User Reviews

1. Review Date: 2009-11-24

   This game is so sick... loved it. For about 2 days though... it's the best game out there right now as far as moment to moment fun... but really, it doesn't take long to beat it at all... slightly disappointed with the length of play.
   
   User: Typical Consumer
   Rating:
   Summary: Short and Sweet
   Helpful Votes: 0
   Total Votes: 0
   

2. Review Date: 2009-11-24

   My review will briefly discuss the plot and the gameplay, in that order.
   
   THE PLOT:
   The title of my review may seem strange, but it's fairly accurate (if I may say so myself). Specific spoilers not included, AC2 lays groundwork for AC3. Much like AC1 ended with more questions raised than answered, AC2 ends just when it feels like the story is really starting to get rolling again. the plot for AC2 is a bit more locked-in than the plot for AC1 (which allowed nearly unlimited freedom). It sounds like a bad thing, but really I felt like it kept the story on track and more interesting. AC2 doesn't have the plot twist that AC1 had, but the plots straight-forward nature is more strongly suited (in my opinion) to the action game that it is. That's about all I can say regarding the plot without giving anything specific away, but the main point is that if you're looking for closure on how AC1 ended, you'll have to wait for AC3.
   
   
   THE GAMEPLAY:
   If I had to sum up the gameplay in one sentence it would be this, "Nothing but improvement over AC1." The breakdowns go something like this:
   
   Combat: One aspect of the game with the most improvement. Simply put, there is more you can do to dispatch your opponent whether your are doing so from out in the open or in the shadow. Some of the new stealth kill options and animations are just plain fun to watch.
   
   Assassinations: The primary assassination targets have more of a focus on the approach than AC1. I think this works in its favor since I personally found few things more annoying in AC1 than creeping around to get in a nice stealth kill, only to get discovered at the last second and undo the last 5 minutes you spent sneaking and waiting for the perfect moment.
   
   Roaming and Running (from Guards): One improvement I noticed right away and was very thankful for was that Ezio climbs much faster than Altair. Not drowning is also a nice touch. Escaping from the guards seems a bit easier, which is mostly a good thing so that you don't end up wasting 5 or 10 minutes at a time trying to escape an encounter.
   
   Faux RPG Aspects: The weapon and armor system was a very nice touch that added a new depth to the game. I would like to see them expand a bit more on this for AC3.
   
   Fast Travel: Each city has multiple stands where you can travel to any other stand already discovered. Another improvement that makes the world feel a lot bigger since you can go anywhere, anytime (given that you've already been there at some point).
   
   
   CLOSING COMMENTS:
   Overall, AC2 is one significant improvement after another over AC1 with a storyline that quite literally picks up right where it left off. Barring those with an absolute and unforgivable hatred for the first game, I would strongly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys a well made video game.
   
   User: Lang M. Ho
   Rating:
   Summary: Assassin's Creed 3 Prequel Part 2 (Spoilers not included)
   Helpful Votes: 0
   Total Votes: 0
   

3. Review Date: 2009-11-23

   Even with all the high profile games that came out this year and especially this fall, one that I seemed to want the most was Assassin's Creed II despite my hate/love with the original. Like many, I thought the original had a great concept, looked stunning and seemed to at least break the mold of action games only it got bogged down by repetition and an open world that wasn't quite as open as one would like and let's not forget those ****ing flags. Taking the complaints and suggestions from fans and critics into account, Ubisoft seemed to go all out in presenting a game that felt more bigger and better than the first game but then the crux of the matter is did Ubisoft just deliver what the first one should've been or actually went beyond? Well this game shows that there is legs in this series and whereas the sequel to the first one was inevitable just in terms of sales, this looks like it has the makings to be an actually worthwhile franchise as a whole and it starts here...with nitpicks I hope they fix.
   
   Story: You once again "control" Desmond, a bartender turned captive by Abstergo Corporation who's using him to locate the Pieces of Eden, mythical artifacts tied to mythology and history. When him and technician Lucy Stillman break out, they bring him back into the past via a new Animus into the life of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, an Italian living in 1476. After his father and brothers are betrayed and executed, Ezio becomes an Assassin and takes to the streets of Florence, Venice and many other places to track down the conspirators behind his family's death and how it ties into Desmond's struggle in the future.
   
   One thing I will say about the story is that 2 things: one, they definately changed the structure of the game and it's no longer repetitive and some missions do take a different take and give you a lot more options to proceed. Not to mention the story is a lot more engaging and while I was at times concerning the many, many names that pop up and figuring out who was the last dude I had to kill versus who's actually a friend, it's a more compelling story and when it combines mythology, paintings and historical photographs, it's a really cool storyline they got set up.
   
   Graphics: Can't fault Ubisoft in the graphics department and like this, Far Cry 2 or Prince of Persia, they have a really great idea for amazing looking visuals and it goes right down to the architecture and I wouldn't be surprised if they recreated Florence or Venice perfectly. Character detail is good, animations during parkour are fluid and certain graphical details such as the "glitches" you'll occasionally spot look awesome. As far as actual glitches or bugs, I barely ran into any and if there was, I didn't catch them. My one complaint is that the "countryside" areas where it's more forest and meadows look a bit too barren and not really full so to speak.
   
