Assassin's Creed 2

Blog Post: the assassins revival

llama gamer — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:37:00 GMT

ive played this and beat it and i think i know what im talking about

story- you play as ezio auditore da firenze a more like able and nicer character while free running around italy your family gets kidnapped and sentenced to death even though ezio has proof theyre not traitors he is to late then this game goes on a tale of revenge and ezio finds a ongoing secret war that he is now part of and then in present day you play as desmond miles you then escape abstergo industries the modern day templars and join the assassins as you do you go through the same training as ezio and start to learn his moves as he learns

gameplay- the gameplay is better now my favorite part is the ability to fight with the hidden blade other than that and some new weapons the combat is still pretty similar but the counters and combo kills are gorier and have new animations for each weapon

graphics- the graphics are great as awlays and italy brings more color

sound- sound is spot on you will hear your feet run across the rooftops to the sound of you blade being drawn then used to attack are spot on

extra stuff- there is alot of extra content and my favorite thing has to be the fact that the targets you killed went missing around the time you killed them its not saying they were killed its just being awesome and the map is much better comapared to the map in ac1

Blog Post: Perfect Story, Less Than Perfect Gameplay

tompengu — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 01:48:00 GMT

I've always loved open world games. From the classic GTA 4 to the newer Batman Arkham City. Assassin's Creed 2 has a terriffic open world type game, with an emotional story and an expert controls. Graphics are pitched to perfection, especially cloth, which is no easy task in games.

Yet, the story takes alot of double takes. By that I mean, almost every mission is the same thing. Ubisoft tries to mix it up, with Da Vinci machines and harder puzzles, but you still feel like your replaying the same parts. Also, the games features like Ezio don't progress with age. The plot last almost 20 years, and Ezio dosen't change at all. Neither does his fellow allies.

Assassin's Creed dosen't live up to the high expectations my friends told me. It's still a lot better than the average game, but not by what I think games like this could be. I feel like teenagers enjoy this game for the same reason others like CoD (Not calling them the same game). They love how Ezio is able to kill and attack, not for the true reason games are really good. The story of it all, which in this case is really transparent, as you feel later in game Ezio's doing this for a profession, not revenge.

Blog Post: Assassin's Creed II Review

Reptar7 — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 02:28:00 GMT

Assassin's Creed II begins like a sprinter out of the blocks. Our protagonist from the first game, Desmond, breaks out of Abstergo with the help of a female ally and is taken to a secret, assassin hideout to reenter the animus for the assassin cause. We then meet one of Desmond's other Assassin relatives, Ezio Auditore di Firenze. This smug playboy is the son of an important man in Florence, Italy during the Renaissance. He goes about gallivanting and living a life of leisure until his father and brother are arrested and charged with treason. Ezio flees to his Uncle's estate in the countryside along with his mother and sister. He returns to save his father and brother, but they are hung before his eyes.

Ezio then learns of his Assassin heritage and the hidden war that has been raging on between the Assassin's and the Templars. Ezio vows to get revenge for his father and brother. He doesn't care much for the Assassin cause at first, but comes to believe in it above everything else. The game follows Ezio as he seeks out conspirator after conspirator, coming closer and closer to a hidden truth. In the end, he learns the powerful secret which will set up the remaining games.

The narrative of this complex story is absolutely riveting, and will hook many a Dan Brown fan. In fact, comparing this story to his works is like comparing apples to oranges (wink). The story isn't just a great set up, it continues for the entire duration. The ending is a little confusing, maybe even a bit of a letdown, but it really doesn't take away from the game at all. The part of the story that I liked best was the one collected via the Glyphs in video fragments, which, when you collected all of them, revealed a hidden story.

The second star of this game is the environment. In the game, you get to play in several cities throughout Italy. The scope of these cities is absolutely amazing. Ubisoft has recreated Renaissance Italy and put it on a disc for us to explore. It is like being there. Everything looks great. Like the other AC games, you climb all over the place, so you experience the environment from many angles and altitudes. There is also a ton to collect, whether it be feathers, weapons, armor, art work, glyphs, seals, statues, or money.

