"Assassin's Creed II was a perfect example on how to make a sequel that not only improves on the original, but also a perfect example of a sequel to make people forget about the original"
How do game developers make sequels that are an improvement from the original? There are many ways to improve, like experimenting or doing what the previous game but better, or looking at what critics and gamers said would, I think the third option out of the three I mentioned is the best, mainly because critics and gamers are who play the games, so they know what they want and what they don’t want. That’s exactly what Ubisoft did after their mediocre first Assassin’s Creed game, they looked at what people said, then they made a sequel “Assassin’s Creed 2” which was promised to have various improvements, so how did it do, given it was what the people asked for?
Assassin’s Creed 2 started off exactly where the first Assassin’s Creed left off on Desmond’s side of the story. It started off with Lucy showing Desmond that she is an Assassin, and then they both escape from Ubstergo and go to the Assassins’ lair. Once arriving to the Assassin’s lair Desmond got strapped on to another Animus in order for him to get his ancestor’s traits and skills using the bleeding effect, and to know the whereabouts of one of the pieces of Edin.
On the ancestor’s side, the plotline was much more emotionally and character driven, it was more of a revenge based story comparing to the first Assassin’s Creed’s plot in the Animus. It took place in Renascence Italy, and it was about this reckless Florence-born teenager turned Assassin named Ezio Aldetore, who found out that his father was a part of the Assassin’s Order right before the death of his father and brothers. So in order to preserve the memory of his father, Ezio continued what his father started and decided to continue assassinating all the assassination targets on his father’s list.
The game had an impressive emotional story, but the last game had an incredible redemption based story, but the first game was presented in such a poor way, and honestly, that was not the case with Assassin’ Creed 2. Assassin’s Creed 2 was presented in a very impressive way, the atmosphere was actually right, the cutscenes where actually entertaining this time and they actually felt like cutscenes, there were better motives, more interesting characters, and the story in general felt just about right for the game thanks to the game’s presentation. The presentation in Assassin’s Creed 2 was really something special; it was truly something worth waiting and really an improvement which is very rare to see from any video game.
Gameplay wise Assassin’s Creed 2 had the basic Assassin’s Creed gameplay when it came to open world exploration, however, at the same time there were a lot of differences. The cities where all a lot bigger, it was much funner to explore due to the many different landscapes and styles, there was a lot more to explore and more importantly more stuff to do when the player is not completing the story, such as solving puzzles or finding tombs to explore, and everything felt very organic. Assassin’s Creed 2 in way is a perfected version of Assassin’s Creed’s strong exploration.
Combat in Assassin’s Creed 2 was also a step up. The AI was dumbed down and combat was easier, however, there would be no denying that on the player’s side of the combat was a lot funner. Assassin’s Creed 2 felt like more than just button mashing and actually felt a bit more strategic, there were more weapons to choose from comparing to the basic weapons in the first game, such as the double hidden blade and even a hidden gun, and the player can now do more stealth related moves. Assassin’s Creed 2’s combat felt more flexible and realistic than the combat in the first Assassin’s Creed game and honestly, many other games, which was a big reason why Assassin’s Creed 2 felt very special.
There were many more new additions in the gameplay here other than the more realistic combat and the bigger exploration. There was actually an under stable notoriety system, which made the game feel a lot easier and a lot easier to prepare for, there was actually an economic system where if the player improves the economy they can get more money, buy new weapons, dye there robes to many different colors and buy new armor, there were also more collectables such as codex pages, treasures and historical paintings or artifacts, which made the game feel a lot bigger than the first game. Assassin’s Creed 2 was a much bigger game with a lot more freedom and a lot more additions; it felt more like an open world game than just a game with a world that worked alongside with the story. Graphics wise Assassin’s Creed 2 also enhanced comparing to the first game. While the lighting did feel just a bit dim the game still felt very realistic, up to the mood and it felt like It had more of the right feeling. The buildings looked beautiful and much more organic, the character designs really drew a lot of attention because they were simply that good, and the landscapes where really beautiful, I felt like I would be having fun just walking around and looking at the cities or the nature in the game, the animations where all incredibly fantastic, they always delivered something new and never stopped surprising me. Assassin’s Creed II was a very powerful game graphically, and what’s amazing about it was that the graphics here was one of the many things that could tell that Ubisoft really put all of their love and concentration in this game.
Much like the first game, there was a lot to love about the sound on Assassin’s Creed 2, but unlike Assassin’s Creed, Assassin’s Creed 2 had a lot of memories sound wise. Assassin’s Creed 2’s man, Ezio actually sounded right for his character, which believe it or not, makes a very big difference to the general sound, graphics and the whole feeling of the game, the main character’s voice is something that really does matter in a game, and personally I think it’s something wonderful that they got it right in Assassin’s Creed 2, the cities sounded even more reactive and alive due to people not fully concentrating on you and minding their own business most of the time, and the music was a big improvement and felt more interactive this time. I think the best part of the sound on Assassin’s Creed 2 is that they improved many things from the first game, but at the same time keeping everything else that I loved from the first Assassin’s Creed game.
Assassin’s Creed 2 wasn’t a perfect game, it did have very few extremely minor flaws, but even with those flaws, Assassin’s Creed 2 managed to make out a perfect painting of redemption. The first Assassin’s Creed was mediocre at best, this game throws the first Assassin’s Creed in the trash thanks to keeping the best parts of the first Assassin’s Creed game, improving them, removing everything that made the first Assassin’s Creed so damn mediocre, and replaced those flaws with newer and better features. Assassin’s Creed 2 was an example on how to make a sequel to any game, which is much bigger than what the game’s goal was: making a sequel that simply improved on the first game. Assassin’s Creed 2 was simply incredible; it was a beautiful game as a whole and it was really something very special that I think people won’t forget for a very long time.
Gameplay: 9.5/10
-Near perfect gameplay, improved combat, a large selection of diverse missions and exploration that is faster, and better than ever-
Story: 9.5/10
-A character driven story which was fully driven by revenge, it was original and it shifted the Assassin's Creed series to something much bigger-
Presentation: 9.5/10
-Near perfect presentation, the game was presented in a beautiful, dragging and an emotionally satisfying way, with a new, better lead character and a better narrative-
Appeal: 9.5/10
-I could easily spend the rest of my life playing this, the story is long, and there are a ton of stuff to do after finishing the game-
Graphics: 9/10
-Despite some gloominess and dark lighting, Assassin's Creed II was an incredible game graphically, with excellent character models and breathtaking scenes whether it's looking at buildings or landscapes-
Sound: 10/10
-So much was put into the sound this time around, voice acting will put a smile on the player's face thanks to the excellent voice acting and the ear-stealing sound track-
Average Rating: 9.6/10
Overall Rating: 9.4/10
No comments:
Post a Comment