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Thread: The Da Vinci Disappearance - Assassin's Creed Franchise Review- Updated 2/2/18

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    Shankbot de Bodemloze's Avatar From the Writers Study!
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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/14

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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/14

    I'll see what the competition is like for this month before I decide. Nothing I have to offer is really all that original unless I spruce up my older game reviews (Rollercoaster Tycoon and American Conquest). Besides, people seem more interested in newer and/or more relevant things
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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/14

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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/14

    Good review, with attention to the important points.

    The lack of variation in mission is indeed a huge pain. I had the directors cut which added two mission types, and it was still repetitive 1/3 in. When you pay AC2 you'll see this is gonna be hugely improved. Its the reason why so many people refer to AC2 as the best game. Not because it has the best features (brotherhood for example had a few very strong gameplay elements like replaying of memories and 100% synch as difficulty level), but because it added the most to its predecessor

    Also, you can use the hidden blade for combat, but only for counter attacks (so no blocking), and you need to be very quickly cause the frame to get it right is really short

    Looking forward to AC2 review

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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/14

    Whoops, I meant block countering, not just blocking
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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/14



    "I did not choose this path. It was chosen for me. At first, I thought vengeance would be easy. For thirty years I've lived in the shadows, visited death upon those who deserved it, and vanished like the wind. I don't know who started this conspiracy, but I know who will end it. My name is Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Like my father before me, I am an Assassin."

    Assassin's Creed II Assassin’s Creed II takes place seemingly hours after the first game. Due to the bleeding effect of the Animus, Desmond has gained some of the abilities of his ancestor Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, including his Eagle Vision and limited fighting abilities. Assistant Lucy Stillman arrives at Desmond’s quarters in the research facility and tells Desmond they are escaping the facility. Just before they do, Desmond enters the Animus one final time to discover another ancestor, reliving that ancestor’s birth through the Animus. After escaping the facility by using Desmond’s abilities, the pair find refuge with Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings, two members of the modern day Assassins. At the safe house, Desmond discovers that the Assassin’s have developed their own Animus, named the Animus 2.0, and plan to use it to learn more information about the exploits of past Assassin’s relating to both the Templars and both factions struggle for the various Pieces of Eden. In addition, Lucy hopes to exploit the bleeding effect of the Animus in order for Desmond to learn to become an Assassin in a mere fraction of the time. Upon entering the Animus 2.0, Desmond begins reliving the memories of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a young man who lived in Italy during the Renaissance.


    Ezio as a teenager

    Ezio Auditore was only a carefree teenager living in Florence in the late 15th Century when fate upended his life. Members of his family, caught in the middle of a conspiracy in which they are on the wrong side, is imprisoned. Ezio, on the orders of his imprisoned father, discovers a hidden room in their mansion where Ezio finds strange robes and equally strange weapons. Intending on helping his family at their public trial with the help of a family friend, whom Ezio has given evidence of innocence on his family’s part, Ezio discovers that the friend is a part of the conspiracy, and promptly sentences them to death. Ezio witnesses half his family perish at the end of a rope, and is attacked as he attempts to rescue them. Forced to flee, Ezio brings his frightened sister and muted mother to the family villa in Monteriggioni, where his uncle Mario trains Ezio to become an Assassin. Intent on discovering the extent of the conspiracy, Ezio sets on a journey to hunt down everyone involved, meet some famous figures in history (“Templar” and “Assassin” alike), and along with Desmond, discover the truth about the history of Man.


    Ezio being inducted into the Assassins

    Onto the gameplay elements of Assassin’s Creed II:

    Assassin’s Creed II is set in the middle of the Italian Renaissance. Spanning over twenty years of Ezio’s life, the player is able to explore various cities such as Florence, Venice, San Gimigano, Monteriggioni, Forli, and finally, the Tuscan Countryside. Every city has a distinctive look, and all are beautifully crafted to represent Renaissance-era Italian cities. Venice in particular is quite beautiful, with the city’s architecture, layout, and atmosphere all being considered. A day/night cycle and even weather has been implemented, ensuring that the cities and countryside have a less stagnant appearance than the settings of the previous game. Aiding this is a larger variety of guards and civilians, bringing each city or region to life.


    Ezio exploring Venice by canal

    The missions have been GREATLY improved since the previous game, as has the story. Part of the story involves Ezio meeting (and occasionally killing) various historical figures. One of the most prominent is Leonardo da Vinci, who often helps Ezio in upgrading Ezio’s equipment as well as decoding various pages of a Codex that had been passed down from Altaïr. Whereas the previous game consisted of mostly investigations and assassinations, the types of missions have a great deal of variety. Two missions immediately come to mind: using Leonardo’s flying machine to infiltrate a Templar stronghold, and another that involves fleeing with Leonardo on a carriage and having stop the pursuers using said carriage. There are also a great deal of side missions that are not part of the main game but allow you to carry out additional assassinations as well as help the people of Italy in other respects.


