Assassin’s Creed 2 Review
By Saurabh “Nemesis!!!” Rajeeva| Friday, December 11, 2009
Ever since Altair successfully assassinated the hearts of millions of gamers with his free-roaming-roof-running-silent-assassin gameplay in Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed two years ago, fans have been going berserk at the slightest glimpse of work in progress on the sequel. While the traditional success formula for a sequel (as evident in blockbusters like Halo 3, Gears of War 2 or Resistance 2) is to adopt a bigger canvas, grander thrills, enhanced visuals and longer campaign, the sequel has to move beyond the realms of being just an ‘error-free extension’ to establish its own identity by delivering a unique gaming experience. The perfect brand ambassador for such games – Assassin’s Creed 2 retains successfully tested elements like super-fluid character movement, open world gameplay, great graphics and brilliant audio even as it expands into a bigger world with real locations and characters, new features like full-fledged economy and day-night transitions, immersive storyline and a wider variety of core and side-quests. It will not be far-fetched to claim that AC2 is a shining example of ‘how to better the best’ and a virtual guidebook on ‘sequel making’ for its competition - all while rightfully earning its nomination as one of the most outstanding titles of the year!.
Presentation
Pop the Blu-Ray in and you’ll face a simple 3 choice menu: Story Mode, Options and Extra. Beginning a new storyline brings up strange glyphs at first sight, throwing your senses off-track, before merging into Desmond’s room in Abstergo Industries facility where he’s been held captive throughout AC1. You’ll instantly notice that Desmond looks way more detailed and crisper, and so do his surroundings. The slick in-game pause menu shuttles smoothly in and out between various options in an elegant silver, grey and maroon scheme. The rich detailing and high value production efforts are evident and Ubisoft seems to have left no stone unturned in making gamers feel ‘rewarded’ while playing or navigating through the game. With a great first impression, be ready to get sucked into AC2′s beautiful Italian world that will keep you engaged for a very long time!
Story
After the oustanding Prince of Persia series & AC1, there’s no denying the fact that noone delivers history lessons better than Ubisoft; and inter-woven across a fictitious storyline, the gameplay involvement runs even deep. Picking up from AC1, the basic premise in AC2 is still the continuing struggle between Templars and Assassins. The original protagonist & modern-day Assassin descendent – Desmond Miles, now escapes from captivity at Abstergo Industries (modern day equivalent of Templars) with the help of Lucy – an Assassin working undercover at the facility. Desmond then enters Animus 2.0 to relive his genetic memories as Ezio Auditore de Firenze, and locate artefacts known as ‘Pieces of Eden’ which are crucial for saving the world from a turbulent fate.
The main protagonist Ezio, a young nobleman residing in the Italian city of Florence during 15th Century Renaissance, is forced to flee with his mother and sister to Monteriggioni after some terrible turn of events. With help from a number of allies, his quest to destroy the conspirators takes him through the Italian cities of Rome, Venice, Tuscany (San Gimignano), Apennine Mountains and Romagna (Forli) besides Florence and Monteriggioni to unravel a web of intricacies much greater in scope than he could ever imagine.
AC2 wants the players to develop a bond with the lead characters and also appreciate the importance of others, which is why it probably adopts a relaxed yet effective pace of storytelling. While successfully balancing its pace with mission variety, AC2 does not let the story become a drag by throwing up twists and surprises at the right moments to sustain interest & anticipation for the next stage of adventures. You are sure to find Ezio quite believable and likeable, thanks to his initial carefree life around street fights, romances and family errands – elements that we all grow up around. Adding further realism is Ezio’s reliance on allies for his skill-set and mission progress, mainly on a young Leonardo da Vinci – the famous painter and inventor, who deciphers codex pages and makes gadgets for Ezio (including the first Hand Glider based on his real drawings).
If story crunching seems routine, you can take a welcome break by picking up a variety of side quests that require Ezio to race across rooftops, bash unfaithful husbands, carry out thrilling assassinations, raid Assassin Tombs to obtain seals or search for codex pages, treasures or feathers. These side missions feature occasional contextual elements that create an apparent connection to the main quest. Copious well executed cutscenes, featuring a mixture of superb English-Italian voice-work, provide sufficient details towards further progress in the story.
AC2 also features a database with details on characters and places of interest in the game. Besides this database, finding & deciphering Altair’s codex pages helps unlock memories that unravel additional notes on his endeavours as well as on ‘Pieces of Eden’. The game also features hidden glyph search and puzzle solving (one even featuring a picture of Mahatma Gandhi!) to throw light on the experiences of a certain ‘Subject 16’ who has left behind clues that reveal ‘The Truth’ – a sequence of videos offering further insight into the game’s back-story. Don’t be surprised if the parallel story tracks of Desmond in present and Ezio in history create occasional black holes in your assimilation of the storyline. AC2 is overflowing with information, but a little amount of patience towards reviewing the database, decrypting codex pages and solving ‘Truth’ puzzles can help you take stock of things quite easily.
