I loved the first Assassin’s Creed game. Many were not fans of its admittedly repetitive game play or its sometimes boring segments. For some reason, I fell in love with the parkour aspect and fully enjoyed even the benign aspects to the game. Well, haters rejoice, for this game removes everything you hated about the first, adds a lot of fun new things, but also adds in a few new problems.

The story picks up right were the first game ending (nice cliffhanger by the way). The story is briefly explained at the beginning to help those new to the series. However, you would still be benefited from having experienced the first game. So, if you haven’t, I’d recommend renting it.

Desmond, using a machine called the Animus, must use his “genetic memories” to view back in time to his assassin ancestors to glean important information related to saving the world. Sound convoluted? It actually is pretty good sci-fi, even though 90% of the game takes place in renaissance Italy.

Desmond takes control of his ancestor Ezio de Auditore this time around. This time around, the color palette is greatly expanded. Since we are no longer in drab ancient middle east, we get to see how much better the visuals are with color. While not the greatest looking game out there, the wide sweeping vistas from the viewpoints can still leave you breathless, albeit not as much as in the first game. Besides that, the animations are generally well done (not counting the awkward facial animations).

The kills are really excellent, with some very brutal kills. If Ezio picks up a pole or spear to fight with and you manage to land an instant kill, Ezio will hit the guard in the stomach knocking him to his knees at which point Ezio will stab the spear straight down his spine. What you’re left with is a dead guard with half a spear coming out of his spine. It’s pretty awesome.

The game play is much tighter and focused than the first game. While this game is still a sandbox game, essentially letting you do whatever you want, the game constantly shows you were your next storyline point is, alleviating a lot of the stress of the first game. This would allow you to simply blast through the campaign, if you so choose. There are your typical fetch side quests, races, and assassination side quests.

All in all, the game play aspect is pretty good. Except for the glitches. And oh boy are there a lot of them. Assassin’s Creed 2 is the single most glitchy game I have ever played. Guards will infinitely respawn in areas, causing the game to run slowly and crash if you stick around too long. The game’s clocks seem on an infinite time loop. (I played for at least 20 hours and the game’s clock says I’ve played for 16 minutes.)

However, these glitches typically don’t have a terrible effect on game play, which is why I didn’t mind them too much. Actually, I thought several of them were quite funny. I didn’t have a problem synching any of the trophies, but I have heard several others have. Here are a couple of videos I took with my phone (sorry for the quality) that illustrate a glitch.






The score is pretty fantastic and memorable. I haven’t purchased the entire soundtrack but there are some highlights that I bought.

So: you should at least give this game a rent. It’s definitely a lot of fun, despite its many issues. If you loved the first game, this one tops it in every conceivable way. The platforming is decent without being revolutionary and the storyline will punch you in the face. Go play it!