Assassin’s Creed II

Sunday, February 7th, 2010 by Nick Maunders

Assassin’s Creed II was released last year in November on the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360 and is still yet to be released on the PC. So should you buy it? Well if you liked the prequel Assassin’s Creed then you’ll definitely like this. If you thought the last game was a bit … repetitive, which it was, you’ll like this game a whole lot better because this game isn’t the slightest bit repetitive. Each mission is unique which in my opinion is essential for an action adventure game like this.

Assassin's Creed II Screenshot'

So what’s new with this game then? Well starting off one of the most annoying things in Assassin’s Creed was that whenever you jumped into some water you drowned. This seemed a bit pathetic for an unstoppable assassin who can kill loads of people and then to die by falling in some water. Well in this game you can swim! The graphics of the game has also been completely revamped so it looks absolutely brilliant.

If you remember in the first game there were two parts to it. You as the assassin and you as Desmond in real life. Unfortunately as Desmond you were practically useless. You couldn’t kick, punch or anything. You just went to bed and woke up, probably the most boring part of the game. However straight from the start you killing people and escaping the evil Templars headquarters.

Assassin's Creed II Screenshot'

In my opinion one of the basic necessities for an assassin’s game is the weapons. Now in the previous game you didn’t have a lot of choice. You just got a large sword, a small sword and some other weapons. In this game however there are loads of different types of weapons. For example if we start with the hidden blade you can now have a double hidden blade, a poison blade and even a pistol! If we move onto medium weapons you can start from a measly common sword all the way up to a Condottiero War Hammer. These weapons of course are unlocked once you pay for them so there is a point in looting people for money. You can also change your armour and dye your clothes different colours by going to tailors.

This game really involves loads of different objects. There are not only loads of weapons but also different types of enemies now as well. In the previous game it was there were about 4 different enemies. In this game there are agiles, brutes, seekers and archers amongst others. One thing I found too easy with the previous game is that as soon as you got in a hiding spot you could relax. However the seeker’s job is, as you might have guessed, to seek for you. They often carry an extremely long pike which they will use to prod haystacks and wells which will force you out of the hiding spot. Also if you happen to be on a bench between two citizens the seeker will ask them to stand up fooling your cover again.

Assassin's Creed II Screenshot'

Another thing that has been improved is the morale of the enemy. You might remember in the last game where you might occasionally get a straggler who runs away from you. However this seemed to be a random event rather than something you did to scare him (not including of course killing everyone else). In this game certain things you do can increase or decrease enemies morale. For example, if you kill a brute every enemy around you will have a decrease of their morale by -30 points. If you assassinate an enemy with a pistol they will have a decrease of -20 points. However if you get injured they will have an increase of +10 morale, and if you enter critical state it will be +25. If an enemy is going to flee you will first see them freeze
briefly to the spot. They will then drop their weapon and run away from you as fast as they can.

The best of the game though has to be the brilliant storyline laid out before you. There are over 14 sequences for you to explore which have you assassinating important historical figures, to hiring thieves for you, to trying to find hidden glyphs. There really is a lot to keep you entertained for a long time, so if you decide to buy the game you won’t be disappointed.

Assassin's Creed II Screenshot'

I would give this game a rating of 93/100.

Compare prices for Assassin’s Creed II at Twenga

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