It is difficult to pick anything bad out about this game. I'm trying to think of any negatives, but am struggling. There are no glitches, or at least none that I ever experienced in my 30 hours of playing the game. The controls can be frustrating, they are very touchy, but once mastered you really have greater control thanks to the way it is configured. Fighting often seems like a button mash, but there are tactics and skill moves that once learned are especially useful and deadly.

Another negative could perhaps be that all you do is run around, climb, and fight people. There isn't a whole lot of diversity in what you actually do, other than the fact that things take place in various gorgeous locations. It would be nice to throw some COD like set pieces in there. They did have one where you flew a Da Vinci glider. There was another very quick set piece where you got to ride a horse on a wall in the Vatican and chop at the guards trying to stop you, however, this one only lasted about 30 seconds.

All-in-all, Assassin's Creed II is a great game. It might not be for everyone, but I think everyone who likes games should give it a chance. I'm giving this game a 9.5 and not a 10 just because I believe there is some room for improvement. This is not the perfect game, but it is close. They can still get better, and hopefully they do.

Blog Post: The Plot Thickens

Dustin — Mon, 02 May 2011 02:28:00 GMT

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE

The first Assassin's Creed was a lot of fun, but it had some problems, the biggest being the repetitive gameplay. A few hours into the first game, I was playing mainly to see how the intriguing story would turn out. So I guess the challenge for Ubisoft in the sequel was to keep the gameplay fresh while making sure that the story was still a strong asset. I am pleased to note that they largely succeeded.

The Good:

· Great graphics, renaissance Italy comes alive

· The new protagonist, Ezio, is more fully explored as a character than Altair was.

· Weapon and outfit customization

· Better mission variety helps keep the game fresh

· The story continues to unfold in intriguing ways, leaving gamers chomping at the bit for a third installment

· A cool personal castle that you can upgrade and keep your stuff in

· The same cool climbing and platforming you loved from the first game

The Bad:

· Some of the side quests are just boring races and collect-a-thons. It would be nice if they could put in some story based side quests (like GTA or Red Dead)

· Some locations get over used (you will get sick of Venice, awesome as it is), others I would have liked to spend more time in.

Blog Post: Best Open World Ever!

Sora3Ben — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 02:59:00 GMT

My first review so bear with me, Yes I also know this is late (don't judge me again [I should trademark that phrase or something]). I got this game knowing that it would be better than before. But it just completely blew me away. The graphics are amazing, a definite overhaul from the first game. The scenery was beautiful, the towns each having their know style. The story was amazing (as far as I could tell). I really loved the way they built Shaun and Rebecca. Rebecca was that over-eccentric, hyper, go-to person while Shaun I trusted but because of his British accent made me over-cautious of him. The only couple of problems I had with the game were there wasn't much Desmond sequences as I had hoped. The other problem is i guess how short the story was. I beat the game in a couple of days, which could also mean a couple hours longer than playing through Halo Reach. Anyways great game and I would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat, so long as they play the first game to understand the story.

Blog Post: Assassin's Creed2

Paul Shade — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 04:09:00 GMT

One of the most popular franchises this generation Assassin's Creed 2 hoped to push the games into greatness. Does Ezio sneak in for the kill or is his plot transparent?

Gameplay

On a technical level AC2 plays much better than the original. Jumps are more crisp and easier to see if you ill make them or not. Movement feels more fluid and combat feels smoother. Even the mini-map looks better despite having an overload of stuff on it to look at.

Sadly the fun gameplay ends on the technical level. To be brutally honest the game is plain out boring to play and is hardly better then the first one in terms quest.

Let's start out with the new villa you get for a base. The idea is cool and it works out pretty well. The more you do and buy the higher in value the place becomes. You can open up all of the shops in the game there and they give you discounts for good. However this place makes gathering the treasure chest, filled with money they are spread throughout the cities and are 330 in total, and doing other side-quest useless. If you buy a few paintings and open a store or two you will be earning 3,000-5,000 gold every 20 minutes which you can use to put back into the villa and thus making you more money. Poorly executed idea that probably looked great on paper.

Next would be the weapons, armor and combat. All the weapons have a different feel and the armors stats kind of matter. What I mean is that as you progress so the guards in the cities you are progressing to so new armor really means you are taking the same damage as you were while gaining more health.

