Assassin's Creed 2 - More detail

I'm back with some more detailed information on the game now that I've had a chance to put it through the paces - or at least moreso than a single night will allow. Having clocked about 6 hours into the game, I've gotten a flavor of what is to come, and will relate on that. With that said, this still isn't a 'review' as there is so much in the game I have not yet experienced.

I'll start with the long story short...
What's stayed the same - the parkour and combat.
What's changed - everything else.

Yes, that's a bit of an oversimplification, but not too far from the truth. The freeflow movement throughout the cities, and more often across their rooftops, is the same. I have the feeling Ezio is more deft at it than Altair was, as my character tends to go where I intended more often now than I recall with AC1. However, the same fluidity of motion and ability to go just about anywhere is in place. What I truly enjoy about the parkour is that the mechanics of the environment is so well blended into the game it's nearly invisible. I contrast that to Uncharted 2, where it was either an effort of jumping against any wall to see if you can grab on, or the anchor points being so bloody obvious it took the immersion of what you were trying to do out of the equation. With AC2, if it looks like you'd be able to grab onto it, you can.

Then there is the combat, again, just about the same as in AC1. However, even here they improved by allowing you to use other weapons aside from your dagger or hidden switch. Now you can use other opponents weapons, ranging from staffs to maces to sword, and everything in between. You can purchase these at blacksmiths across the city, and make them part of your default layout as well. In the past, you acquired more health by uncovering more of the game (if my memory serves...), but in AC2 your health is a function of what armor you are wearing. Makes sense to me.

Now...what is different. Where to start?

First, I'll talk about the repetition factor. So far, I have not had a mission repeat (unless it was a side quest I purposefully went searching for). Take this with a grain of salt however, as I think I am still even in the tutorial part of the game as I am learning new skills after just about every memory point. I have still to learn the disarm skill, and a few others, but by and large have a wide array of different mission types that have been introduced. Ubisoft took the criticism of the first game to heart in a big way here, and looks to have made good on it.

Then, there are aspects of the game that are brand new. For instance, you now will have a villa of your own that you can work to maintain and upgrade over time. It's a side objective that will yield you an income stream separate from your missions or the random pickpocketing you partake in. Is it necessary? No. But it does add another facet to the game that I am enjoying.

Another new addition is the way they are unlocking the backstory, hidden as memory fragments across the world and introduced via a hack from another subject of Abstergo. In order to unlock these clips, you first need to find the hacks within the world. Then it launches into a minigame to uncode the fragment. There have been two types I've seen so far, and while not difficult I imagine they will become so later on. It's really a neat idea buried into the game, and again, wholly independant of the main storyline.

The more I play the game, the more I want to. The "just one more vantage point" has gotten me into trouble with the wife on more than one evening now, and I suspect will continue to do so. Thankfully, I have a comfortable couch.