Assassin’s Creed 2 is a truly cult game. Everyone has heard about it, many people have played it. But it just so happened that I began my acquaintance with the series only in 2021 with the original Assassin’s Creed, and then, although not delighted, I was quite satisfied with the quality of the game. However, almost always when they talk about the early games in the series, it’s the sequel that comes up. And I became interested in figuring out why it happened this way.
After the success of the original Assassin’s Creed a sequel was only a matter of time. Storyline Desmond Miles — the main protagonist was cut off at the most interesting point and left players in a frantic desire to find out what happened next.
Assassin’s Creed 2 is a third-person action adventure game with elements of acrobatics and stealth.
Plot Assassin’s Creed 2 picks up exactly where Desmond Miles left off in the original game. The main character, with the help of the already familiar Lucy escapes from clutches Abstergo and begins to work together with the assassins in order to reveal what kind of plans the Templars are making and how a certain Apple of Eden. This time Desmond, and with him the player, will find himself in the shoes not of an experienced master assassin, but of a young Florentine – Ezio Auditore, who will plot against the power-hungry Templars.
Assassin’s Creed 2 is a story of revenge. Essentially, the game shows how far a person will go just to settle a score. True, this problem was revealed in a rather dotted and undetailed manner. The main conflict still takes place on a slightly different plane. Confrontation Templars And assassins. Control and freedom. Almost the entire game plot is based on the fact that the insidious Templars want to gain absolute power and enslave everyone, and we, the assassins, are trying to stop them and defend people’s right to freedom.
I think it will be no secret to anyone that the events of the game unfold against the backdrop of real events. During the passage the player will meet and Leonardo da Vinci, And Savonarola, And Niccolo Machiavelli, and many, many other statesmen and historical figures. For the sake of the plot, of course, the characters of many of them were somewhat embellished, adjusted, modified.
Ezio will take part in many historical events. And the main problem with the plot, in my opinion, is that it too often goes somewhere aside. Twice during the game we have to deal with conspiracies against the republican rulers, hunt Templar accomplices many times, and this, by the way, is dozens of filler preparatory tasks, most of which boil down to “go kill, go steal, go climb”. And it would be nice if these tasks provided some interesting context or unusual situations, interesting dialogues, but almost always these are monotonous and not very exciting tasks. By and large, the game could have been somewhat shorter, and therefore more intense, without losing anything important, if they had decided to cut out a dozen or so such small tasks from it.
Some of the really interesting outlets are the well-developed final missions to eliminate the target, periodic breathtaking episodes (like a crazy cart ride through a mountain pass), as well as additional tasks with the tombs of assassins and hiding places of the Templars, which are basically climbing against time or speed and periodic skirmishes with a few enemies. These activities provide an opportunity to relax before the next bunch of monotonous tasks. And this situation would probably be much more depressing if it weren’t for the background against which all this is happening. And in the background are cities lovingly designed taking into account the era.
Often, these “final” tasks take place in really interesting settings and skillfully present unusual situations and various tasks
Actually, at first, Florence It seems like a secondary location in terms of visual design, after the same hot, beige-stone cities Middle East. At first. Subsequently, you begin to slowly notice the difference not only in the architecture, which is quite different in detail, but also in other decorations – in clothes, the voices of street barkers and heralds, ultimately in the very character of the city, in its structure. After the rather cramped and stuffy cities of the Middle East, Florence feels much freer. Narrow streets have not gone away, but they coexist with large avenues adjacent to monumental masterpieces of early architectural art Renaissance.
However, not Florence alone! As the player progresses, he will visit several different cities. Including green Tuscany, flooded fortress Forli and of course permeated with water arteries Venice, traveling through which is a pleasure.
And where there is Venice, there is water. It is not surprising that, given this circumstance, the hero was taught to use boats and swim independently.
