Assassin's Creed II Review

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00:00:18.369Sasson screed - is a bloody romp through

00:00:20.599Renaissance Italy the significantly

00:00:22.250expands and improves upon the core

00:00:23.720mechanics of the first name the story

00:00:25.699picks up directly after the first one

00:00:27.439with Desmond the main character in

00:00:28.820modern times escaping from the mr. go

00:00:30.669desmond teams up with the assassins and

00:00:32.780hops back into the Animas this time by

00:00:34.550choice the goal is to train himself as a

00:00:36.530deadly assassin by experiencing the life

00:00:38.210of his ancestor Ezio Auditore da Firenze

00:00:43.269we jump back to Renaissance Italy and

00:00:45.710the fun begins

00:00:48.009your sister seemed quite satisfied with

00:00:50.809the handling I gave her earlier right

00:01:04.070off the bat the game sets up an

00:01:05.360intriguing tale of revenge in both the

00:01:06.860past and the present there's solid story

00:01:09.049development and while the control option

00:01:10.670to be almost overwhelming at times

00:01:11.930there's a lengthy in-game tutorial that

00:01:14.000holds players hands as they learn to

00:01:15.229free run pickpockets do combat hide and

00:01:18.649of course assassinate their targets

00:01:21.850Sasson screed - is a visual delight the

00:01:24.740animations are still top-notch in the

00:01:26.330dramatic music rounds out a high-caliber

00:01:27.950presentation the Renaissance setting

00:01:30.110also adds a dose of much-needed color

00:01:31.790and humour to the series do I know you

00:01:33.799from somewhere don't you recognise me

00:01:36.140it's a me Mario you want to play with

00:01:39.799the subtitles on just to catch all of a

00:01:41.450comical Italian banter between the

00:01:42.920characters

00:01:52.000excellent freerunning system from the

00:01:53.900first game has returned and is

00:01:55.130noticeably faster making exploration

00:01:57.020more enjoyable it also helps that

00:01:59.060Florence Venice and other Italian cities

00:02:00.920are the perfect setting for Ezio's

00:02:02.570acrobatic antics combat is also brutal

00:02:05.120and gory there are a bunch of weapons to

00:02:06.830purchase and you'll likely buy all of

00:02:08.360them just to watch the unique animations

00:02:09.830they trigger during a fight the most

00:02:13.160important improvement to Assassin's

00:02:14.450Creed 2 is the streamlined mission

00:02:15.890structure that always points players

00:02:17.300towards the meat of the game the mission

00:02:19.250that progresses the storyline has always

00:02:20.750marked with a big exclamation point on

00:02:22.340the mini-map and this time around the

00:02:24.020missions are much more varied and

00:02:25.340definitely more exciting there's no

00:02:27.230sitting on benches required the addition

00:02:29.420of a monetary system means that there's

00:02:30.920a good reason to go treasure hunting and

00:02:32.540it adds a host of shops to the city

00:02:34.070including one for armor and weapons it's

00:02:36.470just another layer that makes the

00:02:37.730Italian cities more vibrant and

00:02:39.080believable than the first game the

00:02:41.180stealth is also improved now players can

00:02:43.340blend with any large crowd of people as

00:02:44.900well as hire thieves mercenaries and

00:02:46.760[ __ ] to distract specific targets and

00:02:52.640now the players can disarm opponents and

00:02:54.500purchase a wide range of weapons the

00:02:56.030combat is deep and enjoyable the counter

00:02:58.070and kill animations alone make

00:02:59.420confrontation of thrilling option Sasson

00:03:02.600screed - is a meaty game clocking in at

00:03:04.40018 hours for a normal playthrough and

00:03:06.110there are hours of side missions and

00:03:07.640diversions there are tombs to be found

00:03:09.560that includes some excellent prince of

00:03:10.880persia platforming and an entire villa

00:03:12.650that players can upgrade by purchasing

00:03:14.180art and architectural improvements you

00:03:24.140weren't thrilled with the first

00:03:25.070Assassin's Creed it's likely that your

00:03:26.660problems have been addressed sequel does

00:03:28.610include a few flaws one being that it

00:03:30.230isn't exactly difficult

00:03:31.400aside from flying off a Ledge do a less

00:03:33.500than perfect camera angle players will

00:03:35.000hardly ever find themselves close to

00:03:36.500death but Assassin's Creed 2 is a real

00:03:38.989sequel didn't just refine elements of

00:03:40.880the first game it added a huge amount of

00:03:42.440new content and interesting gameplay

00:03:43.850mechanics

00:03:45.099I gave the game at 9.2 and while

00:03:48.700Assassin's Creed isn't perfect it has

00:03:50.319put the series on a path towards

00:03:51.579greatness you can read the full review

00:03:53.349on IGN com

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