I’ve been spending a lot of time with Assassin’s Creed (both versions) these days. I know I’m a bit late for the party, blame it on my corporate job, but playing both games has given me a worthy insight into how Assassin’s Creed has successfully developed into a mature, full-fledged game.
I bought the retail versions of both the games as they were in my ‘To-Play’ list for long. When I started playing Assassin’s Creed, I was impressed with the gameplay mechanics, the fluid movements and the combat system initially, but as I moved on, I started noticing the linearity in the game and eventually I chucked it for a couple of months, simply, because I was bored and I sort of knew what to expect. Months passed by, and I thought, eh, what the heck, I might just finish off the game.
So I started Assassin’s Creed from scratch and forcibly pushed myself to finish the game. The game, in short, was just about average. It does impress initially, but you start getting the gist of it after 3–4 hours of gameplay time. The story had a bit of an intriguing side to it; thus, it gave me some motivation to finish the game. But nonetheless, I would say that Assassin’s Creed was ‘strictly average.’ The combat gets boring, and at one point you realize that you only have a limited number of moves and maneuvers to perform. The boss assassinations followed the same sequences throughout, which is, you follow them within a city and then just simply assassinate them. So when I actually finished the game, I sort of went through the “good riddance” emotion.
So then, I took out the Assassin’s Creed II DVD and installed it on my PC and started playing it. I was expecting similar gameplay mechanics with AC II. The first surprise was that the game is based in Italy, and the protagonist is Ezio Aditore, moving away from Altair from AC I. The game started on a high note, with an extremely fast-paced story to begin with, and I was in the city of Florence, which was designed beautifully. The movement of Ezio was butter smooth, and climbing buildings and towers was as fluid as ever. I was still under the impression that this was all the improvement that Assassin’s Creed II had to offer, but as the game progressed, I immediately started noticing that a whole new approach was taken by the developers of AC II.
The game is a truly open-world game, giving you the freedom to play at your own pace. The list of new additions to gameplay mechanics is endless, ranging from simple beat-up missions to exploring tombs. Tombs are a superb addition to Assassin’s Creed II. They add a sense of mystery. They’re challenging, mind-boggling, fun, and yet rewarding in a tangible way. At one point, I felt the gameplay of AC II totally engulfed the mechanics of Prince of Persia and AC 1 put together. All this, with a sense of history, has been added to the game. The cities—Venice, Rome—all look gorgeous, especially since the landmarks, like the Venice Flea Market Bridge, the Leaning Tower, etc., are designed beautifully. The game has a deep engine, and is consistently offering you insight into the actual histories of why these buildings were made, with their specific backgrounds. Assassin’s Creed II knows how to keep you intrigued throughout the time you spend with this game.
Another great addition, which I personally found to be excellent, are “glyphs.” Glyphs are certain patterns that need to be deciphered to unlock minute video clips of “the truth.” To decipher a glyph, you need to solve puzzles, which are very challenging and not just rip-offs of most adventure game puzzles. You actually need to use a lot of logic and strain your brains to solve the puzzles to decipher the code. Most importantly, you are motivated too, since the short video clip that you’ll unlock is what you’re really willing to see.
Another great improvement over AC I is the absolutely magnificent story line of Assassin’s Creed II. The intensity is ante’d up as the game moves on. The characters you meet along the way are all very interesting. Personally, I feel AC II really hit the bull’s eye with its story line. It’s one of the best I’ve ever come across in a game. What I like about the story line is that, after you spend a few weeks playing AC II, you feel yourself being totally immersed into the story and being a big part of it emotionally. This is what video games should be like.
Combat in AC II, is again, leap years ahead of its predecessor. Theres just too many variations that actually you find it difficult to memorize all. From throwing sand into your opponent’s face, to injecting him with poison, to throwing a smoke bomb to get yourself out of a critical situation, the combat system in Assassin’s Creed II is simply impeccable. Eh, you can also hire mercenaries, thieves, whores, to distract city guards and to fight for you.
The point I want to make with this post is basically to prove how Assassin’s Creed II has been a worthy and genuine improvement over Assassin’s Creed I. a truly worthy and deserving successor, offering genuine gameplay, combat, movement, and storyline improvements over its predecessor. It’s a genuine “evolution” and genuinely “the next generation of Assassin’s Creed.” Ubisoft has done a great job, and this is a great sign about them and their value system as a company. They’re focused on constantly improving their franchises, not just with junk bells and whistles, but by developing the “core” of their games.
I’ve seen big franchises not really live up to the reputations they earn with their debuts. For example, take Bioshock. Bioshock was a superb game, showing us things we’ve never seen before in games, but Bioshock II offered nothing new, if we speak concretely. It wasn’t even half as fun as Bioshock was.
Next, I am going to pick up Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. There have been rumours of Assassin’s Creed 3.0, which might be called Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, and it is said that Altair and Ezio are going to be protagonists and playable characters in Revelations. Sounds exciting.
