Assassin's Creed II - X-Box 360

Post by **Leisher** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 11:10 am

An open world game set both in the present and in the past, specifically Italy during the 1400s.

You again play as Desmond as he uses technology to look into the lives of his ancestors. That sounds incredibly boring. Fortunately, Desmond's ancestors are assassins, in this case, a young man named Ezio. You guide Ezio through his quest for vengeance upon the men who killed his father. Of course, Ezio's quest isn't the whole story.

In the first AC, Desmond was being taken through the life of Altair, another assassin, by a group called the Templars. It was hinted throughout the game that the Templars, who are seen as linked to religion organizations, are the bad guys. Meanwhile, we also learned about another group, the Assassin's Guild, who existed to protect humanity's evolution, which was in direct conflict with the Templar.

There is a LOT of that storyline here, almost to a fault. They really expanded the AC universe in this game with backstory upon backstory. You could spend hours pouring through the data you're given in video clips, journal entries, etc. You don't have to, of course, but the developers have gone out of their way to create one hell of a story and tie it throughout history.

I should note that the storyline is my only complaint about the game. I'm just a bit worried about the direction they're going. My complaint doesn't affect gameplay at all, but I felt the story really hurt the end of Ezio's story (The more I think about it, the more I dislike Ezio's finale. I think they may have had their hands tied considering who his target was and how they're tying the story into actual history...). I also wonder where the story will go from here. I realize it now gives them the ability to do more sequels, but I'm hoping the next ones start developing more of the Templar/Assassin's Guild rivalry.

Gameplay is exceptional as it was in the last game. You'll hit the occasional rare hiccup in the controls here and there, but they don't take away from how easy it is to control Ezio. The hiccups I saw were extremely minor and not even worth mentioning.

Changes from the previous version include new weapons, new enemies that require different techniques to defeat, a greater emphasis on the overall storyline while in the 1400s, a lot more help from NPCs, more locations, bigger locations, stores, new things to collect, glyphs, etc., etc.

The glyphs are worth mentioning because each carries with it a puzzle mini-game. The mini-games involve cracking a code, rotating a wheel puzzle, finding hidden items in a picture, etc. There are 20 glyphs total and finding them all will reveal a big part of the storyline.

The worst part of the puzzles is that a lot depends on your TV. I played on a 19 inch flat screen tube and it sucked for these puzzles. I could not make out things in photo hints at all. Apparently the developers think everyone has their X-Box 260 hooked up to their 62" LED TV.

Fighting is still fantastic, and the variety of "kill shots" is far more varied than AC, with multiple killing blows for each weapon.

If you never played AC, go pick it up as it's easily found for $20 (and available for the 360, PS3...I think, and PC). Then move into AC II.

Oh, and stick around for the credits. For those who played AC, the moment you've been expecting arrives during the credits and it's fully playable. In fact, the overall storyline is advanced further during that few minutes than in the rest of the game. I know that sounds bad, but it works and there is a reason for it.

And on a side note, more developers should add gameplay into the credits. It doesn't need to advance the story, but maybe wrap up a few loose ends or give the player a character driven moment. AC II does it very well here. The original Half-Life did it with their opening credits, and their ending credits.

Anyway, I highly recommend this game. Great gameplay, tons of side activities/quests, varied missions, mini-games, good controls, interesting story involving actual history and huge conspiracies, and the game is a lot of fun.

9 out of 10.

WSGrundy · Post by **WSGrundy** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:06 pm

WSGrundy · Post by **WSGrundy** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:09 pm

DLC that fills in some more story coming next month.

WSGrundy · Post by **WSGrundy** » Fri Mar 18, 2011 2:46 pm

Leisher wrote:The worst part of the puzzles is that a lot depends on your TV. I played on a 19 inch flat screen tube and it sucked for these puzzles. I could not make out things in photo hints at all. Apparently the developers think everyone has their X-Box 260 hooked up to their 62" LED TV.

If you don't have an HD TV then yeah the developer is just ignoring you. They all are actually, with some Rare games you can't read text with SD TVs. Microsoft has some rules and I have seen a few developers say that they basically make you forget about the SD TV people.

On a side note did your or anyone elses hand hurt after playing this game? It started with the first and then I forgot about it but within an hour of playing the second my right thumb and muscle connected to it were killing me. The pain last a couple days after I stop playing and doesn't happen with any other game. I think it has to do with always having the right trigger and A button pressed but damn does it hurt.

Not even close to forcing me to stop but just curious if it affected anyone else?

Edited By WSGrundy on 1300474048

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:32 pm

Right trigger + A was a standard move in Halo. I don't remember my thumb feeling any worse than with any other game.

WSGrundy · Post by **WSGrundy** » Fri Mar 18, 2011 6:08 pm

Malcolm wrote:Right trigger + A was a standard move in Halo. I don't remember my thumb feeling any worse than with any other game.

Never played Halo but in AC I have those two buttons pressed 90% of the time.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 2:24 pm

I used to have a move I called the "Flying Rambo of Death." I'd crouch (so as to be invisible on radar) above a doorway or opening. Soon as someone gets walks out at the right distance, jump (A) and at the very least right trigger. Possibly L+R trigger if I was dual wielding. The effect being I could aerially bombard the hell out of people from out of nowhere, and most folk couldn't shoot at an upward angle to save their life. Get good enough, you can jump and get someone's profile such that pretty much all your hits are going to be headshots.

Even when I wasn't doing that, I'd typically bounce around like a kangaroo on crack anyway while shooting. Right trigger + A kept me alive.