Assassin's Creed II
Review
The assassin strikes back
by Chris Scott
reviewed on X360
Money needed
The double blades and the rest of DaVinci's gadgets are not the only pieces of equipment that Ezio will come across though. Unlike Altaïr who made due with the weapons he was given by his masters, Ezio is free to outfit himself however he wants by heading to the local blacksmith and purchasing armor and weaponry. Just like in real life, you need money to make a purchase and the in-game economy is one of the new additions to the overall gameplay. Ezio can gain money in a variety of ways. The easiest way is via completing missions, but players can also increase their coffers by pick-pocketing people in the crowd or looting corpses or chests throughout the world. The most interesting way to gain money, for me at least, was through the money your "safe house" generates.
Much like Altaïr in the original game, Ezio has a safe location that he can return to in between missions which happens to be a run down family villa. Ezio is granted the option to upgrade and improve the villa over time using his hard earned money. By doing so the villa's value increases and in turn generates money for Ezio to spend on further upgrades for the town or for his own personal use. Upgrading the apothecary for instance gives Ezio a discount on healing and poisoning agents whereas upgrading other areas of the town will grant additional benefits of a similar nature.
Hiring help
I mentioned earlier that sometimes Ezio will have to enlist his surroundings to help him out and while it is obvious that I was referring to Ezio being able to climb and jump his way to safety, I was also referring to Ezio's use of money. Ezio can hire certain groups, like courtesans, thugs or thieves and have them help distract or disable the guards. If none of these groups are in the area Ezio can always toss some money on the ground to start a little mass hysteria which can distract the guards as well.
Upgrading Ezio's armor and weaponry is important but the best upgrade in the entire game is not something you can buy but rather earned. Ezio can lay hands on Altaïr's armor but to do so he must find six Assassin tombs scattered throughout Italy and collect a piece from each. These tombs were probably some of the most enjoyable areas of the game for me as they are primarily a platforming puzzle. Ezio has to jump and swing to the tomb, sometimes over expansive drops where falling means instant death. But enough about all that. I could spend all day discussing the various improvements, additions and side quests to the game and I might not even scratch the surface. Suffice it to say that Assassin's Creed II is the game that Assassin's Creed wanted to be.
Visuals and sound
From a technical point, Assassin's Creed II looks and sounds great. Some may prefer the Holy Land setting more but I for one think Renaissance Italy is a far more interesting environment in terms of architecture and color. Many of the buildings have sloped roofs, which makes for some interesting judgments on jumps and the color of the city is bright and vibrant. Speaking of bright and vibrant, the character models really impressed me during my play through. While it is quite evident that many of the character models were reused, such as the minstrel, everyone looks authentic and it helps to create the illusion that this is really a living, breathing world.
As good as Assassin's Creed II looks, it sounds better. The soundtrack is fantastic and the voice work is even better. While the characters all speak English they speak with Italian accents that while certainly not authentic lend an authentic feel to the narrative which is really allowed to shine because of the voice work.
One of the best
Many people thought that the 2009 gaming season ended with the release of Modern Warfare 2. Those people were wrong. Assassin's Creed II is without a doubt not just one of the best games of the year but of this generation. Its narrative is unparalleled by anything else I have played this year and the gameplay matches it superbly. I could spend all day gushing over how great a title Assassin's Creed II but all I am doing is holding you up further from actually playing it.
9.7
fun score
Pros
Better than the original in every single aspect. This is the game that the first wanted to be.
Cons
The story ends.
