I am making this a new episode of my What I'm Playing/ What I've Played This Weekend series. But: This time it's a double post, because this weekend I managed to finish two games: Assassin's Creed II and Darksiders.
So, let's start with Assassin's Creed II. I played the first game back in 2007 when it was released and had tower high expectations because of all the hype. After all, it was a fresh new type of videogames, "designed for the next generation" as Jade Raymond, the sexy and clever producer said. In the end the first game turned out to be repetitive (do the same type of sidemissions over and over again) and confusing (damn, that was the freaking most annoying start a video game ever had - nobody knew back then that the story was about time travel). However, the game already showed it had a solid foundation (thanks to fluid gameplay and amazing mo cap) and I remember how 1Up gave it in their review a rather low score with begging to make a killer sequel. And you know what? I've been skeptical about Assassin's Creed II, but that's exactly what happened. Assassin's Creed II is bigger, better and far more bad ass (You will always be remembered for this sentence, CliffyB) than it's predecessor in every way (And because of this it made no sense that Jade Raymond stepped in the background, leaving all the fame for Patrice Desilet).
It begins with a good story. First, there are only a handful of interruptions (The Matrix, as I like to call it, where the story comes back to the present time) in the course of the game. 95 percent of the time you play as Ezio in the Italian Renaissance, which is a blast. And how is that? Well, at Ezio is a likeable adolescent charmeur and thug from a rich family. Turns out that his father is an Assassin. (By the way, watch his awesome story here, if you haven't already!). When he is imprisoned and later hanged with half of the family, Ezio takes his place and begins to plan his revenge. In the course of the game you'll meet many interesting and unique characters, slay lots of conspirators and travel through the whole North of Italy - from Florence to Venice. Ezio shows character development, becomes a grown up, efficient silent killer with the game spanning over a decade from betrayal to the slaying of the end boss.
But a good story is not enough to make a game worthwile these days. And so Ubisoft took the criticism of the first game to their hearts and created a massive, open world with lots of different sidemissions. From beating up whoring husbands, to races against agile thieves on the rooftops of Venice to finding the tombs of the six assassins, there's lot of mileage for your money. I don't want to lean too far out of the window, but as an action adventure it reminded me sometimes of The Legend of Zelda games with the whole horse riding and exploring aspects. But in a good way - isn't every action adventure influenced by Zelda, at least a bit?
Anyway, the graphic is impressive, which is propably not only because of the amazing far sight and the ultra smooth animations of the characters, but more because of the whole level and art design. I've been to the Tuscany of few years ago and that is exactly how it looks. Ubi really managed to catch the atmosphere and architecture of Italy. Combine that with a night and day shift and bam - there you have a crowning achievement that shows how greatly videogames evolved from Pong in the 70s to now. As a child I'd never imagined that videogames would one day be like this. It's a great time to be a gamer nowadays (Sorry, hardcore retro gamers).
Anyway, I don't want to write a book here. I can sum up that Assassin's Creed II is a very, very enjoyable game, which combines a good story with impressive visuals and great gameplay. The only point I can critize is that the sequences 12 and 13 have been cut out and can be bought seperately via DLC (The devs were under time pressure, but why they haven't delayed the game a few weeks stays their secret). I had my fun with this game and I am interested in seeing which route the series is going to take (the devs spread some rumors about a spin off with Ezio and multiplayer). If you like good games, you'll like Assassin's Creed II.
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