Once again - the best thing about Assassins Creed 2 is simply being there!
Assassins Creed 2 is almost there. It has beautiful graphics, animations and landscapes. The best part of Assassins Creed (1 and 2) is simply being there. Once again Ubisoft Montreal has offered us a magical world drenched in history and mystery that totally absorbs the player into its welcoming arms. This is the sort of game that has the player absorbed from beginning to end. This is also the sort of game that needs a lot of time to play. It will do no good to play for an hour or so at a time as the real magic is in falling into their alternate world and living there for a time being. Whether you are following the main story or just running around collecting treasures, Assassins Creed 2 is a joy to play and will keep you absorbed no matter what you are doing.
The first Assassins Creed took a lot of criticism for its repetitive game play style. Personally, I did not agree with these criticisms and don't see much improvement here either - although it was never really an issue for me in the first place.
Improvements include the battle system, the ability to swim, the extra features such as owning your own village, renovating the shops and taking a piece of their income, more versatile environments and the way the story is told.
The story works much better this time around. It's more personal, more fast paced and there's certainly more emotion involved. Our protagonist in the first game was a bone-fide killer where in this game we have to learn to become one. It somehow shows us that there is a 'real' person inside those robes.
The sound is excellent. The same sweeping, ambient sound overhauled for a new time and place gently blending modern with renaissance.
Gameplay, despite it minor improvements, remains greatly the same - and that is certainly not a bad thing. The controls are tight and responsive and the additional combat moves are very welcome.
When all is said and done, it is not a perfect game. The character animation, when not donning the robes, is exaggerated. The story at the beginning (modern world) is farfetched and the cut scene graphics leave much to be desired. After playing Uncharted 2, it almost feels like a step behind in that department but there is more to do here and the world is more engaging and vibrant.
Enemy AI is far from perfect. It's very easy to escape and easy to fight dozens upon dozens of foes all by yourself. Come to think of it, the game is very easy but this is not the sort of game that tests your gaming skills (that's ninja gaiden) this is a game that is accessible to everybody.
It wants to tell a story and immerse the player into their world and it does just that almost perfectly.