2009 can be called a banner year for sequels in the land of videogames. The launch of "Modern Warfare 2" became one of the biggest launches not just in videogames, but in the entire scope of the entertainment industry and broke a lot of records.This year also saw the release of the follow-up to Ubisoft's "Assassin's Creed," with the release of "Assassin's Creed II."
For those familiar with the first game, feel free to skip this paragraph as it will be a really brief explanation about the franchise. In the future a man named Desmond Miles becomes tied down to a machine that can bring up all of his ancestors and recreate the memories they had. It's all part of this war between the Knights Templar and the clan of Assassins for practically control of the world, in the broadest of brush strokes. In the first game, the setting was the year 1191, in the midst of the Third Crusade. In "Assassin's Creed II," the setting is Italy during the well documented Rennaissance period.
The game makes great use of it's setting in time, being the Rennaissance. People knocked the first game because it was repetitive. You would go from one town to another, look around, open up the map and then assassinate the person you needed to. Wash, rinse, repeat. Now in "Assassin's Creed II," the core of the game is still that, however the mission structure is mixed up a bit to where you don't exactly feel like you're just offing one person and then moving on. Sometimes you are taking down people who really have no importance at all, but it's to help set up for the big kill later on. There's also variety in that sometimes you have to escort people from one spot to another, or have to tail someone. Whatever strategy you want to implement in completing the missions is entirely up to you, while going undetected is certainly the concept of being an assassin, for the most part, you are not penalized for deciding to go charging and screaming like a one-man army.
The developers were praised for the amazing detail and accuracy of places that only exist in paintings and detailed-ridden texts in the first game, and they have done it again with the second. It's been said that being around during the Rennaissance, despite the fear of The Plague and general corruption of just about anyone and everyone who had power or money, was a great time. So many ideas that would soon enough become the foundations of modern society came from the Renaissance and you quickly get immersed in the places you trek to in "Assassin's Creed." You see it, hear it and feel it that all of a sudden that switch was flipped and just like that, everyone got creative and inventive. They even add the nice touch that the game's protagonist has a friendship with one of the greatest minds ever in Leonardo da Vinci. Surely you don't need to be going, "Who?" when you see that name.
The immersion doesn't just start and stop with the detailed architecture or testing out the inventions Leonardo had in his lifetime. "Assassin's Creed II," pulls you in deeper into the world of finding out more about the battle between the Templars and the Assassins. Why care about this object called "Peice of Eden" that generations of Templars and Assassins have been killing each other over? Well you find out as you play the game, especially if you take the time (and I highly reccommend it) to discover "The Truth." All I will say about that is take the time and effort to finding those glyphs you will be informed about early in the game. Beyond that, there are also documents written by the protagonist in the first "Assassin's Creed" game, Altaïr Ibn La-Ahad, which in some excerpts are philosophical. It might raise an eyebrow for some to buy in the idea that a videogame can be like that, but really, a videogame is still in it's core, storytelling. Just interactive.
If you played the first game and were invested enough in the story that the second one has you curious, play it. Getting deeper into the story, including a shocking revelation/challenge to one of the most famous stories ever told, makes the work put in from start to finish on the game worth it. Add in new tools of destruction for you and another lush and beautiful world re-created, results in a great gaming experience.
Plus you can finally swim, so you know, you got that going for you as well.
The whole "rule of sequels" also applies to videogames and when it comes to "Assassin's Creed II," it is a sequel that does not disappoint.
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