PsychoGirl
Main Eventer
Insieme Per La Vittoria! Those are Ezio's first lines in the Franchise! Welcome to another Review of mine where I breakdown an old game for others to take a look
Oh...<big><big>Spoiler Alert! </big></big>
What we are going to do here is review the game on the basis of the plot, the appearance, the features and the pros and cons. So lets begin.
This time lets Start off with characters and location
Assassin's Creed II - Set in Renaissance Italy, we will start from Florence and travel to locations like Venice, Forli and San Gimignano. Even a version of Monteriggioni is included which will act like the Assassin HQ or Hideout. A new Assassin is introduced and his name is Ezio Auditore Da Firenze. We'll meet his family as well as historical characters like Leonardo Da Vinci, Caterina Sfortza, Rodrigo Borgia or Pope Alexander VI, Niccolo Machiavelli, Bartolomeo and many others.
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood - Continuing as Ezio and still set in the Renaissance Italy this time, we are in Rome unlike AC2, Rome is the the only place where the major events happen. With side mission set in various other locations. The game includes the city of Rome and its countryside. Characters we meet are a few from the previous games, including a new enemy - Cesare Borgia and his sister Lucrezia Borgia along with many other new people
Assassin's Creed Revelations- Ezio sets off to Constantinople , or locally known as Istanbul. The characters we meet are totally new .
^That scene gives me the feels....
Assassin's Creed II takes place right after the events of the previous game. We see Desmond giving us a brief introduction into who he really is and why is he doing this, we start off from the frame where the markings inside his rooms are still visible along with the other markings on the floors. We are in luck because the Ezio Trilogy involves the symbols. A lot of things are yet to happen! Lucy comes by to tell Desmond that they have to leave Abstergo as soon as possible. After the combat between the guards and the two, Desmond and Lucy escape to an Assassin Hideout where we meet 2 modern day assassins - Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings. Rebecca has a, well , geeky personality as she invented the Animus 2.0 as she claims, her 'baby' is better and smarter than the ones they have in Abstergo. Shaun on the other hand is a cocky and sarcastic but a fine gentleman. He basically operates the database which stores information about Characters, locations, buildings and events throughout the session. The basic point of bringing Desmond was to secure the Apple Of Eden from the evil hands of Abstergo. As the story progresses, we meet characters, Ezio's family gets betrayed by a templar named Uberto Alberti who had good connections with both the Auditore and Lorenzo di Medici, he moves with his family away from Florence to his uncle's place in Monterrigioni where he learns new combat techniques and learns about the need to find the Apple Of Eden. Moving on, he assassinates many major targets and learns new skills of hiding from a Courtesian named Paola (I love her personality). Ezio's main target is Rodrigo Borgia , who wants to take down the Medici Family inorder to gain control over Florence. Lorenzo's brother gets killed by Francesco Di Pazzi. Ezio gets his revenge on Uberto and kills Francesco later. Lorenzo providing aid to Ezio with his mercs. We meet Antonio, Rosa, Teodora and various interesting characters who teach Ezio ways to traverse the city as they were thieves.
Features of AC2 , as Ezio Auditore:
1. From the previous games, due to something called the Bleeding Effect, Desmond himself has the Eagle Vision now and can use anytime, anywhere (Thats how they escaped!).
2. Basically Assassin's Creed 2 has nearly 200 missions. Compared to AC 1, the missions are NO LONGER Repetitive and take on a different approach. There are Assassination missions, stealing missions, bribing missions and a lot more! You can actually do the sidemissions first and then go on for the main missions as they might aid you later! I did that in order to get 100 percent synchronization. But trust me , the side missions are equally interesting. You will get Florins and in some.. info on your main target
3. The Crowd AI has been upgraded, they react to the events that happen infront of them. You can use the pack of crowds , if they are 2 or more, to blend freely and hide from the guards.
4. A new feature about Notoriety system has been implemented which is basically WANTED LEVEL of Assassin's Creed games.
5.Eagle Vision has been upgraded . Ezio can move even when in Eagle Vision! Woo Hoo. But it will go away if you're attacked (Duh).
6.The weapon system has been upgraded . You can literally buy weapons, armors , bullets, and everything you need for a combat in AC2 through Blacksmith Shops spread around the cities.
7. Character Customization- Oh I've been waiting for this- you can literally change Ezio' outfit's colors i.e. dye them to any color theme available. Note that different shops, or shops in different areas provide you wit different colors for both your outfit and your cape, I love the black-red one!
