The original Assassin’s Creed showed a ton of promise, but had its glaring flaws that earned it hate from gamers everywhere. It had a very formulaic structure to it, and people hated the mini-quests that led to the assassinations. A few people loved it despite its flaws, and I was one of those people. I never thought the repetitiveness dragged the core experience down, and that the repetitive tasks were never that time-consuming to warrant the hatred it was getting. But Ubisoft promised they would listen to gamers for the sequel, and let the original’s potential shine through. And they delivered, crafting one of the best experiences of 2009.

 

Ubisoft kicked out all of the mini-quests that were required to unlock new targets, and now Assassin’s Creed 2 plays more like a stripped back sandbox game. You can progress through the story as fast as you want, or take time to do side quests (assassinations, deliveries), look for collectibles, or explore tombs to help unlock better armor. Side quests now just earn your character, Ezio Auditore di Firenze, money to buy various upgrades.

 

The more money you spend helps upgrade the villa in Monteriggioni that becomes your home, which in turn leads to more money for Ezio. It’s a decent idea, but the only way to unlock the villa’s earning potential is to spend money. And once the cash starts flowing in, the only way to access it is to trek back to the villa, which can kill the flow of the game. It’s one of the few new features that falls a little flat, at least in my eyes.

 

The core gameplay remains similar to the original. There’s a good bit of free-running across rooftops and up buildings. The notoriety system has been changed as well. At the end of AC1, Altair could sneeze and have the entire army of Acre upon him. If players don’t like the heat that Ezio is facing, they can bribe corrupt officials, kill officials who are spreading the word about him, or they can rip down wanted posters.

 

 

All of these actions can make roaming about Italy much more carefree for Ezio. He can also hire thieves, mercenaries, and courtesans to distract guards. Combat has been tweaked to give more options to the player. Ezio can yield swords, throwing knives, maces and the coolest new weapon, the double blade. It’s similar to the concealed blade from the original, except, ya know, there’s two of them. These two blades can make for some double sick assassinations, and are very handy in clearing out a major battle. Other armor and weapon upgrades come from Leonardo da Vinci, who Ezio encounters through the story.

 

Speaking of, the story may be the biggest upgrade in the game. While the original sucked me in and kept me playing, the story never did much for me. Altair was not a very likable character, and his plight against the Templars was very drawn out. The only real reason I wanted Altair to succeed was because I was controlling him. Also, the sections where you had to walk around Abstergo as Desmond were very slow and very forced. AC2 completely changes that. While the betrayal in AC1 was at the end, Ezio is betrayed early on in the story, and creates a very compelling tale of revenge that takes you all throughout Italy.

 

The characters are much more likable, everything feels like it’s working towards a greater goal, and the twist at the end is truly a mind-blower. My only criticisms of the story is that it starts very slow (the first two or three hours are almost a very extended tutorial) and it suffers a bit from the same thing the GTA series does: by the time you get to the end, it can be kind of hard to remember how you got there.

 

The presentation of the game remains top-notch. The graphics are great, and seeing the panoramic views while at the top of a viewpoint are truly stunning. Ezio animates very smoothly from stabbing people to jumping from rooftop to rooftop. All of the characters’ voice acting is also top notch, with Hollywood talent like Kirsten Bell and veteran voice actors like Nolan North (best known for his work as Nathan Drake in Uncharted).

 

I loved the original Assassin’s Creed in spite of all of its flaws, and received some flak for it among my friends. I had to justify why I liked it. After they and I have played through Assassin’s Creed 2, there’s no need for explanation or justification; it’s simply among the best titles to be released on any system throughout 2009.