   Sound/Music: An absolutely stellar soundtrack with some really haunting and peaceful themes playing throughout and the more dramatic or action-y moments are nicely done. Voice acting as well is spot-on with many voice actors actually sounding like they're from the era and place as opposed to Altair's odd American-sounding accent and it's not the fumble that was Far Cry 2's voice acting. As far as sounds are concerned, everything works and the annoying comments when you climb buildings ("what's he doing, he gone mad?") have been toned down so that they're no longer heard EVERY time you climb something. Oh and I'd recommend playing with subtitles because characters have this habit of switching between English and Italian very frequently.
   
   Gameplay: While the basics are the same, there's been so many improvements it might be hard to replay the previous game since you don't get access to the new parts. For one combat has been improved and counter kills have now given way to disarming opponents and using their own weapon against them, double assassinations, smoke bombs for easy getaways or poisoning them so they go crazy on nearby NPC's. Don't want to fight anyone and slip by unnoticed? Hire courtesans to distract them, thieves to lure them away or mercs to fight for you. Not to mention there's a lot more added missions with the familiar races but also there's assassination contracts, courier missions, beat-em-up parts where you pummel cheaters and many others. As far as collecting is concerned, there is some of that found in the feathers but there's only 100 as opposed to 100 in each city but then we have glyphs. Uncover a building and find an icon and you'll see somewhere on the building is a glyph, strange markings easily found by using Eagle Vision and scanning them prompts a really intriguing story about Subject 16 where you decode messages, find clues embedded in photographs are doing some riddle solving. While some are really taxing, they're kind of fascinating. Oh and found in Italy are assassin's tombs, basically a mixture of Prince of Persia-esque platforming sections and some combat where you'll uncover treasure; find all 6 and you'll get a cool gift as opposed to just an achievement/trophy and that's it.
   
   Another added element is the idea of money. Remember those "please sir I'm poor and sick and hungry, just a few coins!" women from the first game? Well remember how you never actually had money to give her and you just had to push her away or if you were feeling devilish, stab her? Well now there is money (though no beggar women, though there's these lute players that get on my nerves) and they can be spent on upgrades such as better armor, better weapons, replenish your poison blades, smoke bombs, buy paintings or tint your cape. Buying paintings or upgrading your villa, a sort of central hub of sorts, will give you more money and like most sim games, depending on how awesome your villa is and the more visitors you attract, the more money you make. One element that isn't as successful is the idea of notoreity. Do more killing and bad stuff than the city can tolerate (which isn't much) and the guards will be more suspicious of you so while before they're a bit more suspect of you, at full notoreity they'll practically want to kill you on sight. How do you bring it down? Find posters that no guard would see, kill officials that don't exactly run that fast or bribe heralds and naysayers instead of...I don't know, roughing them up mafia-style and threatening to break their knees?
   
   My one complaint about the game and it's a somewhat big one is the controls. I don't know if Ezio is too sensitive or he needs too precise commands but at times you'll find yourself swearing at him for doing something you never intended to do. He'll drop and hang from a ledge when you intend to jump, he'll run up walls when you intended to go into a door should your aim be off and most unfortunate, he can fall and sometimes to his death because he decided to jump off a building instead of up it. It's of course fun to do the parkour elements but to drop completely to the bottom of the streets cause of a missed jump or not judging the distance right can be frustrating. Oh and while it's a welcome change from Altair's snail pace, the parkour elements up a building are a tad unbelievable and athletic ability aside, you'd wonder how the hell Ezio can even climb half of this stuff at the speed he does. Oh but on that note? Ezio can finally swim and while he can't go underwater and dive like Mario, he can actually go in the water and even use boats as transports though rooftop travelling tends to be faster.
   
   For those of you curious, I bought the Master Assassin's Edition so I'll detail what was in it. Found first inside of course is the game but it comes with a bonud DVD where you can listen to tracks from the soundtrack, watch trailers and developer diaries but the soundtrack looks slightly skimpy for a game this size and the "Part One" with no inclusion of any others bugs me. Oh and the developer diaries were far more numerous online than what we have here. Underneath that is the really cool artbook showcasing weapon detail, character designs and concept art for the cities. Still doesn't beat the Fallout 3 book for me but it's a notable one nonetheless. And of course under that is the Ezio figurine with some cool details and in a pose like seen on the cover. He's not posable but meh, it'll do. Included also in the game is 2 "bonus" areas: basically at a certain part in the game, an icon will appear on your map marked a "templar lair" and these are basically obstacle course type levels which'll yield a nice big cash sum at the end. Nothing completely awesome like new weapon or different armor but they're cool nonetheless. Also, in a welcome move on Ubisoft's part, apparently these areas will be made available for download sometime later as opposed to "either pre-order it or you'll never get it" offers given by other developers.
   
