I loved the first Assassin's Creed. Over all, it was a very well presented game, but it had some tiny (and some not so tiny) issues that stopped me from having as much fun as I should have. I have six things that must, at all costs, be fixed in the sequel if I am to buy it before it hits the bargain bin.

1) MORE ASSASSINATIONS!

In the Assassin's Creed, my favorite parts were the assassinations. As it was, I got the game (for $59.99, exactly four hours before the price dropped to $29.99) because of what the game proposed on the front and the back. ASSASSIN'S Creed. The assassinations themselves were what made me play the game, but there weren't enough of them. Out of the ten - twelve hours of gameplay, only about two were assassinations. For the entire game, the assassinations themselves were broken up by mindless, repetitive tasks that detracted from the gameplay.

2) Less Talky, More Die...y

In Assassin's Creed, the targets never figured out when to shut up. The scenes and stuff before I move in on the kill were really cool, and, most of the time, really made me want to kill the heartless bastard. Then I go and knife him in the back of the neck (or the front or side, I'm not partial to one as long as the guy DIES) he still finds the strength to rattle on for ten minutes about stuff that is somewhat interesting, but, at the same time, stuff that I don't care about. Yes, there are a couple of sentences that are really imperative to the story, but they're disguised by nine minutes of useless crap. I was listening to one, and, about half way through, I expected him to talk about his day: Well, I got up this morning and had a piece of toast, then I brushed my teeth... blah blah blah. I was getting ready to yell at the TV SHUT UP!, and then it ended.

3) Better Required Missions

What was there for the required missions: Stealth kill guards (Fun) Collect Flags Within Set Time Limit (NOT Fun) Pickpocket, Eavesdrop, Beat Up Informants (In the Middle).
Stealth Killing x amount of guards in x amount of minutes without getting caught is fun. We need more of that! Unfortunately, you only got to do this ONCE per assassination. Collecting the flags was bad. Who the **** put the flags up there anyway? And why is there a time limit? What could this POSSIBLY reveal? Pickpocketing and Beating up informants, I could do those a couple of times before I get tired. Eavesdropping, however, is dull and broken. How can Altair possible hear two people over the roar of the crowd, especially from across the damn courtyard?

4) More (and better) Side Stuff

Fighting thugs to protect the damsels in distress was fun! But there wasn't enough of it. Side stuff involved fighting thugs, scaling viewpoints, and collecting "hidden" flags (usually out in the open, but colored the same as the sand/walls, of course)We've already established that fighting thugs was fun! Scaling the view-points are cool too, but flag collecting is stupid. Instead of collecting these stupid flags, maybe we could get optional assassination contracts. That would kick so much ass!

5) Improve the Gameplay Mechanics & the World Itself

The big open world was great, and full of detail, yet, at the same time, it still felt closed off by loading screens and what-not. Not only that, but despite the huge crowds in the city, the cities felt empty because there wasn't much to do. Fighting the thugs was FUN! Maybe if you go down a side street or alley you stumble on a group of them hanging out or something! And kill them! On top of that, the fighting system is broken, at best. Getting in a fight with a large group of guards was fun, until I realized that only two or three would attack me at once. The others just stood around barking at me in different languages. Also, why can't Altair swim? This reminds me of GTA: Vice City. I had a brilliant idea on how to escape the police: I'd swim under a bridge! Then I hit the water, and drowned! Idea wasted. I had a brilliant idea on how to escape the guards (or at least slow them down) (see the similarities) by swimming around the harbor area, but no, I drowned. Idea wasted. What kind of serious assassin can't ****ing swim? And finally, the saving system needs to be addressed. In a big open world game, there needs to be a save anywhere option. I grew tired of having to complete a side quest or something just to save the game.

6) Stealth Kills >>> Blade Kills, and Should be Rewarded as Such

In Assassin's Creed, the assassinations were the best part about the game, we've already stated that, but it doesn't hurt to refresh out minds a little. Now then: There were two ways of doing an assassination. Fighting, and Assassinating. The one thing that hindered Assassin's Creed to the point of disgust was that you weren't rewarded for Stealth Killing a target. I do feel that, since a lot of the stealth kills were really hard to pull off, we should be rewarded for them. As it is, we get the sam thing we get as if we fought him outright: Pat on the Back, Good Job, now get the hell outta there!...Ten minute load...Good job. Here's a sword/more knives/WHATEVER!. I'm not saying give us better weapons, but I'm saying that it could unlock some cool stuff. Maybe if you stealth killed like all the targets or something, you could get a secret weapon, like a cross bow or something. How cool would that be?

As you can see, those are the six things that are a must to fix for Assassin's Creed 2. If they fix those, they'll have one of the best games this gen, easily. Thank you for your timeand patience.

Kenaue, OUT!