The diversity of the environment never gives https://gamblingsitesnotongamstop.co.uk/review/palm-casino/ rise to boredom, thanks not only to the recognizable features of each location, but also to their timely change as the plot progresses. As soon as it begins to seem that the location has become boring, it is immediately replaced with a new one
The diversity of the environment never gives rise to boredom, thanks not only to the recognizable features of each location, but also to their timely change as the plot progresses. As soon as it begins to seem that the location has become boring, it is immediately replaced with a new one
The diversity of the environment never gives rise to boredom, thanks not only to the recognizable features of each location, but also to their timely change as the plot progresses. As soon as it begins to seem that the location has become boring, it is immediately replaced with a new one
The diversity of the environment never gives rise to boredom, thanks not only to the recognizable features of each location, but also to their timely change as the plot progresses. As soon as it begins to seem that the location has become boring, it is immediately replaced with a new one
The diversity of the environment never gives rise to boredom, thanks not only to the recognizable features of each location, but also to their timely change as the plot progresses. As soon as it begins to seem that the location has become boring, it is immediately replaced with a new one
Speaking of travel. In Assassin’s Creed moving on your own two feet – this is the basis of everything, especially considering the constant climbing of houses and walls. Not much has changed in the sequel compared to the original. Ezio, unlike Altair – the main protagonist of the original Assassin’s Creed – can do a little more in terms of climbing ledges. Jumping from walls, high jumps with a grab, even on a springboard you will learn to jump in the process of passing. But the pain hasn’t gone away either. The player may often encounter a situation where the hero, for some unknown reason, does not want to cling to a ledge, which, obviously, he can easily reach, and sometimes, on the contrary, he is able to jump to where he usually cannot jump. More than once I had to grind my teeth when the hero, instead of jumping to the side as I needed, jumped up and ended up falling from a height. And in general, the problem is not critical, but when you have to act quickly and at speed, especially if it is seasoned with a chase, such seemingly minor inconveniences turn into some kind of itch, to say the least. Yes, in general, if you take your time and don’t rush anywhere, then there will be a minimum of such incidents, but such convenient situations occur, for the most part, only outside of tasks.
And of course combat system. It is tied to close combat. Here swords, sabers, daggers and, of course, the universally recognizable hidden blades are used, which are more useful for quiet elimination than for open combat. In many cases, you can eliminate the desired target in two ways – in open combat (if the conditions of the task do not prohibit this), or, most interestingly, by attacking from the shadows.
Open fight provides many different options for eliminating enemies. From simply shutting down ordinary enemies with blows, to counterattacks from blocking or parrying or even disarming an opponent. The enemy is also not a fool. Almost always the player is left alone against a large group of opponents, where simply spamming hits on one opponent will lead to a backstab by another opponent. This is where blocks, counterattacks, parries, grabbing the enemy, pushing, etc. come to the rescue. d. The enemy responds with variety. If ordinary guards can be defeated without any problems, then, for example, heavy knights almost always cause a lot of problems, forcing them to retreat and unexpectedly attack again. In addition, spearmen with a long strike distance, archers who will constantly interfere with retreating to a height, and sneaky, nimble runners who will not allow you to escape calmly on the ground will plot against the player. And when all of the listed types of enemies are encountered simultaneously and in pairs, there will be no problems at all. It is precisely in order to avoid such a situation that there is a second option – quiet and inconspicuous.
Play from secrecy also not as simple as it might seem. In fact, the main weapon for covert attacks is, as you might guess, a hidden blade. In order to use it, you need to be as close to the target as possible. And the enemies are not exactly eager to let the player get within a minimum distance of them. They can hear well if the player is approaching them too quickly, and can manage to announce danger before the player deals with them. Therefore, the best option for eliminating the enemy is to strike from where he is not waiting. For example, from a haystack in which you can hide, from a well; by throwing an enemy off a ledge, attacking him from a crowd, or jumping on him from a height. There are many options, and almost always the environment presents opportunities to use these options. And here and there there are carts with hay, large groups of townspeople wandering around, and so on. Planning your elimination in advance, and then perfectly carrying out your plans and silently hiding in the crowd is a real ecstasy that you don’t get tired of throughout the game.
