Assassin’s Creed II
Assassin’s Creed II is an upcoming third person action-adventure video game that was first officially confirmed on November 26 2008 during Ubisoft’s financial performance report. The game is the sequel to Assassin’s Creed and is scheduled for release in North America on November 17 2009 and in PAL regions on November 20, 2009. It is developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. Assassin’s Creed II is designed by Patrice Desilets, Sebastien Puel and Jade Raymond, written by Corey May and composed by Jesper Kyd. It is the second instalment to the Assassin’s Creed series built on an Anvil engine for the PlayStation 3 under the genre of third-person action-adventure with an ESRB rating of M for mature. Assassin’s Creed II is set in an open world with non linear gameplay to allow the player the freedom to roam the city and buy weapons which the character buys from vendors at will. Not only that, there is also coloured dye to change the colour of the player-character’s outfit. In addition to that, the player will also be able to swim and use the canals of Venice as hiding spots, as well as drag city guards into the water as a means of assassination. The player will also be able to “drive small boats”. Additionally, the recreation of a young Leonardo da Vinci will also be present as an aid to the player, providing a host of weapons and contraptions available for use. Players will also be able to access Leonardo’s flying machine which he actually built, keeping airborne using thermals from fires lit by friends gathered previously in the game. There will also be a host of new mission types for the player to complete. In terms of weapons, Assassin’s Creed II will include halberds, axes, long pikes, swords, daggers and numerous others, in addition to six weapons which can be unlocked by player who completed Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines by linking their PSP to their PS3.
Reviews
The first thing that is noticeable about Assassin’s Creed II is that it runs slightly more smoothly as compared to its predecessor, Assassin’s Creed, with less noticeable frames dropped and a very cool new effect where environments spring forth from a three dimensional matrix. The previous Assassin’s Creed ended with Desmond, the main character, trapped indefinitely with the ability to use “eagle vision” to read a series of codes and glyphs written on the walls of his cell, all of which will come into play throughout Assassin’s Creed II, together with their mysterious author. These glyphs lead to picture puzzles showing pivotal points in history, which in turn lead to clues revealing the motives of Abstergo and the secret behind the Pieces of Eden, called The Truth which is the threat that runs throughout the story of Assassin’s Creed II. Assassin’s Creed II is set where its predecessor left off, following the “disturbance” that distracted Desmond’s captors at the end of the game, Desmond is busted out of the lab by Lucy, the attractive Abstergo employee who was missing her finger ring, indicating that she was an Assassin and on your side all along. They both then run through the futuristic office complex passing hundreds of work stations containing the same technology that allowed Desmond to relive the adventures of the Master Assassin from Assassin’s Creed I. Once the duo make it to the parking garage, they then have to fight off a pack of guards before Lucy is able to sneak Desmond out by hiding him in the trunk of her car. They then arrive at a loft apartment where Lucy introduces Desmond to the modern day Templars at which he agrees and enters the Assassin’s version of the Animus to train for the inevitable battle.
“Much has been made about the new setting of ACII, and as anyone who played the first game would expect, the environments look stunning. More than 30,000 images were taken of the real buildings in Italy, many of which have made it as textures in the finished game. The buildings are also much bigger than before, such as the Duomo in Florence, and many of the characters actually existed in the time the game is set. No attempt has been made to hide the seedier side of 15th-century life, either. Characters swear at each other and use extremely crass terminology, and you can hire prostitutes to distract enemies if you so desire” (GameSpot, 2009)
