Assassin's Creed II

[takao]

i didn't play the first either and i get along fine ... but i like mysteries unfolding.. i would even say that sometimes the game is a little to generous in putting forward clues

and the setting of renaissance italy is put forward brilliantly IMHO ... when it was presented i was sceptical if it would work but now when playing i' can easily accept that i was wrong ... especially having visited the very places presented in the game... alls those used historic places/persons and all the nods to history of arts, conspiracies, etc.

also i never really got the feeling of "doing something again" halfway into the game after the slower paced start


i would say this game is a textbook example of how to do a proper sequel sequel... take a list of alle the criticised and bad points about the first once ... go through it one by one and then improve everything else

my only point which could use improvment is the facial expressions in cut scenes... which i glady accept for the fact that Ubisoft actually decided to include an option for switch spoken language and not fix it to the console setting (like so many other do)

 

[Sobek]

You would be able to follow the story to a point and still enjoy it. I would suggest at least watching these if you don't want to spend the time playing AC. It did get tedious and repetitive.

You don't need to, no. They do try and quickly fill in the backstory at the start of ACII, so you should be ok. The one thing which you might not realise if you've not played AC, is (and I don't think this is a spoiler of either game) that "Altair" who is often mentioned in the second game, is the character you play in the first.

Excellent - thanks for the advice whooleytoo, and for that link creator. I'll order ACII today seeing as MC2 single player didn't take too long to finish and despite hammering the multiplayer it's nice to have a single player on the go

 

[whooleytoo]

i would say this game is a textbook example of how to do a proper sequel sequel... take a list of alle the criticised and bad points about the first once ... go through it one by one and then improve everything else

I agree. Thinking of the criticisms of the original:

- Repetitive missions, even in the main 'quest'. Fixed. Although assassination is still the name of the game, the missions are a lot more varied, and tied together into a cohesive storyline.

- Repetitive landscape. Fixed. Although beautiful, the AC world was quite repetitive in having 3 cities divided into 3 'neighbourhoods', which you tackle one at a time. In AC2, the cities/towns vary more in size and layout.

- Altair dies when he hits water. Fixed. For many things, swimming is now essential.

- Tiresome having to return to the assassins' stronghold. Fixed. Although there is still a stronghold, there's a lot more to do there. You don't have to return there as often, and when you do it doesn't take long - you even have the option of fast travel if you're really impatient.

- Swordplay is a bit simple and repetitive. AC2 introduces different types of opponents, which need to be fought differently; and several new weapons and allies.

Did I mention I love this game?

 

[2nyRiggz]

I still haven't taken this game out of the shrink wrap as yet but I'm hearing really good things about it and as long as they fix the repetitiveness of the first one then its all good.



Bless

 

[whooleytoo]

Ok, after playing for almost a week, I suppose I should list negatives too:

- The combat is still quite easy. They have introduced a range of new guards, some are faster so you can't just outrun them. Some search all the hiding spots, so you can't just hide each time. And they've added armoured opponents who can't be countered and do a LOT of damage when they hit.

But you can carry a lot of healthy potions which can easily be used - I've not died once in any fight. Hence, most of the new allies/weapons are only used for variety, not necessity. It would also add something new if you could have primary and secondary weapons (i.e in the middle of a sword fight, throw a knife, without having to deselect the sword and select the knife)

- It would be great to have some missions/quests which don't rely on following markers around the mini-map. Pretty much everything you need to find is marked on the map - apart from the Borgia messengers and the two models (which I managed to find without ever noticing!). Having to follow directions/landmarks rather than a blip on a map would be a plus.

- The level-of-detail reduction is a little annoying. It's not as bad as - say - Oblivion, but the way the buildings change as you run towards them looks a little odd. You often also see people/boats suddenly pop out of nowhere on several occasions.

- The control system. Still makes it very easy to put together lots of running/jumping/swinging sequences; but there are some actions that are quite difficult/impossible to do; such as dropping down off a low object without leaping off into the distance.

p.s. just discovered some of the images in the hidden-symbol puzzles also contain hidden encrypted (well, simple character substitution) messages. With my innate OCD tendency, now I have to back and look through all of them to see if I missed anything interesting!

 

[creator2456]

p.s. just discovered some of the images in the hidden-symbol puzzles also contain hidden encrypted (well, simple character substitution) messages. With my innate OCD tendency, now I have to back and look through all of them to see if I missed anything interesting!

I noticed some of them on my first play through and solved them out, but I wanted to get to the end so I didn't do them all. When I am break in 2 weeks I will play through again and take the time to look at them.

Some are simple letter-shift cyphers, others are morse code, and so on.

 

[whooleytoo]

I noticed some of them on my first play through and solved them out, but I wanted to get to the end so I didn't do them all. When I am break in 2 weeks I will play through again and take the time to look at them.

Some are simple letter-shift cyphers, others are morse code, and so on.

I was going to stop and take the time to find a Morse code chart and decode it, but didn't want to spend the time only to realise someone just thought a few dots and dashes might make a nice border..

I'm almost finished the game now, along with most collectables (apart from 3 hidden symbols and lots of feathers), think I might play through again and see if there's anything I missed, hidden in the puzzles. I also want to play through again in Italian, seems appropriate.

Have you unlocked the Auditore family crypt (via Uplay)? Great to get some 'free' added content, but it's a pity you only get to play through it once.

 

[spyker3292]

I'm close to the end. I'm not going to bother to find all of the feathers and buy all the paintings, but I did finish up the codecs and the seals today (I accidentally forgot to do one of the seals, so I finally went back and did it...).

 

[Huntn]

Incredibly late to this thread, but just started playing this game and it's a lot of fun, intriguing, high quality, and the open world concept is outstanding. I never played the first one so I'm going to read up on the concept, is it time travel, matrix like, or something else? I just read you are reliving memories. I should just stop there and not start picking.

 

[Mackilroy]

It's not time travel – the Animus uses what's referred to ingame as genetic memory. Essentially, our ancestors' memories are stored in our genes, and the Animus allows people to access those.