All of the weapons are useless 99% of the time in combat. the assassin's blades are instant kill counter attacks on any level of enemy. Since most of your targets don't fight back you can just use the blades on them. Only a scant few times are you forced to use something else.

Eagle Vision is a great idea used poorly. Maybe it is just the quest but how in the world are you suppose to know who your target is by simply going to an area and using Eagle Vision? It seems like a cheap mechanic to shorten the game and get the devs out of having to think of ways to have you search for information on the targets. "Go kill this three public officials, use eagle vision to find them..." How when all the public officials DRESS THE SAME?

Combat is a flat out joke. The AI doesn't work together, surrounding you in a circle and attacking one at a time isn't working together. In fact the AI in the game is just plain stupid and cheap. Many times when I was asked not to be detected the AI would somehow know exactly where I was and the mission would be over. Also the amount of archers on the roofs is just annoying. It basically makes climbing to the roofs a chorus of "Hey you get down from here" as their meters start filling for attack.

However what trumps all of these things are the side quest. The side quest are absolutely pointless to anything in the game. They feel as if they were tacked on in the last month of development for kicks. The beat 'em quest are borderline awful, the courier quest make you like a mail man with no rhyme or reason to why you are doing them and race missions just make no sense in the context of the game, seemingly just there to show of the climb mechanic. To top it all off there are assassin quest that rarely require you to feel like an assassin, more like a servant boy that walks up to a guy in broad day and knifes him in the middle of the street. To top it off these quest do nothing with the story in any way, unlike the ones in the first game.

The DNA sequences all run pretty much the same way, go to an area, meet someone/save them, they instantly trust you, gather an army and kill someone. It's cool once or twice but each time gets old really fast. It could have been mixed up with an assault on the villa but no because that would have taken away from the formula of killing someone at the end of the sequence.

Assassin's Creed 2 improved on the technical side but failed to make the game any less boring. Much like the first game all the DNA sequences run the same and the side quest are just plain out dull and pointless. Luckily the technical side saved AC2 a little bit.

Gameplay: 6/10

Story

The story of AC2 picks up right where AC left off. This is good because the story of AC was solid even if it was a tad flaky with details at times.

AC2 is still flaky at times but manages to tell a solid story from start to finish, mostly. I thought the ending, the last thing Ezio does being, was total trash. The element they pulled in and used is something a franchise that has lost a lot of fans does to gain people back. It wasn't a good idea and I honestly laughed when I saw it, not because it was funny because it was awful.

That being said the story is still pretty good and worth your time if you played AC. The atmosphere of the cities fits the time era and the clothing of the NPC really adds to this. The historic building that are used are pretty cool and the bits of history that is given on them is neat to read.

However the story is driven by stagnant characters. You meet so many people that are so bland and forgettable it is a joke. The speech in half English half Italian is more annoying then cool despite the voice acting being decent. The characters don't develop and the plot twist, if there was one, was so easy to see I must not have realized there was one.

Somehow boring characters with zero personalities moved the story along. How this happened we might never know but they did and it was done pretty well.

Story: 7.5/10

Sound/Music

The music is a highlight of AC2. While not over powering or something that you will hum for weeks after playing it was used at the correct parts of the game to bring out moments of importance. It adds an element to parts of the plot that would have otherwise been completely forgotten or just wouldn't have had any impact.

The sounds in the game are a major highlight. The sound effects in towns make the cities feel more alive. The random NCPs saying things to you or about you also adds to this. The sounds of the weapons clashing together sounds a lot more real than other games.

Sound/Music: 9.0/10

Graphics

Another great aspect of the game are the graphics. The atmosphere is set right with all the clothing and building and for the scale of the game the graphics are pretty good. Sides of buildings are detailed but so are the clothes that NPCs wear. I would have liked to see more outfits but that's a small qualm.

Two things really impressed me. First was the historic buildings and how they really matched up to their real life counter parts. While obviously not exact it is cool to see something close. The second thing is how things look when on a high viewpoint. While the graphics do lose detail they still look good in their own way. Plus AC2 gives a good sense of vertigo.

