Assassin's Creed 2 Review

In the first Assassin’s Creed you didn’t really get any level of connection with the character but in this game the story is much more about Ezio and so you get a much greater sense of pleasure from leading the character through the game.

Ubisoft have extended the game to something more like the Grand Theft Auto games where you are not stuck following repetitive tasks that guide you towards the end. The game and the cities it features are yours to explore and missions can be done concurrently. The people that inhabit the city are busy getting on with their lives and chatting to each other and it gives you the feeling that this is a living, breathing, bustling city.

As part of this move towards a more realistic world we see the introduction of an economy into the game. As you complete missions you can earn money, this can then be used to by weapons, health packs and more. Earning money from missions is quite traditional so Ubisoft decided to spice it up a bit by adding your Villa into the equation. Your villa will likely be your main source of income; this is because as you go through the game you can develop into a tourist destination. You can add features to your villa such as the highly profitable brothel.

The addition of the economy and greater freedom within Assassin’s Creed 2 is a vast improvement over the original. It makes it much more fun to play and removes a lot of the repetitiveness that dogged the first game.

You get to explore vast cities and countryside that are superbly detailed. The cities do not come across as a bunch of platforms with some building graphics attached but as real cities, the fact that you are able to jump, swing and otherwise propel your self around them is just a coincidence.

Your acrobatic progression through the city is a pleasure to watch, being beautifully animated. And as you make your way you will obviously come across the need to assassinate a number of individuals. Again the animation is spot on and Ubisoft have opened up a number of new ways to go about your business.