8. Leonardo Da Vinci!!! Yes he is in the game and boy, do him and Ezio share an amazing friendship (oh I wish I had a friend like both). Leonardo basically crafts major upgrades for him. When Ezio brings him the Codex Pages (in some you get some seals, which you can use in the HQWhich you need to unlock a very powerful armor later), Leo decrypts the hidden writings and crafts the weapons. The upgraded weapons include- Double Hidden Blade, Hidden Gun, Grappling Glove and many more!
9. More Characters- I really loved ever major and minor characters in this game, they were playing their part so nicely and they meant so much. I loved the Auditore family interacting with each other (Specially when Mario said "Don't you recognize me? It's a me ! Mario!" Oh Ubisoft). We meet special characters like Bartolomeo , Caterina Sfortza, Leonardo as mentioned ,Niccolo Machiavelli and SO MANY MORE. THe game is filled with interesting people
10. Combat system is way improved. You can select a weapon now from the weapon wheel, block guards, disarm them use smoke bombs for escaping many others stuff
11. Stealth took a level up, you can assassinate from any freaking where, like from a bench, from heystacks, from ledges. Environment plays a huge role this time.
12. Various levels of enemies- The AI Has been upgraded, there are guards with maces, lances and other...big...weapons ready to kill you, but hey, Ezio can kick asses as the story progresses.
13. Swimming is possible, finally!
14. The Cities- Its quite hard to imagine how accurate they are. Venice looks toooo beautiful at night, Florence looks ...charming all the same.
15. The Story- Both sad and thrilling, you'll literally feel everything going on, the thirst for revenge , the urge to make a difference, the hurry to save someone. Everything!
16. New Economy system- as mentioned earlier about blacksmiths and tailors, there are shops where you can buy paintings. Also in your HQ, you have an architect who can literally upgrade the place for tourists to visit, that way the place earns revenues and the money goes to you for further upgrades or development
17. Fast travel- you no longer need horses all the way, well, you CAN but you don't need to. Fast Travel caravans are infront of every city gates. It takes as less as 100f to get to each place.
18. 3 New factions who are always ready to help you are Thieves, Courteseans and Merceneries. Thieves are majorly located in Venice, Mercs in San G. and Courteseans in Florence. Although all 3 factions are available in every city anyway.
Apart from these, Desmond will take breaks from the Sessions sometimes in order to give himself some rest. He will train with his fellow Assassins , engage in conversations and in one of the breaks you'll be able to play as Altair in Acre because of the Bleeding effect. Its because tat memory exists in Desmond, hence he is able to see it. We'll see how Altair and Maria make love to each other from one of the towers in the east (west maybe, didnt see the map as it was not in the animus, just a vision).
As the story progresses, we get closer to Rodrigo even so close that we technically travel to ROME in castel sant'angelo where we discover Minerva and her message to Desmond (...actually US) and the theory of First Civilization .Back in present day, Lucy and Desmond battle the goons of Warren Vidic after which they move to Monteriggioni. Which marks the end of AC II and it continues in AC B
The game has 2 DLC's - Battle of Forli and Bonfire of the Vanities. Both of which are amazing DLC's full of interesting stories.
The signs we saw in AC1 and the beginning of this game in th Abstergo Office? THey are present here as well and are full of puzzles. Solving them will earn you some reward.
Pros- New stuff as mentioned above, the music <3 oh my god! God Bless you Jesper Kyd
The Armor of Altair. It felt so awesome travelling Venice in the Gondolas.Cons- I honestly dont think there are any! If only it was possible to go to some surrounding areas in Venice like Poveglia Island.
^The same music makes it interesting
The game starts off as a fastforward vision of Ezio facing the new enemy- Cesare Borgia
Following the events after ACII, directly from Minerva's message and Ezio leaving the vault, Mario is there to guide him out. Ezio has the apple Secured with him. He moves from crowds , the same way , on top of buildings to one of the buildings overlooking the city of rome as you see in the banner above. Fast forward we move to him and Mario moving to their HQ in Monteriggioni. After some events , like helping other people and meeting Caterina in which Ezio engages with her later, the city is attacked by the Borgia. Ezio's Armor of Altair which he got in the previous game using the seals, is destroyed. He then proceeds to save the city, but ultimately fails after Cesare kills Mario. After which Ezio is taken to a hospital in Rome , the city we'll play in this game. Borgia has taken over 16th Century Rome and to free the city, Ezio has to take down the 12 Borgia towers. After which he'll be able to upgrade the shops, buy landmarks for tourist attractions and ofcourse, unlock new missions and sidemissions and recruit fellow Assassins. The main thing about this game is recruiting bullied citizens as Assassins, upgrade them, call them for aid and free Rome off Borgia rule. The historical characters return from AC2 as well as new ones we meet. Let's take a look at the features
1. Everything returns from AC2. Assassination from Environment, Pickpocketing and everything.
2. Horses can be used to traverse the city now
3. Poison blades , Crossbows and temporarily using all of Leonardo's war machines - The Tank, The Flying Machine , The Machine Gun and the Naval Cannon. THey are interesting as hell!
