video game reviews

Oswald Joel Leon says:

I enjoy all type of games, especially the adventure/rpg genre. I especially love games that are slow and have character development Eg: Mass

Effect. I hated The first game and this game is just as bad. If you were not a fan of the first, do not buy this game. This game is the definition of boring. Please, do not listen to any of the review from the “mainstream” sites. They overrated this game.Get Modern warfare 2 (Does nothing different, but it is a very entertaining game) or New Super Mario Bros. Wii (assuming you have a wii) or wait for mass effect 2 or Alan Wake.

*Have you ever played the new “Prince Of Persia” game? the underground “extra” levels are a rehash of that game. It’s the same layout!! The same Design! They just did a copy and paste and present them as “new extra” levels!

Get “New Super Mario. Bros Wii” instead. GOTY!
Rating: 1 / 5

Brian Long says:

Assassins Creed 2 is the kind of experience that one likens to the kind of game that people say would be a great game, and then laughs about because no developer will ever actually make it.

Ezio is the debutante son of a “banker,” and after a few brief scuffles with a rival italian family, Ezio’s watches his father and two brothers hang. Fast forward, uncle, Assassins, family vendetta, yakkity yak, you know the rest. But, as anyone knows, there’s the other layer of Abstergo, the megacorp that’s kidnapped you and is forcing you to live through your genetic memory. You are subsequently broken out and then slapped in another genetic memory machine, except sedated so you can’t leave as often, and this one controlled by the Assassins. I could easily see myself reaching for the “no, thank you” button on that basis alone, but the story quickly picks up in a major way. In that theres actually a story involved apart from “targets over there, kill they ass.”

Ubisoft continues to take the third degree to the third degree in terms of graphics. Photorealistic barely does it justice in the was distant vistas seem as crisp and pristine as the tower from which you are leaping to your characters 32nd death. Rooftops and other top layer accouterments are rather repetitive, but given just how gorgeous the scenery looks, its not worth complaining. Also, environments flow better, and you don’t have to waste half the time crossing vast empty wilderness to reach the game parts of the game.

Audio is also topnotch. Frequent use of Italian without large bold subtitles marks the 56th time I’ve screamed at the heavens in vain that 360 games need subtitles that a person without cybernetic implants can actually read, as I really don’t want to learn Italian, even if most of what they use are curses. Characters feel real and life-like, and there’s several moments where the voice actors are so good, you can feel the on-screen character entering brown trousers mode.

Gameplay has improved 10000% from Assassins creed 1. Remember all those insanely annoying search quests that served no purpose other than to give undervalued achievements? Well, that guy was fired, and hopefully his house was burned down. In its place are a plethora of new search quests, some annoying and some not, but all of which serve as useful game aids, finding cash for a variety of stores, finding other subquests, or trying to rescue your mother from a grief induced fugue. And in the 15th century, they’ve discovered the map, a wonderful piece of technology that gives you a general idea of where things are, and then mark important locations on these maps to make them valuable commodities. Combat has gone up and down. New techniques and new gear, not to mention gear that you can buy from stores, including new varieties of old standbys makes combat more entertaining, but they didn’t add much to the core combat, which boils down to counter and dodge and slash, though several new attacks, namely the double hidden blade takedown, had me giggling for hours.

Notoriety is the same way, in that you can lower your visibility to guards by blending into small crowds, bribing heralds to say the charges against you were acquitted, or tearing down wanted posters, but that feels a bit like time travel, when you kill a guard, gain notoriety, round a corner, see your wanted poster, tear it down, lose all your notoriety, and go back to being incognito.

There are a handful of nits. Some of the jumps are a pain, given your propensity to jump to the one location where there is no ledge. While more surfaces are climable, sometimes to sole one that will work its the one that looks and acts like background till you hit just the right spot. Some of the game requires DLC or preorder only content, which is about as fair as saying those who bought the regular version got an “expanded demo.” While maps are a good improvement, they’re too nailed down, and having GPS coordiantes for treasure hunts defeats some of the purpose, and there are no maps for some of the side quests. I know I sound like I’m trying to have my cake and eat it to, but I didn’t think a mechanic for “Go to this general area” would be impossible to pull off over two games. Improving the hideout is nice, but you can turn it into Trump Tower in less than forty minutes.

