Assassin's Creed II: A Revenge Story Done Right

With the release and subsequently monumental success of Assassin's Creed in 2007, a sequel was pretty much guaranteed. The only question was; where would gamers be going next? Well, they didn't have to wait long to find out.

Assassin's Creed II was announced in November 2008 during a company meeting, and I can only imagine the excitement in the room at the time. The game was announced at the 2009 Comic Con in June which got gamers really excited.

The game released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2009, and released to PC the following year. It's also been released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One ( both in 2016) and the Nintendo Switch (2022). Reception-wise, Assassin's Creed II was met with critical acclaim with particular praise aimed at the game's narrative, likable main protagonist, and visuals. It sold over 9 million - yes, million - copies in six months and is often considered one of the best games ever made - certainly the best in the Assassin's Creed series (from what I can tell, anyways).

A Story of Vengeance

Set in Italy during the renaissance period, Assassin's Creed II follows Ezio Auditore who swears vengeance after his father and brothers are murdered. Ezio is young, brash, and hot-headed, but he undergoes training at the hands of his uncle Mario and, despite his initial reservations, becomes an assassin to seek revenge on those who destroyed his family and killed his loved ones.

What Works?

First off, the visuals are gorgeous! There are some areas that look a bit washed out, but for the most part the colors are quite rich. The soundtrack by Jesper Kydd is fantastic with the music setting the tone oh, so well!

The story is well-written and incredibly well-paced - mostly - with likable characters that make you want them to succeed. I loved the historical stuff here even more than in the first game. The modern storyline is largely sidelined, which I actually liked because, frankly, the Ezio storyline is far more interesting.

Blending has also gotten an overhaul to make it more believable. The combat mechanics are also great with a wider variety of weapons to make your encounters interesting. There's also a major improvement to the parkour, and it makes navigation of the various locations a lot of fun. Oh, and you can swim in AC II - something I didn't discuss in my review of Assassin's Creed I was that Altair wasn't able to swim which obviously led to some awkward deaths.

There are also some great side quests to play which makes things interesting.

Pickups, Upgrades and Purchases

There are a series of pickups to collect throughout the game.

1. Feathers
2. Treasure Chests
3. Seals
4. Statues
5. Codex Pages

Each of these pickups has a purpose in the story. The treasure chests, for example, have money in them. There are statues that go into the garden at the Auditore villa, feathers for Ezio's mom...you get the idea. The two most interesting (and useful) pickups are the seals and the codex pages.

There are six seals, each one related to an assassin's tomb, the purpose of collecting them is to get a special suit of armor. The codex pages provide new weapons and weapon upgrades - courtesy of Leonardo da Vinci.

You can also make a couple of different purchases including paintings, treasure maps, medicine (for healing), weapons, and armor.

An Increased Arsenal

Speaking of the weapons...wow! There are so many weapons to choose from that it can be difficult to choose your loadout. If you're curious, the original loadout from Assassin's Creed I was:

1. The hidden blade
2. Throwing knives
3. Sword
4. Short blade

Assassin's Creed II has the same basic setup...with a notable increase in variety.

New Toys:

• Smoke bombs these making getting into and out of places a bit easier as they disorient guards.
• A wrist-mounted pistol for long distance assassinations. It's remarkably accurate and very useful.
• An armored bracer (wrist guard) to block attacks.
• Cestus (an armored glove)
• Maces (Cavalieri and Flanged)
• War Hammers (Mercenario and Condottiero)
• Maul (another hammer)

The throwing knives didn't get any modifications. Now, let's go over the other weapons.

The Hidden Blade:

The hidden blade was and is one of my favorite in-game weapons, you start out with a single basic blade before Leonardo da Vinci makes two modifications for you.

• Dual blades, the first upgrade takes the original weapon and adds a second blade.
• Poison blade, the second upgrade is a hollowed out version of the original weapon with a small vial of poison inside for stealthy assassinations that won't arouse suspicion.

Sword

You start out with a basic (common) sword, after you leave Firenze, you can purchase several other types of swords. These include:

• Venetian Falchion
• Florentine Falchion
• Old Syrian Sword
• Captain's Sword
• Milanese Sword
• Schiavona
• Scimitar
• Sword of Altair (the Grail sword of the game)

Short Blade:

Where the first Assassin's Creed only had one short blade, Assassin's Creed II has a few different ones including:

• Knife
• Dagger
• Stiletto
• Sultan's knife
• Butcher knife
• 2 Cinquedeas (notched and channelled)

Each weapon has a set of stats (speed, deflection, etc.) to customize your loadout as per each assassination.

Is There Anything that DOESN'T Work?

Much like Assassin's Creed I, the mission structure is often very repetitive, BUT it's not as bad here. The only serious issue I have with Assassin's Creed II is with the save system.

Assassin's Creed II uses a checkpoint save system. For the uninitiated, this means that the game will save at specific points in the game. There is no way to save the game outside of those checkpoints and you also can't replay specific sections of the game. This means that if ANYTHING goes wrong and you have to start a specific section over, you have to start the whole game from the beginning.

Usually, I don't have an issue with these types of systems but it did make recording the game for my YouTube channel a major headache.

Additionally, the number - weapon system from the previous game has been replaced. In the first game:

• 1 = Short blade/throwing knives
• 2 = Hidden Blade
• 3 = Sword
• 4 = Fists

Assassin's Creed II does away with that almost completely, requiring the use of an inventory wheel to select most of your weapons. This can make things complicated when you can't access your desired weapon and have to improvise until you figure it out.

I also have a slight nitpick with the combat which is that Ezio uses a lot of Altair's finishing moves. It's not really a huge issue, but I'd've liked to see some different finishers from a different character.

A Well-Done Revenge Story

Ultimately, Assassin's Creed II is a well-done revenge story that, despite its flaws, is certainly worth playing. If you haven't played this one, I definitely recommend giving it a shot because it's worth your time.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the next one!