In part 1 of our Assassin’s Creed retrospective we covered the original Assassin’s Creed game. Now we switch from Altaïr to Ezio and gallivant around 15th century Italy. This is our take on Assassin’s Creed II. Spoilers ahead.
Deflating Ezio’s ego
“You’ll like Ezio. He’s much cooler than Altaïr.”
Clearly there was a second Ezio in the game, or else my friend was using some strange new definition of “cool.” In the first act of Assassin’s Creed II Ezio Auditore is a spoilt teenager with a one-track mind.
Our short-legged hero runs around Firenze (Florence to us English speaking folk) belittling and bullying, protected by the wealth and status of his family.
Was I finding Ezio more likeable than Altaïr? Definitely not.
Anyway, Assassin’s Creed goes to 15th Century Italy. That means beautiful paintings, architectural gems; Venice, Tuscany and the Vatican.
Thankfully, Ezio is forced to grow up after his family finds itself in the middle of a deadly conspiracy. His father is betrayed and he and Ezio’s two brothers are killed. Ezio seeks to uncover their plot and take revenge. Along the way he gets help from his Uncle Mario, a thief called Antonio, and some guy called Leonardo da Vinci who won’t stop harping on about a flying machine.
Back to the future
Desmond’s adventures in the Animus also take place from elsewhere. Along with Lucy, the lab assistant from Assassin’s Creed, Desmond escapes Abstergo and takes shelter in the Assassins’ headquarters nearby.
This time around, the action doesn’t hop between the two time periods to anywhere near the same extent as in the original. There’s only one trip back to the 21st century, around the middle of the game. This tends to take the focus away from the bigger picture and ensures the spotlight is very much on Ezio’s journey. Fortunately, we do still get snapshots of the true extent of the historical influence of the Pieces of Eden, via twenty puzzle sequences activated through hidden glyphs in 15th century Italy. These puzzles are either incredibly easy or impossible, with no middle ground. Still, they represent a nice change of pace from the other elements of Assassin’s Creed II.
Trolling the completionist
Viewpoints remain a key part of the open-world gameplay, with 73 across the entire game. There are far more collectibles too: codex pages (which raise your health and improve your hidden blades), feathers, treasure, statuettes, weapons, armor and paintings.
Reaching 100% completion in Assassin’s Creed II could easily take 50 hours. There’s also assassination contracts to fulfil, local thieves to race, adulterous husbands to beat up, and messages to deliver.
Finally, there are Templar lairs to plunder and assassin tombs to explore. These mini-dungeons are some of the most impressive sections of the game. Jumping across beams and shimmying up pillars inside the Frari in Venice was a pretty incredible experience.
The interiors of these iconic buildings are recreated faithfully and beautifully, almost making you wish you were living in corrupt, plague-ridden renaissance Italy. On second thought, it’s probably best to leave the exploration to Ezio.
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