Graphics: 8.75/10

Replay

Next to no replay here. It will end the same each time and it's pretty hard to miss things in the story. You can go back and get all 100 feathers and 20 glyphs if you missed them during the game but outside of that you should have done everything else. the game will last 20-35 hours depending on how much you die/fail missions and if you 100% it. After that, however, there is nothing left.

Replay: 6.0/10

Other

Don't take my harsh gameplay review the wrong way, AC@2is a good game and if you liked the first you will like this one and probably like Brotherhood which came out this fall. However I will warn you if you didn't like the boring quest line in AC it doesn't change much in AC2.

Overall: 7.5/10

(My review is not an average of my numbers but what I feel the game as a whole should get. the numbers under each category are based on what I think those categories are in general when compared to most games on the market today.)

Wiki: Assassin's Creed 2 Guides

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 08:24:00 GMT

Guides for Assassin's Creed 2

Blog Post: Bigger than the first

Gamecrow — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 23:25:00 GMT

I got this game knowing it will be good. seeing how good this game is blew my mind. with better gameplay and fun stuff you will play this game for days...months....and even years. some might think oh it's need multiplayer but it doesn't. get this game.....you need it.

Wiki Page: Some fun with ac2

Jake Be Me — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 06:49:00 GMT

Try to have fun and do some side quests along the way...take your time and FOLLOW THE STORY LINE thats the best part of the game so pay attention to it or else you will be like "wtf is going on here?" lol so have fun and enjoy the game people just have fun ;)

Wiki Page: Assassin's Creed 2 Guides

MASTER CHIEF PETTY OFFICER JOHN SPARTAN -117 — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 22:13:00 GMT

Equipment

The following items can be unlocked by performing the actions below:

Condottiero War Hammer Collect 50 hidden feathers and the Condottiero War Hammer will become available in the blacksmith's shop in the Villa Monteriggioni.

Auditore Cape Collect 100 hidden feathers and then talk to Mario in the Villa Monteriggioni. He'll award you the Auditore Cape.

Abilities

The following items can be unlocked by performing the actions below:

Climb Leap Ability Complete Rosa's mission Monkey See, Monkey Do in Sequence 7 to earn the climb leap ability. With this ability, you can make longer jumps while climbing, letting you grab hand holds that'd normally be out of reach.

Disarm Combat Technique Complete Mario's Evasive Maneuvers mission in Sequence 5 to unlock the disarm technique. Disarms let you counter incoming attacks from weapons that are normally too heavy to counter like axes.

