BalekFekete
Shared on Tue, 11/17/2009 - 08:23Everyone has their favorite type of game. For some people, the first person shooter is the end all, be all of gaming experiences. Then you have your sports stars turned gamers who continue to fill EA's pockets by buying every iteration of Madden that comes out. Even grease monkeys have Forza and the other racing games where they can pretend to own a bazillion cars and customize them to their hearts content. Me...I am a ghost. I am Batman. I am the invisible assassin. I simply LOVE the stealth-action genre of games, and because of that when my wife offered to pick up Assassin's Creed 2 last night while out shopping, who was I to say no? I was only able to clock in about an hour of the game last night due to that pesky thing called work, but here are the impressions on what I saw.
Graphically, the game is a mixed bag. The first thing you are greeted to is the 'real world' of Desmond Miles, kidnapped bartender held hostage by the company Abstergo Industries and guinea pig for their Animus device in a war between the Templar Knights and Assassins of days gone by. The graphics in the outside world, where you interact with several 'real' people, is downright ugly. The textures are bland, and the modeling chunky. Characters faces move almost like skin stretched over wooded skulls, and is none too attractive. However, the good news is it doesn't last long. Without too much effort, you find yourself transported to the late 15th century Italy, and you'll be glad you are. Here is where the game shines. Draw distances are extreme, textures are vivid and well done, architecture is genuine and looks right...all in all, it's a dramatic change from the initial sights you see and it's a damn good thing. The Animus 2.0 does render a pretty picture of Desmond's memories.
Gameplay is, at least from the start, more story driven than the previous game. Where the initial Assassin's Creed used the Animus loading program to train you on how to do certain activities, this game has built those tutorials directly into the story. As I've said, I haven't gotten far into the game at all - having already found myself distracted to the point of searching out viewpoints to climb to - but it seems there are already many more missions types than before. In fact, with a little research, it seems that where the original game had 4-6 mission types, this sequel is more in the neighborhood of 14-16. That will truly be a welcome change! The other thing I saw was a 'fast travel station', so I'm guessing the horse rides from one city to another are gone too...something else I won't miss.
While it's certainly too early to tell much, the first hour or so does bode well that this will be another game to enjoy over the upcoming holiday breaks.
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Submitted by Jedi_Kez on Tue, 11/17/2009 - 09:04
Submitted by TKBosss on Tue, 11/17/2009 - 09:50
Submitted by TANK on Tue, 11/17/2009 - 11:15
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Submitted by char on Tue, 11/17/2009 - 16:16
Submitted by dos on Wed, 11/18/2009 - 18:05