Assassin's Creed II

"They see me rollin'..."

The Assassin's Creed series makes the move from the Middle East to Italy.  Players must guide Ezio across many famous Italian Renaissance cities in an attempt to find and kill his family's executioners...

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Recommended Age Minimum Age Available On... 16 14 PS3, Xbox 360, PC Overall Fun Length Frustration   Violence Sexuality Substances Gambling 8 7 6   8 7 2 0 Mods Religion Anti-Law Community Sports Magic Miscellaneous 0 10 7 0 9 0 6

• Overall Fun - 8

Despite some of Assassin's Creed 2's shortcomings, I did enjoy it thoroughly.  It was an excellent single-player experience and aside from some problems with the mechanics and storyline I was definitely entertained and would recommend the game to most players.

The “parkour” mechanics (see "Definitions") definitely showed some improvements from the previous Assassin’s Creed.  Everything was much faster and, for the most part, seemed to flow more seamlessly.  There were definitely problems with the mechanics (see the “Frustration Factor” section for more details), but considering the amount of variables that were always in play, I was generally satisfied.

Sneaky sneaky.

New enemy types were added, each with their own set of skills.  Some guards hand long pole-based weapons which could easily reach long distances to damage the player.  Brutes had huge power weapons that could break the player’s guard and were impossible to counter against.  There were also some fast, nimble guards that could easily outrun the player.  It all seemed to balance very well.

Unfortunately, some of the problems I had with the first Assassin’s Creed were magnified exponentially in AC2.  One aspect in particular was the different storylines.  The Italy-based memory sequences were awesome and the storyline fit perfectly with the gameplay.  However, the memory storyline had to be tied together with the real-time storyline, which required some serious creative writing.  The result was something that made even less sense than the previous game and frustrated me to no end.

In short, the Assassin’s Creed storyline states that all religion is false but that Christianity is at least somewhat based in fact.  Adam and Eve were the first humans to get control of a “Piece of Eden” and thus gain the knowledge of the forerunner race.  Adam and Eve escaped what I can only assume is the Garden of Eden in order to form the human race.  The forerunners are aliens and they seemed to have made humans in their image.

What frustrated me about this isn’t that the storyline is illogical but that it’s entirely unnecessary.  The Animus storylines are already deep enough with compelling characters that I want to find out what happens to Ezio and his allies.  If the real-world storyline was cut completely the loss to the overall cohesiveness would be minimal at best, and in some ways it would make the storyline even more cohesive.

Evidently, these created humanity.

For example, Desmond (the real-time character) is supposed to be linked to both Ezio in Italy and Altaire in the Middle East through heritage, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to relive the memories of either character.  However, there was no love interest in the first Assassin’s Creed and thus no explanation as to how Altaire passed on his genes.  If the game did not include the real-time storyline the link would be simply that they were both part of the Assassin’s guild in the ongoing fight against the Templars.  But because of the real-world link between the two, the developers had to include a scene where Altaire chases and implicitly gets it on with a random female target.

Despite this, the game was definitely worth buying and playing.

• Length - 7

Unlike the previous Assassin’s Creed, AC2’s length is almost entirely fixed.  There are extra side missions that the player can participate in, but the overall length of the storyline is otherwise dictated by the storyline.  The number of missions within the game has increased significantly which adds to the length.

Achievements and challenges do take a significant amount of time and solving the “Subject 16 Puzzles” will add on an extra hour or two of gameplay.  The optional DLC will also add on extra hours of gameplay.

However, once the main storyline is complete and the achievements are earned there is very little to do in this game.  I manage to complete it on the first playthrough and haven’t touched it again since.

• Frustration Factor - 6

There were three aspects of this game that left me feeling particularly frustrated of which each player should be aware.  First, certain aspects of the “parkour” mechanics (see "Definitions") have improved significantly since the first Assassin’s Creed.  Ezio is able to climb much faster than Altaire, which means that the significantly taller buildings of Italy do not take the hours to climb that they would have under the old mechanics.

However, the camera angles left me absolutely steaming at times.  Unlike Assassin’s Creed 1, which only had a few obstacle courses, AC2 has tons of them.  This meant that the flaws in the mechanics were made particularly obvious.  To add to this frustration, the camera changes angles to “help” you jump in the correct direction, but the change is often so abrupt that you’ll still be pushing the movement stick in the direction required by the previous camera angle, which will cause your character to jump into an entirely illogical direction.  This often results in an unnecessary loss of health and potentially even the death of the player.

Secondly, the combat mechanics have also improved from the previous game, but some of the combat results were unbelievably annoying.  For example, the combat mechanics dictate that only one enemy is allowed to attack your character at once (since your character can only counter attacks from one enemy at a time).  Frequently, however, the enemies would break this requirement and two would attack at once in what was an impossible to counter attack.  This broke my concentration and frequently led to a significant cost in health.

Finally, the game’s developers clearly did not have enough time to properly finish the storyline in time for the game’s release.  As a result, they cut two chapters of the main storyline.  The sequences skip numbers 12 and 13 and go straight to 14.  These missing sequences were later released as a DLC that you have to pay for.  I have no problem with companies releasing DLC content, but when the content was clearly intended to be part of the main storyline the players shouldn’t be charged extra.