   Is it my Game of the Year? Hard to say given the sheer amount of great games that came out this year but I'll say I definately enjoyed playing the game issues aside and would love to say a part III very soon.
   
   User: Cloud
   Rating:
   Summary: Improvements all around
   Helpful Votes: 1
   Total Votes: 1
   

4. Review Date: 2009-11-23

   Overall 7/10 (The story was the most important to me)
   Gameplay 9/10
   Story 5/10
   Graphics 8/10 (On a big tv you can see the seams)
   Character Depth 9.5/10 (leaves you hanging on some part)
   This game is pretty fun gameplay wise but is sericely lacking in the story department untill about halfway through the game.
   The free runing is really good although it does have some problems where Ezio will jump somwhere other then where you planned and you will probably end up with half your health gone. The climbing works well and is improved over the original. But none of the free runing or climbing requires much thought. There is almost always a clear cut path or you just have to go around the corner. Inside the tombs there is an obvious criss cross patern or it shows you the path you need to take.
   There are more types of quests but only a few types are enjoyable, (The beat up quests, the races, and some of the assassinations)unlike in the original where i wanted to do every single side quest. The beat up quests and the races are extremely enjoyable and you will want to do all of them that you find. on the other hand you have things like the courier quests which are just a complete pain. All of the main quest assassinations are enjoyable but only some of the side assassinations are fun while the rest are just tedious. Another pain is when you have to follow someone to a certain point withou being detected before killing them, if you bump into one person with a box you will most likely be starting over. Also I thought I had heard something about quests where you carried women home after they had been at the market all day but I guess Ubisoft just scrapped that.
   The new weapons are pretty cool but you rbarely ever going to use any of the but your hidden blades, your sword, and your fists. You can only aqquire weapons when the game makers are ready for you to have them because you have to wait untill later memory blocks for most weapons to be available.
   The villa is definitely the best part of the game It is fun to upgrade and get the money every 20 minutes and it is a nice safe place to hang around.I love how they took real paintings and told you the histories of them. But there just arent enough upgrades and paintings to keep you entertained.
   Now I'm going to tell you about the story. The story is pretty pathetic. for the first half of the game its pretty much EZIO MAD EZIO KILL and the other half is crap about weird creators who want to save us or something. I'm not going to tell you the ending but (at least in my opinion) it was just stupid and worse then the first. The codex pages leave you wondering what happened after altair looked into the apple the last time or if he even did. But even though it isn't a great story i still half to say I am definitley going to get the third to find ou what happens.
   Also I have had a few glitches like when i got my head stuck in a gondola and it said it acted like i was walking even though the rest of me was underwater and i couldn't get out. ANother time there was an archer with half his body in a building.
   The biggest problem of all is that YOU CAN'T REPLAY MEMORIES.
   Now that I'm done with the review part i'm going to tell you what ubisoft should release as downloadable content to fix at least some of these problems: More indoor maps, More side quest types as well as just more side quests, More addons for the stronghold including ones that increase its size and more paintings for it, more weapons and armour, and most of all a patch (thats free) That lets you replay specific memories. Anything else they can think of also.
   
   User: Cerdac
   Rating:
   Summary: Fun. But some huge dissapointments.
   Helpful Votes: 0
   Total Votes: 2
   

5. Review Date: 2009-11-23

   If you liked the first, you love this one. An improvement in every way, it's deeper, longer and more emotionally connecting. A must buy for most gamers, particularly the older crowd who will appreciate its devotion to history.
   
   User: Anthony J. Castelli
   Rating:
   Summary: Brilliant!
   Helpful Votes: 0
   Total Votes: 0
   

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Editorial Reviews

The world of the assassin is one cloaked in shadow and steeped in danger. Ensnared in a web of revenge and conspiracy, the assassin embraces power at its most elemental, acting as the dividing line between life and death. As an assassin confronted by perilous new challenges and difficult choices, what path will you choose?

Stunning Graphics View larger.

Roam Freely View larger.

All New Weapons View larger.

Synopsis Get ready to plunge into the lush and deadly world of the Italian Renaissance, an era of arts, riches and murderous conspiracy. Assassin's Creed II introduces you to Ezio, a new assassin carrying on the deadly lineage of his forebears. Confront an epic tale of power and corruption as you hone your assassin's art, wielding weapons and instruments designed by the legendary Leonardo da Vinci himself in this gripping and deadly sequel. Key Game Features: Explore the deadly, shadowed world of the assassin with new assassin Ezio Roam freely through the lush and dangerous world of Renaissance-era Italy Do whatever it takes to complete your missions in the game's all-new open world and mission structure Thrive in an environment rich with power, revenge and conspiracy Practice your assassin's art with all-new weapons and instruments created by Leonardo da Vinci

Product Details

1. Explore the deadly, shadowed world of the assassin with new assassin Ezio
2. Roam freely through the lush and dangerous world of Renaissance-era Italy
3. Do whatever it takes to complete your missions in the game's all-new open world and mission structure
4. Thrive in an environment rich with power, revenge and conspiracy
5. Practice your assassin's art with all-new weapons and instruments created by Leonardo da Vinci