Heed the Creed
Assassin's Creed II has finally arrived, a bigger, better sequel in every way, sure, but in the process emerges as one of the best games of the year.
Published: December 1, 2009
The villa is actually home to all of the game's various little side and story collectibles, from 100 feathers that have to be sought out to six crests that serve as rewards for making it through the [game=46]Prince of Persia[/i]-style catacombs underneath the city to pieces of the Codex that reveal a rather crucial plot device. Hidden statues dot the town and can be placed all around the villa and all your weapons and armor sets are stored in side rooms to be swapped out if you so choose. In short, the villa is more than just a place to visit, it's a mini-hub of sorts that lets you check multiple bits of progress at once in more tangible ways than a simple static menu.
Without a doubt, though, it’s the overall polish of the entire experience, the relaxing of guidelines for how a target is tailed, and even the assassinations themselves have gotten a bit more varied. Gone are the days where it feels like you're just doing the same thing over and over again -- even if you're only sticking to the storyline missions. Much of this is because of the way the game continually doles out new weapons and introduces simple concepts that help build on Ezio's repertoire. Though the kills themselves are often just a matter of jumping down into the fray and introducing the targets themselves to the business end of your vambraces, the set up is a bit more involved and entertaining.
When you do finally make that kill, the rest of the world drops out, a bit of dialogue is exchanged and then, if the story deems it necessary, the entire timeline is shunted forward as Desmond's next memory is synchronized. This is done with an incredibly slick little sequence where the world literally folds in on itself, tucking bits of buildings down into the ground starting off in the distance and racing up to where Ezio is standing. When the next memory starts, the sequence is reversed, lattices of towers and trees and shops all unfurling skyward. It's an effect that never really gets old, and the fact that it all seems to be done in engine makes it that much more impressive.
Stylized though they may be, the opens/closes to a chapter are merely icing on an impressively detailed visual cake. Cities are densely packed with roving groups going about their daily lives, the cities themselves and the neighboring countryside are all wonderfully diverse in texture and tone (the game actually revels in shifting the entire color spectrum when moving in and out of some buildings). Little effects like the Animus-tinged markers for special objects help bind the unobtrusive HUD to the rest of the game world, particularly in the hidden glyphs that serve as bonus objectives throughout the world.
Though the faces themselves for the characters aren't ultra-detailed, the expressions and especially the lip synching are --- and in a way that few games can match. There's so much dialogue happening throughout the game that it's genuinely staggering that it all matches up to the performances so well. Body language, gestures, a simple curl of one's lips are all delivered with a subtlety one rarely sees in games today, and it shows a clear labor of love from the folks at Ubisoft Montreal.
All those gesticulations and sneers, all the eyebrow lifts and widened eyes would be nothing if not for the vocal performances, and it's here that the game really sells itself. Not being a native Italian speaker, I can't really speak to the authenticity of all the rolled Rs and undulating cadences, but it certainly sounded real enough that I got absolutely sucked into the dialogue. Flicking on subtitles, however, is a must, as the game mixes in progressively more actual Italian as things go on (there's even a joke about it during one of the dialogue bits outside of the Animus simulations where Desmond all but tells the players to turn on the subs). Jesper Kyd's soundtrack is everything one would expect from one of the best composers in the biz, and actually seems to get better as the game goes on. The haunting, beautiful vocals that percolate through a mounting, looming orchestral score in Venice, for instance, was so good I actually stopped playing for a bit just to listen the first time it came on. It really is absolutely stunning stuff, and well worth experiencing outside of the game.
There's no doubt in my mind that Assassin's Creed II will be fondly remembered years from now as one of the best sophomore entries a series has seen. Those that loved the first game (and clearly with 8+ million copies sold, there were a few of you) will find so much more here to sink your teeth into, but those that may have been turned off or burnt out by repetition will find it and so many other things have been repaired that the game can finally stand as the truly next-gen experience that the first outing hinted out. This was an incredible year, and in any other, there's a significant chance Assassin's Creed II would have captured Game of the Year honors from more than a few outlets. Hell, it might still. If that doesn't entice you to give it a shot, then let this: if you don't, you'll have missed out on one of the best games so far this generation.