4. More RPG Elements added. Thieves, Courtesans , Mercenaries and the Assassins' guilds have challenges which Ezio can complete to gain more Exp
5. The Primary feature of AC Brotherhood - Recruiting citizens as Assassins makes its debut. Ezio saves a certain citizen harrassed by the guards and invites them to join the Assassin's Guild. You can send them to various places to complete their assassination missions around Europe , gain EXP and upgrade their ranks, after which , Ezio can promote them to Master Assassins. Ezio can call them to aid him against the guards.
6. A lot of Achievements are included- some are funny like using a broomstick to kill a guard (WTF) to Having a kill streak of 15 or 20 (Easy if you have smoke bombs with Hidden Blades or Shortblade)
7. You can replay missions now. Just incase you didn't do a 100 percet synch in a memory, just go to DNA in the main menu and select reply on the particular Memory in the sequences.
8. Combat system and AI Upgraded- Guards are aggressive and can grapple. But you can use both your weapons and the pistol at the same time. The Sword already has the combo for the pistol as default. There are new enemies apart from the ones we see in AC2, the toughest are the Papal Guards, then the horsemen , the gunners and many others
9. Rome is perhaps three times as big as Florence. Although you can visit Spain, Naples , Navarre, Lake of Nevi and Present Day monteriggioni as Desmond , Lucy, Rebecca and Shaun have set up their HQ on the Sanctuary where you unlock the Armor of Altair in AC2
10. First time ever, AC series includes a multiplayer.
11. You can unlock 3 special armors in the game - The Armor of Brutus, The Armor of Romulus and through online stuff - Armor of Altair (not storyline wise). The young Ezio we see in AC2 till the time he found the Assassin outfit is also available.
12. Fast Travel stations are no longer there as its only one city. But you can use Tunnels to traverse throughout the big city of Rome
13. Like the previous game, a lot of landmarks of Rome are there like the Colloseum, the Castel, and various others.
14. Rome is very detailed. Although the architecture in the city might look similar to Florence.
15. Missions take place in various places, from various factions, affecting various characters in-game.
16. Leonardo da Vinci Returns with a new invention - the parachute. We can use that to jump off the Castelo in the Vatican area later in the game or within the game in one of the missions and gain an achievement.
17.Cristina Memories play an important role as it shows how Ezio and Cristina were related. You can find these memories around Rome. In the second memory you can walk around a limited Florence (limited as in how it was during the time the Auditore got betrayed by Uberto)
18. Desmond can now take breaks anytime and run around the modern Monteriggioni. Finding various artefats like Mario's Sword, Ezios Stash, Maria's box of feathers (Which was used to collect feathers and make maria speak again in AC2).
19. Catacombs and Lairs play a vital role in discovering new stuff.
So after crippling the Borgia power, Cesare kills Rodrigo after he denied to give Cesare the capital and the Apple. Ezio kills off those who were working with Cesare or the Borgia family in general. His sister Claudia gets promoted to an Assassin as well as Ezio earning the title of the Mentor. Ezio overhears the conversation between Rodrigo and Cesare and goes to Saint Peter's Bascilla to retrieve the Apple, using it to weaken Cesare's army further. Cesare gets arrested by Pope Julius II's Papal army . Sometime later, Cesare escapes with the aid of John III of Navare and lays and attack on the City of Vianna. Ezio and Cesare battle in the castle. During his last times, Cesare claims that he can't die from the hands of a mortal man. Ezio then drops him from the bridge saying the he'll leave him in the hands of fate instead. Ezio secures the apple, takes it to Santa Maria in a place called Aracoeli , it was a First Civilzation Temple.
Following Ezio's moves, Desmond and the fellow Assassins travel to the exact location where he is confronted by Juno, a similar First civilization being like Minerva. She comments on how the human race lacks knowledge and soon after she gets angrier and yells . Right after Desmond proceeds to get the Apple, everything stops and Juno takes control of his body...and ultimately kills Lucy (later we find out she was a Templar) and Desmond falls into a Coma.
The game has 2 DLC's , one belongs exclusively to the consoles : The Copernicus Conspiracy and the other is for all the ports - The Da Vinci Disappearance.
There are a lot of Glyphs in this game and are full of puzzles. Solving them will earn you some reward.
Pros- The Combat System, AI, Missions, and everything else. Even the glimpses from AC2 , Leonardos inventions, the Animus session breaks, Assassin Recruits, Horses travelling.