Achievements

A Piece of the Puzzle (10) - Unlock a piece of Subject 16's video.
An Old Friend Returns (100) - Escape the hideout.
An Unexpected Journey (30) - Complete DNA Sequence 6.
Arrivederci Abstergo (20) - Break out of Abstergo.
Art Connoisseur (10) - Buy a Painting from Florence and Venice.
Assassin For Hire (10) - Complete your first assassination mission for Lorenzo Il Magnifico.
Bianca's Man (30) - Complete DNA Sequence 10.
Bleeding Effect (30) - Complete training and reenter the Animus.
Bloody Sunday (30) - Complete DNA Sequence 4.
Choir Boy (20) - Discover the Assassin's Tomb inside Santa Maria del Fiore (The Duomo).
Doctor (20) - Perform an Air Assassination on a Poisoned NPC.
Exit the Son (30) - Complete DNA Sequence 3.
Fly Swatter (5) - Kick a Guard while using the Flying Machine.
Hallowed be thy name (20) - Discover the Assassin's Tomb inside the Basilica di San Marco.
Handy Man (10) - Upgrade a building in the Stronghold.
High Dive (10) - Perform a Leap of Faith from the Top of Florence's Giotto's Campanile.
I can see your house from here! (20) - Discover the Assassin's Tomb inside the Torre Grossa.
I like the view (10) - Synchronize 10 View Points.
In Memory of Petruccio (30) - Collect all the Feathers.
Kleptomaniac (10) - Pickpocket 1000 Florins.
Lightning Strike (10) - Sprint for 100 meters.
Macho Man (10) - Defend a woman's honor.
Mailman (10) - Intercept a Borgia Courrier.
Man of the People (10) - Toss more than 300 florins on the ground.
Masquerade (30) - Complete DNA Sequence 9.
Messer Sandman (10) - Stun 4 guards at once by throwing sand in their face.
Myth Maker (5) - Find the 8 statuettes in Monteriggioni.
No-hitter (20) - Kill 10 enemies while remaining in conflict without being hit.
Perfect Harmony (10) - Tint your clothes with those colors: Wetland Ebony and Wetland Ivory.
Podesta` of Monteriggioni (30) - Reach 80% of your stronghold's total value.
Prison Escape (20) - Discover the Assassin's Tomb inside the Rocca di Ravaldino fortress.
Red Light Addict (10) - Spend 5000 florins on Courtesans.
Show your Colors (10) - Wear the Auditore cape in each city.
Steal Home (10) - Win a race against thieves!
Street Cleaner (10) - Hide 5 dead bodies in a Bale of Hay.
Sweeper (10) - Sweep 5 guards at once by using a Long Weapon.
The Birth of an Assassin (20) - Be reborn as Ezio Auditore Da Firenze.
The Conspirators (30) - Complete DNA Sequence 5.
The Impenetrable Palazzo (30) - Complete DNA Sequence 8.
The Merchant of Venice (30) - Complete DNA Sequence 7.
The Pain of Betrayal (30) - Complete DNA Sequence 1.
The Prophet (30) - Complete DNA Sequence 11.
The Vault (30) - Complete DNA Sequence 14.
Tip of the Iceberg (10) - Use your Eagle Vision to scan a Glyph in the environment.
Undertaker (20) - Discover the Assassin's Tomb inside the catacombs under Santa Maria Novella.
Venetian Gladiator (20) - Discover the Assassin's Tomb inside Santa Maria della Visitazione.
Vengeance (30) - Complete DNA Sequence 2.
Victory lies in preparation (10) - Get all Hidden Blades, Item Pouches and Armor upgrades for Ezio.
Vitruvian Man (20) - Unlock all 20 pieces of Subject 16's video.
Welcome to the Animus 2.0 (20) - Enter the Animus 2.0.

End of the World

When you enter the second town with your Uncle Mario, wait until you get to the top of the stairs and use the Eagle eye. Look around when your up there and on one of the buildings you will see a red rectangle. If you get close to it you will see under the rectangle, in red, the numbers"12212012". That is the date people say the world will end.

Binary at End of The Truth The Truth

The Binary code at the end of the in game video, "The Truth", is 01000101010001000100010101001110 or EDEN.

Giant squid

In the assassin's tomb in Santa Maria Delle Visitazione, before the room where you get one of the seals required for the Armour of Altair, is a large room filled with water. This room has an obstacle course. Activate the lever before going through the course, then stand on the edge of the floor, and look at the water. Remain idle until a large shape swims across the water. Use the lever again after the timer resets, and stand at same location. After awhile, a giant tentacle will shoot out of the water that Ezio dodges at the last second.

Mario Quote

When escorting Maria and Claudia to the Villa.
When you are escorting Maria and Claudia to the villa, you will eventually be ambushed by Pazzi and his men. You are rescued by your Uncle Mario, and when you first talk to him he says Don't you recognize me Its a me, Mario.

Blog Post: assassin creed 2 review

Mushroom King — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:31:00 GMT

I give this game a 10 out 10 because playing through it i found it very fun and actiony (is that a word) the game was a nice length not to long or short and the missions made it feel like it was the perfect. The free running was very fun made the running away from the templars exciting. One problem is that at times you would jump off a platform causing fraustion cause of the button layout. Other then that the game was great, great plot, good layout, and awsome cities.

Blog Post: Assassin's Legacy

Donkaman — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 01:55:00 GMT

For the casual gamer this title probably isn't going to be first choice. This game is intensely consuming if you let it have the chance. Assassin's Creed has aspects of many different genres, from the character building of an interactive RPG, to the button mashing carnage, with more finesse than blood, of Darksiders. This game does live up to it's predecessor, but it contains so much more in almost all aspects. The control scheme is extremely similar, and the character development is much more than simply taking a powerful character and stripping him of his rank. The player gets the chance to experience what it is to learn the basic skills necessary to become a master assassin. The ability of the makers of Assassin's Creed to splice their imagination with the facts of history is uncanny. Many times it is hard to see the well covered line between fiction and actual historical facts. Their well thought out plot will have you questioning if there really is a millennium of fighting happening between the Templar and Assassin. Overall, if you're willing to dedicate some time into the game, it will reward you with very beautiful and awe inspiring assassination cutscenes.

