Assassins Creed II Hands-On Impressions

BrutalGamer.com hands on with Ubisoft’s latest masterpieceWhen we finally met up outside the convention centre I made it very clear the game that was top of my list. Straight in the door and straight over to the Ubisoft stand to get a hands on with Ezio Auditore di Firenze, star of the upcoming Assassins Creed II. The first thing that was immediately apparent from the demo team was that, although they were justifiably proud of the Crusading original, they also acknowledged that the original had some serious flaws. Unfortunately the most damning part of Assassins Creed was its dull, throbbing repetition, something that is very hard to gauge in a twenty minute demo. However, this was also the most talked about part of the discussion. Fixed mission structure is out. Instead, Ezio will receive missions from a multitude of people, with each mission taking on a different form, as opposed to the rigid investigation, assassination and escape sequences Altair was tasked with. There was also much talk about customisation, with Ezio now being able to carry player chosen weapons and items. The controls remain largely the same, but there have been some tweaks. Due to Ezio having more tools at his disposal, instead of the d-pad only weapon select option, the player can now open a weapon wheel and select from that. Climbing also has a greater sense of urgency this time around, as the young Florentine scales walls that little bit faster than before. This coupled with a climbing jump means that going from the streets to the rooftops takes much less time. The combat in the game is more aggressive as well. The hidden blade is good for more than just counters, with Ezio now able to hack at an opponent until he falls to the ground. However, when dealing with a group of enemies, it was less than effective as hacking was just too slow. The primary sword, on the other hand, was just right for the rooftops, where there is plenty of space to get a good swing. Throwing knives also make a return, though they are no longer the one hit kill weapons of the first game. I was a big fan of the combat in the first game, so it was a big relief to see they kept with the rhythm based combat over a transformation into a combo fuelled button mashing that I had feared. Special mention too must go to the rugby tackle manoeuvre. Knocking someone to the ground and letting the hidden blade get to work can only be described as cool.

The game world itself is, as expected, very very pretty. There is also a full day/night cycle, although the weather will never change. Ezio has the same predatory gait as Altair, though his costume has some more room for flourish, in particular his shoulder cape which gives more flow to his movements. The brief cutscene I saw served its purpose, but little else. However it is nice to see proper cutscenes (skipable, thankfully) and not just the “walk around while stuff happens”-scenes from the first game.

The final new mechanic I had after playing the game was the ability to hire various factions to aid you in your missions.  In the demo I tried, I hired mercenaries to help me kill the archers. They’ll follow you up walls and across buildings, which is useful for getting to the rooftop archers, but don’t expect them to be subtle. If you’re trying to be stealthy, it’s best to sneak around yourself and that’s the best thing about Assassins Creed II: it really is up to the player. In eliminating the archers, I waged a full on assault against them with some exciting pitched rooftop battles. However, I also tried sneaking around the sides of buildings and pulling them off from below and that did the job as well.

I was really excited for Assassins Creed II before the hands on, and I really can’t wait now. It really does seem that the Ubisoft have addressed all of the major problems of the first game, especially with regard to repetition. After a suitable grilling of the demo handler, I left suitably impressed. Roll on November.

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