And besides all of the above, the game contains poisoned blades that infuriate the victim, smoke bombs that help you quickly and effectively break away from your pursuers (or vice versa – unexpectedly attack them from a curtain of smoke), as well as a real hidden pistol. True, in open combat it is too slow to use it effectively and constantly, and for covert elimination it is not entirely suitable, since it immediately leads to the detection of the shooter.
The hiring system has also become a notable innovation companions, be it a group of mercenaries who will help you in open battle, a gang of thieves who will distract the guards and lead them away, or a small company of courtesans who, for a small fee, will be able to turn the guards’ eyes from the hero to themselves.
Yes, from now on it is in the game money, with which the player is generously rewarded for completing any task. In addition, various chests with money are abundantly scattered around the map, it became possible to rob everyone on the street, as well as rob corpses. Of course, money can be spent not only on equipment, but also, for example, on painting clothes a different color, on repairing armor, and also on buying paintings.
In addition, it became possible to buy weapons and armor, as well as various consumables, such as medicines.
Why buy paintings? Because collecting such a collection of works of art increases the cost Villas Auditore — a kind of hub location that opens after completing approximately the first quarter of the game. The villa meets the hero in a rather unpresentable form, and the player has the opportunity to change this state of affairs by improving the estate with various investments of money. Unfortunately, there is practically no practical sense in this, but it is aesthetically pleasing to visit your villa and see it beautiful and tidy.
There are several types of collectible items in the game. A whole hundred eagle feathers, the collection of which will open. new raincoat. But much more interesting – "True". The game cleverly builds a veil of mystery over the Piece of Eden and the motives of the Templars, which forces you to collect information bit by bit and constantly ask questions and make assumptions regarding what is actually happening, and what the actual scale of these events is. In this regard, especially interesting is the search for glyphs on various historical buildings and the mini-game of solving puzzles, which, although they look quite simple at first, subsequently become increasingly complex and force you to really think about solving them. At the same time, all the riddles contain a fairly significant part of the lore of the game universe, shedding light on the actions of the Templars in the context of real events. Why do you think Kennedy was killed?? In the end, solving all these riddles will reveal to the player quite interesting details about the origin of the particles of Eden and more.
About beauty! From the point of view of location design and environment, the sequel is not only not inferior to the original, but also introduces more details, including in small details. Each city is characterized by its own characteristics of the appearance of not only the buildings themselves, but also the people inhabiting them. The variety of armor and weapon designs is also pleasing to the eye, as is the battle choreography itself.
Audio design and composer work – beyond all praise. The world around lives and breathes, which is emphasized by the constant bustle of the city, accompanied by the noise of voices, the singing of birds, the rustling of leaves on the trees, and of course the music of Jesper Kyd, skillfully emphasizing the rhythm of the game and the emotionality of the story.
From the point of view exclusively technical achievements – Assassin’s Creed 2 looks, of course, better than the original game, but not by an order of magnitude. Textures have become a little clearer, facial animations have become more natural, and the lighting has become neater, the characters began to look more alive and natural. However, a real technological breakthrough awaits the series in a year – in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, but this… well, you understand.
However, the low draw distance, characteristic of the time, is still striking. Everything in the same Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is almost unnoticed
Assassin’s Creed 2 is truly a cult game that still plays quite well, despite some visual obsolescence. Having tried the game for the first time in 2022, I didn’t regret anything, and I really enjoyed those 25 game hours, sometimes without leaving the game for a whole day. This is an almost standard sequel, which did significant work on the mistakes of the original game and became one of the most important milestones in the development of the series, personifying its best, in the opinion of many people, years. If you, like me, have been putting off the desire to get acquainted with the classic series for a very long time, it is highly recommended to try. Even if you are put off by its already old picture, you will definitely be attracted by the atmosphere of mystery and intrigue that permeates the entire game up and down.