Desmond is back, with this picking up right where the last one(that this expects you to already have played... although you won't miss much if you haven't) left off, and he's soon in a new Animus, taking on the role of a different ancestor of his: Ezio(son of Armand Assante), in Italy during the Renaissance, out for revenge. You get to go to cool famous locations, take part in historical events and meet well-known people(one of whom I swear is William Fichtner), including Leonardo Da Vinci(and you get to use his flying machine, if only pretty briefly... the same goes for steering a carriage where you, by swiftly turning it, can unbalance those that try to get to you, from atop it), fresh from the, ahem, treatment that Dan Brown gave him. Yes, this feeds the conspiracy theorists, and the "decoding" can be engaging(and if you don't get into that aspect, you can still enjoy this... that was the case for me). This has the whole DRM thing like other recent titles, meaning that you can only play this if you have a permanent internet connection... I didn't have any problems with it, though obviously, no one will be able to play this if the server goes down entirely(meaning, if they go bankrupt or similar). The graphics are upgraded, with all cut-scenes in-engine. There's a nice level of expression to faces, if Lucy can come off wide-eyed, and looks like she raided the lipstick collection of a clown. This is about the same as the first, with Prince of Persia acrobatics, Hit-man/Splinter Cell hiding(note that one of the new enemies will check piles of leaves and the like for your presence if they are hunting you... you can murder them from in there, if you're quick!) and death-dealing and GTA free-roam. There were two things they could do to fix the streamlining that took away nearly all risk(still present)... make it challenging(well, they do that some), or add RPG elements. They chose the latter. The thing is that other than the collectibles(that are the only replayability in this, only one difficulty setting and linear progression through the overarching story), the only thing you can really "get" in this is cash, and it's so easy to gain and there's hardly anything to spend it on(ever watched Brewster's Millions?). Why not reward stealth? You can assassinate from climbing positions(pulling the other over you and off!), while out of sight and sometimes during combat(in general it tends to work, at least often, as long as the other isn't expecting it or is vulnerable). The dual wrist blades can be used for fencing(of which there is too much in this, don't they realize that it's repetitive and dull? At least they give you new moves for the unarmed stuff, at least if you grab the other... headbutt, knee, punch and throw) too, and you can execute two people at once(with a little luck, since you can't "target" two), and if you don't dawdle, you can manage that twice in a row. Dead bodies can be moved, if it usually isn't required(they can distract, as can the money bags you can toss). There are new weapons(accessible only through the wheel, why? The numerical keys could be made to cycle! Instead, only three of them work(well, has anyone *else* been able to get 1 to do anything?), and pressing twice merely draws it(what's the point of that? It's not faster used on account of that!)), such as poison(...never used it, don't know what good it does... take longer, so you can rapidly get away, I understand?), a primitive pistol(that really walks the line between useful and not taking away all the toughness... limited bullets and range, and you should hold down the trigger for a little while to ensure you'll hit), smoke bombs(early flashbangs, essentially), and alternate ones for your main one, mostly swords, a chain-less mace and a hammer(powerful!). The GPS remains(and is the same), as does the map(why does it lag so much?). Viewpoints don't feel like they do anything, well, they fill in the blank areas, they don't tell you where tasks(those are new, by the way, this time you beat up cheating husbands, courier letters, and carry out contracts) are. You can swim, and no one else can, so be careful about your allies, and get your kicks leading foes to their watery demise(...well, *I* like it). This does have intense chases, and they mix up the objectives some to keep it interesting(bullseye). The notoriety system means you can be recognized by your face(finally!) if you've done a lot of illegal things(or if the mission calls for it), until you tear down posters, bribe heralds, or off informants. Saving is again automatic and done by checkpoints, leading to some annoyances when you have to do the same things over and over again if you're failing near the end of a segment. The great thing is that you can often go right back to where you left off no matter when you quit(you can literally get out of this in a matter of seconds, and in about a minute, be right back where you left off). This does also mean that you can kill yourself and not lose, but gain time/distance. The cinematography is fantastic, and this has very film-like moments in the fighting(especially when someone is dying; the finishers look awesome). There is a meter over the heads of people letting you know if they're starting to notice you, so you can scamper off if someone is realizing that you're not on their side. You can "blend" again, this time with any group of NPCs(that don't raise their weapons at you), and the "feet" thing is now "fast walk"(when will they implement "crouch" or "hug surroundings", you know, to get out of their view?). There is a bit of bloody, brutal violence and disturbing content, and a little strong language in this. I recommend this to fans of this franchise and concept. 7/10
Review of Assassin's Creed II
