Assassins Creed 2 Review

I had no interest in the series at first. I wasn't into historical pieces, though assassins were cool. Then a co-worker told me about an RPG element instilled in this second one. For that, and being able to pawn off a copy from him, I gave it a try.

Assassin's Creed II follows Desmond as he searched for answers along his DNA code, learning his heritage as an assassin to fight against the Templar's as the fight for the piece of Eden rages on. I was hooked by promise of Sci-Fi in my historical narrative, but did it deliver?

The Good:

Premise: I have to single out the premise of the game, because somehow I completely missed this. It wasn't promoted sci-fi at all, and I almost thought I had gotten the wrong game. But I was presently surprised and found it engaging. Sci-Fi in my historical Narrative? Alright!

Graphics: Venice, Florence, and the other maps are beautifully detailed. The scope fully realized. Character models are excellent and detailed.

Game Design: Though I thought the Assassin tombs were a little ridiculous at times, I like them and found them a fun challenge. the integration of free running (or par-kur) and the combat system was fantastic. Controls were good though sometimes it seems the computer got dumb with it's movement, but maybe it was just me.

AI: For the most party I thought it was good. Guards fought in groups, or ran if they were overpowered. Though this is where the fight system showed it's weakest point, waiting to attack allowed me to counter attack a lot, which I loved, but it slowed the pace a lot. Which I think works for an assassin so I didn't mind.

Story: There's two stories going on simultaneously. One as Desmond, the "player" character, and Ezio, the "avatar". You're playing through Desmond, experiencing Ezio's life as he trains to be a master assassin. Time leaps forward, but realistically when you think about it, events move slowly, the whole story unfolding over ten years.

Side missions: Some, like races or assassin hits are normal. Then you'd have thieves with money pop up at random, which made me chasing them down and taking it back a pleasure. I didn't do a whole lot with it. There are glyphs that leads to a huge spoiler, but I halfway figured it out as I collected it, and once I beat the game, there;s no use really getting them when I can look online for the video. But they were in line with the game, so I'll give them props.

Characters: Ezio, Uncle Mario, Leonardo Da'Vinci, it's a interesting cast each with their own shinning moments as characters.

Overall: Play it. There's a reason it's around and remain in the minds of active gamers today. I might pick up the first one and play that as well, though I heard it had some issues. I'm hooked on the story now. I'll be playing the next one for sure.