2.     Parental Notices

• Violence - 8

As with the first Assassin’s Creed game, violence is included in AC2.  However, the amount and types of violence have been increased dramatically.  Players in the first assassin’s creed were usually discouraged from engaging in open combat with anyone, including assassination targets.  Parts of AC2 require heavy combat against guards and targets.  While the quantity of violence is still lower than the average shooter, it definitely increased compared to the previous game.

Brace for impact!

The quality of violence also increased as well.  The previous game included some counter moves like impaling a charging guard on the player’s sword.  AC2 has taken those finishing counter moves to an entirely new, grotesque level.  There are many counters I could mention, but one of the worst ones was when Ezio takes a pike, impales it into an advancing soldier, then releases and pushes the solder back gently.  The soldier falls back sprawled but hanging on the pike, then slowly slides down the pike to the ground.

Anyone up for kebabs?

The counter moves aren’t the most violent thing I’ve seen in a game, but they definitely rank up there.  Skewering soldiers or poking their eyes out with broken poleaxes is hardcore even for my tastes.

• Sexuality – 7

If Ezio had a primary career, it would be that of an assassin.  If he were to have a second career, he would be a playboy.  Ezio has a habit of at least flirting with nearly every woman he talks to, and even beds a few of them in the game.  The sex scenes are never shown explicitly, but they’re always implied (with language and the camera showing him either going to bed with the girl or waking up with her).  While it’s not too explicit, it’s not the kind of thing I’d feel comfortable letting anyone under the age of 16 watch me play.

There are two examples of sex in the game.  The first is Christina, Ezio’s Florence love interest.  Ezio scales a building to enter her room via a window and wakes up the next morning in her bed.   The player has to interact in the beginning of the scene by clicking a few buttons.

A video of that interaction can be viewed below:

The second is a random girl who challenges Ezio to a horse race.  Going to bed with her is the “reward” for beating the previous winner’s time.

The underground society that the main character becomes a leader of includes “courtesans”.  There are multiple missions in the game surround helping or working with both the courtesans and their Madame.  While Ezio is able to hire courtesans, he hires them to be a distraction to guards, not for their “services”.

Courtesans are easily identifiable by their hairstyle.

It is important to note the specific reason why the game calls them “courtesans” and not prostitutes.  In the Renaissance, courtesans were skilled in singing and dancing, similar to the geishas of Japan.

• Substances - 2

The player is able to use poison frequently in the game.  The player stabs a target gently with a poisoned blade.  The poisoned target proceeds to deteriorate in health and sanity rapidly.  First, the target becomes weak and walks slowly, then begins to hallucinate and swings his weapon wildly about.  The weapon often hits nearby guards and civilians, resulting in their death as well (provided enough damage is dealt).  After a short time, the target also dies.

The highlighted guard has been poisoned. The civilian on the ground near him was killed by the wild swinging of the weapon.

• Gambling - 0

Gambling is not mentioned in this game.

3.     Other Factors

• Mods - 0

There are no mods available for this game.

• Religion - 10

There are very few aspects of this game that do not revolve around religion in some form.  Both the real-world story and the memory-based story center on an ongoing battle between the Assassins and Templars.

Ezio can climb the Duomo. I wouldn't recommend it.

One new introduction to AC2 that was only a small part of the first Assassin’s Creed is the concept of corrupt religious officials.  The Templars have managed to corrupt a good deal of religious officials all the way up to the Pope himself.

Pope Rodrigo. He's not a nice guy.

• Anti-Law - 7

The entire storyline revolves around the underground society formed and regulated by the assassins.  The assassins use the thieves, courtesans, and mercenaries to forward the anti-templar agenda.  Since the Borgia maintains a firm grip on the government in Italy, most of the guards are considered enemies.  Therefore the player will find himself fighting the guards frequently.

Surprise!

It is also possible (and sometimes necessary) for the player to pickpocket unsuspecting civilians.  Especially in the early chapters when florins are difficult to come by, pickpocketing is one of the few regular sources of income.  Towards the middle and end of the game when florins are abundant, pickpocketing becomes irrelevant.

• Online Community - 0

There is no online community in this game.

• Extreme Sports - 9

As with the previous Assassin’s Creed game, this game’s mechanics center around “parkour”, the ability for the player to free-scale tall buildings and jump down from rooftops into piles of hay, flower petals, or other random semi-soft landing spots (for more information, see "Definitions").

This takes the monkey bars to a whole new level.

There's also a mission where Ezio has to drive a stagecoach at high speeds.  Enemies will try to jump onto the sides of the coach and Ezio must turn wildly to fling them off.

Hang on tight!

• Magic - 0

While some of the actions in the game may seem mystical (such as Rodrigo's staff that can shoot lights and fling Ezio around), the game sets up the premise that all of the "magical" objects are based in technology.  So until I can 100% confirm that it's magic controlling the objects and not technology, I can't call it magical.

• Miscellaneous - 4

Kidnapping

While there are a few instances of kidnapping in the game, the most obvious is the kidnapping of Caterina Sforza’s two children.  The children are held for ransom by Templar lackeys in exchange for the Piece of Eden.

Execution (Adult and Child)

The beginning of the Italy storyline has Ezio’s male family members arrested and publicly executed by hanging.  This includes Ezio’s younger brother.  The execution is used quite effectively as a device to make the player hate the Templars and the guards in Italy.

When someone kills a kid, usually they're the bad guy.

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