    Ezio trying out Leonardo's flying machine

    One of the new features of the game involve the ability to hire people to aid you in various missions. You can hire courtesans, who can “distract” guards from performing their duties, thieves, who can lure guards away from their posts, and mercenaries, who will attack others on your orders, or defend you when you’re attacked. With this also comes the ability to “blend in” with these groups, also allowing you to escape the attention of guards in general. Ezio can also blend in with large groups of other people that are wandering around.


    Ezio using hired hands to aid him

    As in the previous game, performing high profile actions such as running along rooftops and running into people will inevitably attract the attention of the guards. Unlike the previous game, killing them does not necessarily end your troubles. With every major illegal action such as killing people, your “notoriety” goes up. As your notoriety increases you (as Ezio) will find it increasingly more difficult to escape the attention of guards. When your notoriety maxes out, guards and enemies will attack you on sight. Fortunately, you can help this by ripping down wanted posters (fashioned to your likeness), bribing heralds, and killing corrupt officials. This notoriety only affects you on a town-by-town basis; just because you are likely to be attacked on sight in Florence does not mean you will be in Venice. Likewise, lowering your notoriety in one town does not do so across Italy.


    Ezio being chased by a variety of guards

    Assassinations have been made a lot easier in this game compared to its predecessor as well. In addition to the variety of assassin missions, it is much easier to perform the actual act than before. The targeting system sends you in the right direction when used correctly, allowing you to focus more on the planning than the actual execution. The new equipment also gives you a greater variety of methods of carrying out these executions.


    Ezio performing a double assassination on a pair of enemies. The dual hidden blades allow for twice the fun.

    The combat system, my main gripe about the first game, has been updated to allow Ezio a greater chance when it comes to fighting guards. Of course, this was likely implemented due to the greater variety of guards, all with different weapons, strengths and weaknesses, and fighting styles. Ezio can fight with the trademark weapon of the Assassins, the hidden blade, because he wields two. He also has access to a variety of other weapons such as maces, hammers, swords, daggers, spears and halberds. A new range of fighting styles and abilities accompany these extra weapons, such as disarming opponents, as well as greater countering and dodging abilities. Ezio also has the ability to poison opponents with one of his hidden blades, and he also later receives an upgrade to one of his hidden blades in the form of a small hidden pistol, which you can use in both assassinations and combat. You also have access to a whole variety of different types of armor which can help you survive longer, though this armor can become damaged and periodically needs to be repaired. You can also now heal yourself in combat with medicine.


    Utilizing a new combat weapon: the mace


    Ezio finishing off a guard with a polearm

    Monteriggioni, the family villa, serves a similar function as Masyaf did to Altaïr in the way that it is Ezio’s headquarters. Ezio’s family resides there after Florence, and you must return there every once in while where you can discuss events with your family or train in the courtyard. In addition to providing Ezio a home, Ezio can improve the city, increasing its value and earning Ezio money. You now earn money by looting corpses and completing missions, and also by pickpocketing people (but they notice fairly quickly and will either fight you or call for guards, so you better run). This money can go towards buying better armor and weapons, buying medicine and poison, as well as improvements to Monteriggioni.


    The model of Monteriggioni inside the villa. Here you can direct the architect to improve various parts of the city

    Other small changes have also impacted gameplay quite a bit. As already stated, you can now heal yourself, which greatly changes how the synchronization bar/health bar functions compared to the last game. Part of the side missions involve Monteriggioni and restoring it, which costs you money but greatly increases the value of the city, periodically giving you a great return on your investment. Also, hidden away beneath the villa is the family Sanctuary, where the armor of Altaïr is locked away. Ezio must travel to various churches containing tombs of past Assassins scattered throughout the cities and complete puzzles to acquire keys that can be used to gain access to Altaïr’s armor. This armor, combined with Altaïr’s sword (which can be purchased from the Monteriggioni blacksmith late in the game) make Ezio virtually unstoppable. Constructed by the past assassin with the help of the Apple of Eden, the armor is unbreakable and provides Ezio with the same amount of health squares that the best purchasable armor can provide. The player can also utilize a series of fast travel points scattered throughout the game maps to move around speedily. Finally, Desmond must use Ezio’s memory to find a series of symbols that had been placed by the mysterious Subject 16 (another person that Abstergo used in the past, only briefly mentioned in the first game) to gain knowledge of “The Truth”, which answers few questions concerning the overall plot of the but creates many more, some of which are answered at the end of the game. I honestly wish I could say more, but it is so spoiler-ridden that it would be impossible to not spoil people. But I can say, the game ends with both you and Desmond both thinking “What the hell just happened?!”.


