I’m An Assassin (Shhhhhhhh)

December 7, 2009 • written by Rankin Dam

 

To all the people who are growing tired of Modern Warfare 2 (of which there are very few), I send the suggestion to buy Assassin’s Creed II. This monumental title was released exactly one week after Modern Warfare 2 and was one of the most anticipated sequels in the past year. Unfortunately, the record-breaking sales of MW2 have caused gamers to almost completely ignore this masterpiece.

Assassin’s Creed II has an overwhelming abundance of content. As it stands, a fellow student pointed out serious problem with my ability to review this game. Corey Glenn was looking forward to obtaining his license to kill from the Assassin Academy. Too bad his Xbox 360 died. When he saw what I was writing a review of, he promptly proclaimed, “Dude, HECK No! I do not want to know anything about it yet.” This made me realize that quite a few aspects of the game are new and could be considered spoilers when put to paper. As such, I will write a few segments in a cryptic code, commonly referred to as poetry.

Story:

Assassin’s Creed II has two main protagonists and two separate time settings. The most advertised time setting is the Italian Renaissance Era. The Renaissance was a time of cultural change and of revolutionary advances in science and the arts. A game that takes place during this era is bound to have many interesting qualities. The other time setting takes place in a not-so-distant future. These time settings are linked by a device called the Animus.

The Animus is a device that resembles a futuristic, medical examination table. It uses human DNA to view the memories of a person’s ancestors. Doctor Warren Vidic is the inventor of this device. He also happens to be a power hungry member of the millennia-old Templars. This group is searching for an artifact, and the only clue of its whereabouts lies within the ancestral memories of one Desmond Miles.

Most of Desmond’s ancestors were part of a brotherhood of assassins, hence Assassin’s Creed. This brotherhood was dedicated to the greater good of mankind, always working behind the scenes of war and government. This creed directly opposed the Templars, who sought to better the world through tyranny, deceit, and power. Due to the historical nature of Assassin’s Creed, many conspiracy theories are formed throughout history.

In the last game, the main ancestral character past was an established assassin named Altaïr. The last game would also make frequent switches between the story of the past and the story of the future. This time around, the game switches between the two less often. This means players will spend more time roaming the famous renaissance cities of Italy.

I can’t give away much of the story, so here are some cryptic poems about the plot. Interpret them as you see fit. “Ally” refers to Lucy Stillman, for those of you who played the first Assassin’s Creed.

Desmond’s ally left a body to rot,

She returns to the lab quite distraught.

“Get in the Animus.”

“Did you even plan all this?”

“Do you want to get out of here or not?”

Ezio is our protagonist in the past.

Not for long will his happy life last.

His family is framed’

“Guilty!” They are named.

Revenge Ezio seeks rather fast.

Graphics and Cinematics:

The voice-acting was quite monumental,

To the point I was feeling sentimental.

From cut-scene puppeteering,

To conspirators disappearing,

I found nothing at all detrimental.

Assassin’s Creed II did an incredible job with its voice-acting. Every accent was authentic with flawless transitions between English and Italian. The cut-scenes to which these voices are matched portray the characters as actual humans. They interact in ways that could be nominated for ‘best acting’ awards. I became more attached to the characters with each passing cut-scene.

These games are quite strong in scenery,

Even detailed with the occasional greenery.

Vast lands to explore,

Hidden treasures galore,

With load times that are surprisingly not dreary.

The first Assassin’s Creed was renowned for its massive free-roaming cities. The amount of detail that these cities contained was overwhelming. These free-running playgrounds were sadly denounced by the amount of horse-riding required to travel between locations.

Assassin’s Creed II once again boasts the marvelous cities of yesteryear. As with almost every other concept present in the first game, transportation between the cities has been given a major tune-up. There are fast travel stations that allow one to warp to other cities. An increased graphics performance engine allows the art style present in the first game to return with more flare and deeper colors.

All that land would suggest that the loading screens between cities would stretch on for minutes at a time. Not so, as they usually only last for about a dozen seconds at a time. I timed a few loading screens, and the longest I ever had to wait was twenty-one seconds.

Game-play:

Free-running will go from street to building,

Players agree that this action is thrilling.

Use your stealth,

Accumulate wealth,

Now buy some new weapons for killing.

The controls were at first quite perplexing,

This made free-running slightly vexing.

Just ignore the manual,

The game will tell you all,

How to get by without hexing.

I’m not at liberty to reveal much about the game-play. The controls for free-running and head-to-head combat are exactly the same as they were in the first game. I can say that everything has been changed in some way or another. Every aspect of the first game has been tweaked or completely replaced, so repetition is no longer a problem.

There is one other aspect that is quite a brilliant jewel of an idea. Throughout the story, Ezio Auditore di Firenze will travel to historical places and meet famous people. Each time this occurs, a file will be added to the Animus database containing historical facts about people and locations. There are also collectible pieces of history made by famous people.

Rating:

Assassin’s Creed II is rated M for mature. The game contains nudity, foul language, and blood. In its defense most of the foul language is in Italian, so you just need to turn off the subtitles if you can’t handle the language. There is also an option to toggle the blood on and off. There is only one cut-scene that involves a nude female, but the front is not shown. There is full nudity in some Renaissance paintings.

Conclusion:

Anyone who passes up on this game might find the need to constantly look over his or her shoulder whilst in a crowd. This masterpiece is well worth the sixty dollar price tag. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be disappearing into the crowd. One more thing…I’m standing right behind you!