Only Slightly Delayed: Assassins Creed II

I just finished Assassins Creed II under what I would call unique circumstances. You see, while I was playing AC2 my wife was playing AC1, so I was able to play the sequel with a visual replay of the first almost simultaneously (Insert outdated "yo dawg" joke here). While I remember and enjoyed the first just fine this former/latter duality really helped drive home what an incredibly successful sequel AC2 is.

Assassins Creed II is a special game. It was made on the shoulders of a predecessor that was lauded for its vision but criticized for its execution. To make my stance clear I was not one of those people. Yes, the first Assassins Creed was repetitive but I didn't mind. I was weaned on games like Mega Man, so repetition doesn't bother me much as long as it has some context. In AC1 it was the simple and sometimes mundane tasks before tackling an assassination.

This game stands so far above AC1 it makes it almost hard to see what an achievement the first was, which is exactly what a sequel should do. Every aspect was improved upon and overhauled. The missions take place in a dynamic format instead of a linear one. No more slogging along from task to task, now you get an assassination and you do it. Lets break down the individual elements shall we?

Combat is similar to the first in that it is terribly easy. There are plenty of new weapons thrown in the mix to spice things up, but it ultimately boils down to the same thing. certain enemies have their particular weapon of weakness and those that don't are easily dispatched by counters. Also the dual wrist-blades, while awesome, are incredibly overpowered... but then again maybe that's a good thing. One of the best parts of AC2 is that it nails the aspect of being a master assassin. You can sneak in, take out your target and sneak out (or you can go in guns blazing... literally).

In the story department AC2 really took off. Characters are given life and meaning beyond simple dialogue exchanges. Ezio Auditore de Firenze (yeah, I know) is a terrific lead as compared to his somewhat bland "modern day" counterpart Desmond. He is charming and skilled where Desmond is whiny and bumbling (though 'ol dessy is getting better). I have to admit, when AC1 came out I was skeptical about the DNA memory story, but the more I see of it, the more I love the two weaving story lines between past and present. I'm not going to spoil it, but the end of AC2 was just fantastic, a bit weird, but seriously, fantastic.

As for the gameplay AC2 is great fun. The linearity of AC1 is gone, you are given much more free range here. The old assassination structure was dropped in place of a more modern mission (or "memory" in the game) based structure. This means less monotony and more murdering evil guards (because they're all evil, right?). The new mission structure is just about the most welcome deviation from AC1 they could have made. No more completing the same five tasks before an assassination, now every mission has a context.

Of course, the running, jumping, climbing and general galavanting is all back in full force. The parkour is always fun, and is used to great strengths with stealth. Shimmying behind an enemy to sneak into a haystack then snagging the unsuspecting guard is both fun and rewarding. Ultimately the free running and missions just mesh better than they did previously because of the new take downs (hanging, hidden). You can be very, very sneaky here.

The voice acting is another huge step up. Our main man Ezio actually has an accent (Take that, Altair)! Kidding aside though, the acting is terrific. All character models animate beautifully both in and out of cutscenes. The chattering of NPCs are more diverse from the first, but you will still here a lot of the same conversations.

In AC1 you could collect flags to distract you from the main story, or save civilians in trouble like a blood thirsty batman. In AC2 these distractions return in form and greatly improved. There are now races, assassination contracts and citizens to assist along with the best new addition: economy. Granted, the economy here is on a small scale; you inherit a villa and are tasked with making it a shining jewel. Ultimately this ends up being a tad easy, but a fun distraction none the less. You can buy paintings and display armor and weapons to increase the value of your estate and also upgrade it with cold hard cash you acquire from missions, chests and *ahem* less scrupulous means. There is a bit of a balance issue though, and about halfway through the game you will have more money than you know what to do with.

The final aspect of AC2 that just blew me away were the locales. Florence, Venice, they just pop off the screen! Ubisoft really managed to make these cities come alive and become characters in their own right. The drab colors of AC1 are gone and replaced with the vibrant beauty of Italy. The scenery is gorgeous, to the point where (and this is an oddity for me) i actually wanted there to be a day/night cycle... but that is another topic for another day.

So to sum it all up, I had a great time playing AC2. It is head and shoulders above the first game and shows off what a sequel should be. The new features implemented all work wonderfully (though the income/economy needs some work) and it left me wanting more. I can't wait to try Assassins Creed: Brotherhood and the DLC for this game (I'll see about posting a brief review of the DLC when I get around to playing it). So yes, I know you've heard it already, a year ago when this game came out, but it is awesome. Requiescat in pace.