing Assassination Contracts, all of it was fun, and never really frustrating.
From upgrading Monterigonni, to collecting Feathers. I will always remember how fun this game was. There is a wide variety of things to see and do, and you will never be bored by the end of the game.
Assassin's Creed 2 is a fantastic game, and still has yet to be bested by the newer releases in the series.
5/5