Cons-.....umm...i dont know, i liked the game a lot. Only if we could travel to Venice again (Jk)
You go back to Masyaf, the very beginning of the franchise where you played as Altair Ibn La Ahad. Ezio visits Masyaf to find answers that his father , Giovanni intended to do. Unfortunately as we know, he and his two sons were executed in Firenze. Ezio decides to continue his father's quest to find the answers to the Assassin order and the pieces of Eden. Only for Ezio to discover that the whole city of Masyaf has been overrun by Templars. Ezio makes his way out of the city, discovering a hidden library that has been locked for centuries since Altair's death. He discovers that there is a book that is being carried by the resident templar, Leandros. Ezio also finds out after killing Leandros that there are many other books that have the 'keys' to open the library.
Ezio travels to Constantinople with Prince Suleiman and meets Sofia and Assassin Yusuf Tazim in the docks. After a lot of adventure in Istanbul and Cappadocia, Ezio retrieves all of the keys to the Masyaf Library and puts an end to the saga of both Altair and Ezio.
The Masyaf keys were used not only to open the library at the very last portion of the gameplay, but also to relive memories of Altair Ibn La Ahad in this particular order:
1. Before the events of AC 1
2. After killing Al Mualim
3. Maria's Death due to the Apple / Saving Masyaf from getting destroyed by Abbas
4. Returning from Exile and killing Abbas
5. Using the Apple to escort NIccolo and Marco Polo
6. Altair locking himself in the Library and 'resting'
A lot of elements return from both AC 2 and Brotherhood.
1. The RPG elements of Thieves, Merceneries as well as a new addition, although playing the same part of Courtesean, The ROmanis make an appearance in the game for the first time. Playing their challenges will unlock XP and achievements as well as give you tons of money. Also, completing the challenges will unlock three perks for each guilds as well as give you the advantage of hiring them at a lower cost.
2. The missions involving the above three factions, are interesting as well as they play a good role for the main story.
3. The brand new Hookblade is a new to the series and can be used to traverse the city of Istanbul quite swiftly.
4. Ferries are featured for the first time and can be used to travel from the Galata District to the Big area of the city
5. This is the first game to include bomb crafting as well as 26 different bombs. Previously, we could only have smoke bombs. This addition to the game becomes a great way to expand your gameplay. I had a lot of fun blasting 12 guards with one Sticky Splinter Bomb.
6. Assassin Guild is a major upgrade. You can send your assassins to different places in Northern Meddieterrainean Europe and upgrade their XP just like you did in Brotherhood. In addition to that, all the Assassins , who have reached the rank of 12 or above will have their own particular missions. Completing these will turn them into Master Assassins. Also, Assassin's have their own set of challenges, completing them will unlock various perks for not only the Assassins but also for you.
7. Den Defense is something similar to the Borgia towers in Brotherhood, except you need to protect them from templar attacks whenever your notoriety becomes more than 50 percent. Den Defense will also enable you to rennovate shops and find Assassins to recruit. Instead, unlike Brotherhood, doing the renovations will increase your notoriety. There is also a minigame that begins when templars have begun attacking your dens. The whole minigame includes, placing Assassins on rooftops, adding road blocks, cannons and other form of defense mechanism. Ezio can also aid in the whole defense by shooting the guards and commanding a cannon fire for wiping out hoards of enemies.
8. Combat system includes an action cam that slows down at the last hit when you're doing a combo or doing an assassination. This feature is much more fantastic in future presentations of the game. The hookblade being a new addition, has brand new animations for hookblade kills. Two of them are hook-and-run and a hookblade takedown
9. Various landmarks become iconic spots for the Masyaf keys, books as well as Ishak Pasha's pages to be found by Ezio. These locations are similar to Brotherhood and AC2's catacombs and caves where Ezio visited to gather the scrolls for Armor of Brutus and the Armor of Altair respectively. The Keys would be hidden in the locations interiors. The books would be kept somewhere outside, Ezio had to use a view point in order to examine the location. The Pages would be scattered all over Istanbul , with majority of them on top of the landmarks. The levels inside the landmarks have very interesting gameplay.
10. None of the characters return from AC 2 or Brotherhood except Ezio. Although he mentions Giovanni, Federico, Christina, Maria Auditore, Uncle Mario, Cesare, Uberto and other characters at various points within the game itself. He is also seen writing letters to Claudia who was at that time, the Leader of the Italian Assassins.
11. Also, Yusuf, Sofia, Piri Reyes and other characters play a very important role in the story.
12. In present time, Desmond is in a Coma and has to complete the saga of Ezio and Altair until they have nothing else to show him. He also meets Subject 16, Clay Kaczmerek in the Animus Island. The latter is a 'safe mode' like environment like our Windows has.