Overall, this game is fantastic. Entertaining side missions, a main storyline that’s an actual story that you can get into, gorgeous scenery, wonderful dialogue. If not for a few points mentioned early that make me pray Ubisofts VP of marketing is torn apart by wild animals, this would’ve shot all the way up to #3-4 on my all time list.
Rating: 5 / 5

Carl Carter says:

I’ll be the first to admit that the first Assassin’s Creed had it’s faults. However, I did enjoy it quite a bit. Although I was pretty sure I would enjoy Assassin’s Creed II, I had no idea exactly how much I would love it. Read on for the full review, or skip to the BOTTOM LINE for the short and to the point recommendation.

GAMEPLAY

Admittedly, I haven’t finished the game yet. However, I can tell you that the structure is greatly improved from the first one. Gone are the rigidly structured assassinations where you must complete a certain amount of the same sidequests. Now, you can see the sidequests on your map (including race, beat-up random guy, etc.) but they are completely optional. Another part of the first Assassin’s Creed that I didn’t like was the insane amount of collectibles placed in the various cities in the form of flags. These are gone as well. There are still things to collect (statues in the home city and codex pages), but they are a lot more fun to find and, in the case of the codex pages, are marked on your map. In addition, there are secret glyph puzzles and crypts to find and explore, but these are revealed to be near when you get close to the buildings that house them. The combat system has remained largely the same, but you get many of your abilities much faster. You can also customize Ezio with various types or armor and weapons. But by far the most fun is the hidden blade, which has been improved for the sequel. How, you ask? Well they just gave us another one to play with. This leads to some truly spectacular assassinations, as Ezio leaps from a roof to take down two guards at once. If you invest the time and effort to remain undetected, you feel truly powerful as you pick off guard after guard, then leap from the shadows to quickly eliminate your target. You truly feel like an assassin. And further into the game, I am told that you can acquire even more toys to kill your foes in even more inventive and, most importantly, fun ways.

STORY

This is another area that the first game fell short, in my opinion. Half way through I just got bored and had to take a few weeks off to play other things. This game has succeeded in completely drawing me in. You truly care about Ezio, and, without revealing any major events, his motivations make him a very realistic character. As he is ripped from his youthful shenanigans into a plot bigger than himself, he grows into that assassin’s cloak in ways that Altair never did. Simple gestures like sometimes removing his hood when talking to friends and allies make him seem more real, like there’s a real person under that getup that I’m actually interested in seeing through to the story’s end. As I mentioned before, I haven’t completed the game, but it looks as though Ubisoft has succeeded in making me feel emotionally invested in the story and the characters in a way that the first Assassin’s Creed never came close to.

GRAPHICS

Some people have said that the game’s graphic engine is beginning to show it’s age. Maybe in some ways that’s true, but in others ways this game is truly beautiful. The cities have a busy feel to them, much like the first game, and when perched high above the ground in one of the many viewpoints, the scenery can truly take your breath away. To be fair, there are some clipping issues with Ezio’s clothes and weapons, but that’s true of most any game. And the characters themselves could look a little better, but that would be nitpicking. Overall, this game has a beautiful environment that represents classic Italian cities very well.

SOUND

Sound is usually one element of games that I don’t notice as much. But I found myself noticing subtle touches added in to enhance the experience that really work well. Like the best game music, it’s unintrusive, but enhances what you’re seeing if you pay attention to it. No complaints here.

BOTTOM LINE

This game is excellent. It takes elements of sandbox games, stealth games, action games, and even a few quicktime events (but undressing your lover is an acceptable use of this often overused mechanic) and turns them into a game that exceeded my admittedly high expectations. It’s attention to detail is impressive, and it strives to be historically accurate where it can be. The voicework is good, and I like that they included some Italian to be true to their setting. The story is good, and does its job in making the characters interesting and three-dimensional. It’s even quite funny at times. And if you’re interested, there are a lot of very interesting lore-type bits of items to find and obsess over that really develop the already interesting Assassin’s Creed world. So, if you liked the first game you should get this. If you found the first game too boring, you should get this. If you like Italy, you should get this. If you are even remotely interested in the premise, you should get this. In short, this game is excellent and should be on your list of must-haves for either console.

A note on the rating:

This game is rated M for a reason. While the aforementioned “undressing your lover” scene is quite tame compared to other love scenes in video games (or virtually every prime-time tv show) it could be a little much for the munchkins. Also, there is a lot of blood. You are an assassin, after all. Particularly brutal murders are shown, like stabbing people through the face. This is not overdone, and all you see is blood spray, but this is not a game for the kiddies. You have been warned.
Rating: 5 / 5