Ubisoft is a company I have a love-hate relationship with. For the most part, I adore their Tom Clancy games, and Assassin's Creed 1, while dissapointing, was still something I found to be a lot of fun. On the other hand, they shoehorn the rabbids into anything they can, and they also release a lot of garbage products under their "Imagine" label that I honestly don't believe anyone enjoys.
This is one of the games that makes me love them.
Assassin's Creed 2 accomplishes what every sequel is supposed too. It brings the best of the first iteration, and fixes all of the flaws. To start, the game absolutely nails Renaissance era Italy. The architecture of the cities is as authentic as it gets, down to the social level. This is as close to the real thing you can get without a time machine. Every time I entered a new area, I was blown away by how distinct and alive it felt, and I couldn't wait to start exploring. Bards sang songs of my adventures, guards take breaks from patrols to chat with each other, couples argue, the list of ways the world of Assassin's Creed 2 is alive is staggering.
On the control front, the game uses the same system as the first. Each face button is attributed to a different limb, and holding the right trigger enables more atheletic, but attention grabbing, abilities. For example, with the trigger held, the B button tackles people. With it released, the B button gently pushes people aside. To perform acrobatic maneuvers, you just hold the trigger and A, and push the analog stick in the direction you wish to go. Ezio will effortlessly grab or jump to ledges, rocks, poles, or anything else he can reach.
But the biggest improvement is in how the game works. The game no longer takes you out of control from Ezio after the each mission. Once you get in the Animus 2.0, you'll only be taken out of it twice, and both times are for big plot moments. Whenever you complete an assassination, Ezio only exchanges a few words with his victim, in contrast to the long winded monologues Altiar held after each kill. The flow of the game is so streamlined in comparison to the first it's amazing. The structure of the game boils down to an open world formula that feels both linear and completely nonlinear at the same time. As the player, nothing forces you to go from mission to mission, but you will probably choose to do so of your own accord just to see what the game has in store next. That's one of the changes I love. If you choose to plow through each mission one after the other, there is nothing stopping you from doing so. You don't need to sit on benches or climb big buildings to earn the right to further the storyline. As a result, it feels more like, you know, a game, instead of a chore. Apart from the missions, the player is free to search for clues to a deeper conspiracy left behind by the previous user of the Animus, collect items, upgrade armor and weapons, restore a town from a slum to a glorious city, perform side missions, and retrieve treasures from tombs of legendary assassins. The relationships you form with the characters is huge, and throughout the game Ezio makes quite a few friends, such as Leonardo Da Vinci. Even the players relationship with both Ezio and Desmond is fleshed out. I could both see and experience the growth of the two characters. Ezio goes from a cocky womanizer to an honorable and trustworthy man through the course of the game, and it's, to put it simply, badass.
Assassin's Creed 2 is one of the best games I've played, and even people who hated the first game should consider checking this out.
You fist fight the pope. Why aren't you playing this game yet?
