It’s been a really long time since I’ve been so consumed by a game that I stay up till 3am to finish it, but the latest installment from Assassins Creed did just that to me. I’m sure I’ll talk more about the game on the next Ladies of Leet, but I really thought I would write my quick thoughts on the game while they are fresh. What I really found interesting about Assassins Creed 2 was when I first started playing it I really thought it was going to be like the first game. Now the first AC wasn’t terrible, but about a quarter into it I became really bored and everything seemed very repetitive, plus the story just didn’t keep me interested. So I simply stopped playing.
Now with AC2, I reluctantly started playing thinking I would get a similar experience and really the first part of the game is very similar to the first game (a lot of walking slowly and hiding). However I think when I got the main character (the Italian Stallion, Ezio) to his Villa, the game started to compel me to play more. The game has a main storyline which takes Ezio thought a long line of quests to avenge his family. As you are working on the main quest line, you also have a number of other quests you can do; including looking for hidden pieces of The Truth (a story line that is bigger than the one you are playing through Ezio), searching for treasure, collecting feathers, doing sim like renovations to your main Villa to increase it’s value and bring in more money for you to use, purchasing art work, armor and weapons to increase the value of your Villa, and finally 6 puzzle quests to obtain the armor of Altair. I think all of these side quests really kept me interested & invested in the game, since I could really play the game however I was feeling or had time too. For example, I had about 20 minutes before dinner was done so I quickly hoped on and did a quick assassination quest, something that is not required to do in the game to finish but a great option to have if your wanting to play.
The only real negative I feel about the game is I really had no idea they would end it – to be continued. I guess had I know I was only playing part 2 of the story I might have not rushed to the end (you’ll put in easily 20-30 hours into this game); come to think of it I might not have finished it at all. But now I’m hooked on what happens next, so when Assassin’s Creed III comes out I’ll picking that game up too…jerks ;)
I need to get my hands on this sometime soon… But the wife and I can’t stop playing Dragon Age. I’ve stopped short of the end cus I don’t want to finish and started a new character to play through again and make all sorts of different choices.
Only other game this year i’ve eaten alive like this was Batman: Arkham Asylum. Sounds like AC2 will be like that one. Fantastic play through but probably not going to pick it up again. Where as DA:O, we are champing at the bit to get the new DLC and see what else Bioware throws at us!
I think The “to Be continued” bit at the end was added because the first game ended too abruptly. I remember finishing the main story and thinking to myself, “so now what?, Am I supposed to do something? Is this over… what is going on here?”
i do Agree with your critique of the first game, although I did finish the story at least, I couldnt be bothered to find all the Flags and whatever else: it was just too dull. With this game I completed it all. I actually like looking for the treasure, and feathers. The truth stuff, was pretty cool, although some of Prelogue ramblings were a bit over the top.
I found that puzzles were either very easy, or incredibly hard. It was like watching wheel of fortune, and then watching Jeopardy, I felt like a genius, only to feel like an idiot later.
All and all, A great game. And I am glad to see you enjoyed it. From your original take on the podcast last time, I thought your were gearing up to pan it. Good to see you came around.
hehe i know what you mean about the genius/idiot feeling and to be honest I really didn’t think I was going to like it. In fact I remember not looking forward to play it at all. But since I do the podcast I thought I wouldn’t be doing ‘my job’ by not giving it a shot. I’m really glad I did.