    Ezio in conversation with Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci provides Ezio with improvements to his hidden blades as well as translates the various codices passed down from Altaïr

    Overall, this game is such an improvement over the original that they can hardly be compared. There is little I can say against it: the only thing that comes to mind is that the health/synchronization bar is now more health than synchronization, which sort of diminishes the plot device of deviation from the memory too much can desynchronize you if you can simply heal yourself. Other than that, I honestly cannot think of anything really bad to say. Everything has been improved: the characters, the plot/story, the combat, the soundtrack, the missions, everything. Freerunning has also improved a lot, with Ezio being far faster in climbing especially than his predecessor, able to climb farther distances up a wall by jumping and grabbing. The The soundtrack especially is a vast improvement, expanding from twelve songs to thirty five, all of which are amazingly composed. The title “Ezio’s Family” is the highlight of the soundtrack in my opinion, and is an absolutely beautiful piece of music. The voice acting has improved a lot as well, and along with the excellent scriptwriting, they make Ezio an immensely likable character. And guess what: unlike the previous game, you can now swim, a must have when running around on a map like Venice.


    Look guys, Assassins can swim now!

    10/10


    This song is definitely a highlight of the entire game. It's a shame it plays during the credits.
    Last edited by TheDarkKnight; March 07, 2013 at 06:25 PM.
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  7. #27
    The Wandering Storyteller's Avatar Protector Domesticus
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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/17 (ACII)

    Agreed.

  8. #28
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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/17 (ACII)

    AC2 was the best of the series, Revelations was even greater.

  9. #29
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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/17 (ACII)

    I just love how cinematic ACII was, and Brotherhood is definitally living up to that. Combined with the score, it has given me chills at different points. Like at the beginning of ACII, when Ezio and his Brother are on the rooftops, it was an amazing sense, and felt like a movie.
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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/17 (ACII)

    AC2 made me fall in love with Ezio The music was just so beautiful and the setting was romantic
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  11. #31
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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/17 (ACII)

    Adding this one too.

    Never played any of those games..
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  12. #32
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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/17 (ACII)

    You should rectify that, Vatty.
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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/17 (ACII)

    I've been finally getting into the assassins creed franchise by buying the first 3 games. I finished 1 in January and finished 2 yesturday. Brotherhood is next.

    The series has certainly evolved over time with 1 to 2 being the biggest jump in features and improvment. I havnt played all of them but thats my favorite so far. That game made me like ezio the best out of the assassins.
    Last edited by ♔The Black Knight♔; February 19, 2013 at 05:39 AM.

  14. #34
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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/17 (ACII)

    Quote Originally Posted by ♔The Black Knight♔ View Post
    I've been finally getting into the assassins creed franchise by buying the first 3 games. I finished 1 in January and finished 2 yesturday. Brotherhood is next.

    The series has certainly evolved over time with 1 to 2 being the biggest jump in features and story. Cant wait to see your review for 2. I havnt played all of them but thats my favorite so far. That game made me like ezio the best out of the assassins.
    I already did review for ACII, it's right above.

    Unless you mean Brotherhood.
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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/17 (ACII)

    Yes sorry i went and edited that.

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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/17 (ACII)

    You're gonna fall in Ezio even more as you play the next games. The gameplay keeps improving (not as drasticly as AC1->AC2, but then again that would almost be impossible)

    If you have played Revelations, watch the shortmovie Embers afterwards. It will bring a tear to your eye

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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/17 (ACII)

    I should probably mention that I have already finished the main game series, including Revelations. I have watched Embers but I have not watched the other short movies.


    I just have not had the time I have wanted to write all the reviews. I'm in the planning stages for Brotherhood and Revelations right now.

    After all this I may do Liberation. My girlfriend's roommate has it and said I could borrow it sometime.
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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/17 (ACII)

    great reviews, tough i noticed one factual mistake in AC2 section (wich probably happened only because you havent played it trough at least 100 times like i have, so no big deal )- Altair's armour (in the tomb) actually is unbreakable, but it has same HP as best purchasable armour. also, you cant change colour on Altair's robe
    PS! did you notice little detail, that when you are with normal robes, hood is down in cutscenes, but with Altair's robe, hood is still on
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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/17 (ACII)

    Fixed.

    I never bought the best armor so I only assumed Altair's was the best for health. I also did not mention changing the color of the robes in general because I did not feel it was important.
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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Franchise Review: Updated 2/17 (ACII)

    Another smashing review my friend.

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