Take the Renaissance down a peg as you play the role of Ezio, the ancestor of Desmond on his quest for revenge.
Assassin’s Creed 2 starts right where the previous game left off. Desmond sees all those strange markings in his room thanks to his eagle vision and Lucy breaks him out and together they head to their secret headquarters where a new and improved Animus awaits. This time, the game takes place during the Italian Renaissance where character whose we may remember from history like Leonardo da Vinci and Lorenzo di Medici are introduced. The ancestor whose memories we look into this time are of Ezio Auditore di Firenze a carefree playboy turned assassin when his father and brother are murdered by conspirators.
Right off the bat, it’s clear the world of Assassin’s Creed 2 is much larger and more detailed than the first one, especially when it comes to the level of architecture. Buildings are intricately designed, essentially giving Ezio much more to grab hold of. Free running is just as fun as it was before; Ezio can scale walls, swing from posts, run along tight ropes, grab hold of ledges in midfall, and of course, recklessly dive into piles of well placed hay. Running along rooftops may not always be the path of least resistance in the sequel however, and sometimes it seems to be easier to reach your goals via alleyway. This is mainly because the cities aren’t designed exactly to fit an assassin’s needs anymore. Architects have wised up and made it a little harder for Ezio to reach his destination by adding more space between buildings and adding more obstacles like chimneys, scaffolding, and more guards.
Many new elements are added to Assassin’s Creed 2, like the ability to buy better armor and weapons for Ezio. Upgrading your equipment provides better protection against falling from buildings or getting hit by a guard. Buying a treasure map will show you the location of all the treasure boxes in the city and dying your outfit various colors allows you to better blend in with your surroundings and the civilians. One vast improvement AC2 has is the depth of the story; throughout the towns like Venice and Florence are codex pages that are decoded by Leonardo da Vinci that ultimately form a picture if you view it in eagle vision. Glyphs scattered throughout the cities allow you to solve puzzles that unlock short video clips when viewed together will deepen the storyline even further. And the tombs of assassins responsible for the deaths of historically significant people like Ghenis Khan and Cleopatra have artifacts that together can open up the tomb of another well known assassin if you played the first game. AC2 makes getting these codex pages and artifacts more satisfying because of the rewards than the first games objectives like killing templars and finding eagle spots.
Thankfully, AC2 is not nearly as repetitive as the first game, mainly because there is so much to do and explore in each area like finding assassin tombs and treasure chests. The assassinations themselves are kept fresh by offering various settings like fortresses and monastaries each with a set a challenges to overcome. Ezio can command a small group of warriors to fight and distract the guards while he finds a way over the wall to open the gate, or use eagle vision to identify his enemies in red, who are disguised as civilians or monks.
I appreciated the little nuances AC2 has to offer as well, like bumping a person who is carrying a box will throw a fit and possibly alert the guards if you notoriety is high enough. Ezio has the ability to pickpocket and depending on the class and wealth of the target, can add a decent amount to his gold purse. The town of Monteriggioni can be improved by Ezio’s financial contributions which can ultimately make a lot of money for use in his own exploits.
After playing Assassin’s Creed 2 for a while, I’ve come to have a gripe with only two things in the game, the first being the controls. At times I’ll find myself getting frustrated because Ezio won’t do something or go a certain direction when I want him time. Many times I’ve found myself chasing down a pickpocket only to unwittingly dive off the building into a pile of hay. While I am aware that the bird poo on buildings signifies where you can jump off safely, it’s still annoying to end up where you don’t want to be and watch your target slip away. And while scaling buildings, when I want to jump a gap to reach another hold in the wall, Ezio won’t grab it and plunge to his death/desynchronization. I feel like the controls may be slightly less fluid than they were in AC1, but it may have something to do with the new environments.
My second gripe is with Ezio himself and I never really liked him off the bat. Ezio comes across as a spoiled guy who gets whatever he wants whether it’s money or women without any real effort or responsibility. I never saw a real change in Ezio that I would expect it would take someone to become an assassin; he just puts on the outfit his father left for him and boom. I don’t like Ezio as much mainly because he is the stark contrast of Altair, a stoic and poised character, whose direct manner of speaking matches his deadly and grim profession.
Overall, AC2 is a terrific game that shouldn’t be missed by any fan of the first one, it leaves so many questions unanswered, it will have you thinking about the game long after you beat it once. Exploring each highly and elaborately detailed city creates a great gaming experience and I look forward to the next installment in the series.
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