Blog Post: Better Assassins Creed 2 review

Blake Auditore Da Firenze — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 00:27:00 GMT

I absolutely LOVE this game! The first time I played Assassins Creed, I knew there was something special about it. But it wasn't perfect. Assassins Creed 2, Well its WAY better! The graphics, entertainment, EVERYTHING is ALOT better. Wich is why don't agree with Gameinformer this time. They did say AC 2 is bigger better and stuff......Then why would they put the same review rating as they did in AC? AC 2 also isnt the BEST game ever, but it's AWESOME. I HIGHLY reccomend Assassins Creed 2. Lets hope Assassins Creed Brotherhood is even BETTER!!!

Blog Post: the biggest badest game ever

mphr2d2 — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:56:00 GMT

assassins creed 2 is smilpy the best game EVER GO GET IT NOW!

Forum Post: Assassin's Creed III *Spoliers and Speculations

amlitt4 — Mon, 17 May 2010 14:12:00 GMT

I have not played it for money reasons as of late but from what I can tell. The DLC is great for the story but it is more of the same gameplay that came with the original game. Im not saying thats a bad thing but simply stating facts.

Blog Post: Stunning

Elias — Sat, 15 May 2010 03:04:00 GMT

Just the idea of an open world game set in renaissance Italy makes me dizzy. The thought off assassinating innocent Italians is awe-inspiring. Plus, I get the help of Leonardo Da Vinci? I might just pass out. The graphics were amazing, and the game play is nearly flawless. The only downside to the game play is sometimes the camera bounces around like some trashy Action movie. But, not often. Also, sometimes an attempted wall-climb tends up with Ezio bouncing off the wall, literally. But, this is not enough to ruin the game. As I said. It is nearly flawless. The assassinations always feel fresh, and it is not nearly as repetitive as the old game. Plus, the combat has been improved, as well as the graphics. The missions are all fun, and the ending is amazing. Now that the game is being sold below 50 dollars, there is no excuse not to buy it.

Forum Post: it's not bad.....

sam — Thu, 13 May 2010 13:45:00 GMT

the game is not that bad but it's not great... the only thing that i liked about it was all the new tools that you can use. the game is best to wast time but that is about it.

Blog Post: Beautiful Killing Fields (updated)

Punk rock fighter — Mon, 10 May 2010 00:37:00 GMT

This game was beautiful from the graphics to story all around this is an amazing game. My favorite part of this game was the uniqe killing styles. How u cane stealth kill one at a time or steal ur enemys weapon and slaughter them. the two blad weapons was also a very nice touch. A very live chase scene when caught it gives u very different options to run or hide. After beating the game i truely did not like the end. but i would highly recomend this game.

Blog Post: Best Story Ever

Nate Marshall — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 01:45:00 GMT

I did not play the original Assassins Creed, but watched every time my brother played and followed the story meticulously. Ubisoft further built on that great foundation of storytelling with the sequel. The gameplay was tremendous and the customization options were something that was sorely missing in the first AC. With all that said the exceptional story is what kept me coming back seemingly every day until the game was beat. The backstory of Ezio is incredible and dont even get me started on The Truth. I have never seen anything like that in a video game. The later puzzles were ridiculously difficult but the satisfaction you got when they were completed was impossible to replicate. The game left me with more questions than answers. I am now just itching for the finale of the trilogy!

Blog Post: Makes up for less innovation by just being better

Jeph — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 00:02:00 GMT

I was certainly apprehensive towards this game at first. The first AC was enjoyable enough, sure, but I could never shake the words "15-hour tech demo" from my head while I was playing it. And while the sequel doesn't offer too much variation on the original, almost all of the problems the first one had are fixed. The pacing and rate at which the player is awarded new abilities is much better, missions are more varied, and the inclusion of the monetary system gives it an RPG-lite feel. It's something else to see your hometown actually evolve and change around you as you pour more and more money into it. Not to mention that there are only 108 achievement related collectibles instead of over 400...that was the most welcome change.