The Ezio Collection Revisited: Assassin's Creed II

It's been too bloody hot this week. Anyway, while I try and spend this weekend cooling down I figured I'd make a start on this project. Assassin's Creed II was first released in 2009, and distinguished itself as a sequel with significant improvements over its predecessor.

In the framing story, we essentially pick up where we left off. After Desmond Miles found the mysterious "Apple of Eden", he was on the cusp of being killed by his captor, Dr Warren Vidic. Not long afterwards, Vidic's assistant Lucy Stillman helps him escape and reveals she'd been a spy for the Assassins. She takes him to a hideout where they meet fellow Assassins Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane. To train Desmond to be an Assassin, they put him into their own version of the Animus to relive the genetic memories of another ancestor; Ezio Auditore da Firenze.

Beginning in 1476, Ezio was the second son of a wealthy Florentine banker who was enjoying the life of an irresponsible rake until he got caught up in the dirty politics of Renaissance Italy. After his father and brothers are framed for treason and executed, Ezio is forced to flee florence with his mother and sister, taking refuge at a villa owned by his uncle Mario. While there, he learns that his father was an Assassin and the Templars were responsible for his death. Mario teaches Ezio to fight, and he embarks on a quest of revenge against the Templars in Florence and Venice. Along the way, he meets several historical figures including Lorenzo de Medici and Leonardo da Vinci (who designs new equipment like a Renaissance version of Q).

I love the open-world gameplay of these titles. You can choose to either free-run across rooftops while evading archers, or you can travel street-level and blend into crowds. You can stealthily assassinate targets from hiding spots (like haystacks or benches), pull them off ledges, or even pull off the less-subtle "air assassination"? And when you're recognised, it's fun to give your pursuers the slip. You can also recruit allies to help bypass checkpoints or access secure loctions: hiring Courtesans to flirt with the guards while you sneak past; using mercenaries to start a street fight; or getting thieves to rob and bait them into pursuit. Or you can stand and fight, where you can defeat most enemies by counterattacking, although there are some variants who force you to mix things up a bit.

I remember getting the game for my 16th birthday, and finding it a truly immersive experience. In fact, the main reason I stopped playing was because I noticed it was dark outside and realised it was 4:00 pm and I hadn't had any lunch. However, I was also disappointed that a lot of the game's story was cut by a massive time skip, with two chapters being released separately as downloadable content. Personally, I think that's a shitty thing to do. Fortunately, this version of the game includes the missing chapters.

Beyond that, there's not much I can really fault other than a few nitpicks and some frustrating "That One Level" moments. For one, you get so many items that some barely get used. In Assassin's Creed, Altair had his Hidden Blade, a sword, a short blade, and throwing knives. Ezio later gets a second hidden blade, a Poison Blade, and even a gun. But you never use the Poison Blade in any story missions. I also found little difference between the sword and the short blade, largely because the direction pad's shortcuts don't include it. You can also renovate shops and landmarks around your villa to generate passive income, but you need to periodically return to the villa in order to collect it.

Anyway, that's about it. I'll be back next week to talk about Brotherhood.

Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection

You might have noticed that things have been a little quiet on here. Well, I suppose it's because the dayjob takes a lot out of me and I like to unwind with gaming.

As a writer of historical fiction, I've had a particular fondness of the Assassin's Creed series of video games. Even though I'm way behind on the series, I'm still often curious about where and when the next game takes place. Over the past couple of months, I've been working my through The Ezio Collection, a PS4 re-release of three of the past games, featuring one of the franchise's iconic protagonists. Since the Writer's Block has been a little bare this year, I thought I'd write some posts about the individual games in the collection: Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and Assassin's Creed: Revelations.

I'll post about those games in due course, but first I'll look at some background. Assassin's Creed combines platforming and stealth in a third-person open world, serving as a spiritual successor to Ubisoft's Prince of Persia franchise. The overall story revolves around an almost eternal conflict between two secret societies: The Assassins, who seek to preserve free will and the growth of knowledge; and the Templars, who seek peace through dominion. Both groups often find themselves fighting over technology from an ancient civilisation. In a near-future setting, characters from both sides use a device known as The Animus to re-live the genetic memories of their ancestors who fought in such conflicts. This serves as the framing story for the games.

The first Assassin's Creed - released in 2007 - follows Desmond Miles as he's abducted by the megacorporation Abstergo (later revealed to be the modern-day front for the Templars). He's forced to use the Animus to re-live the memories of his ancestor Altair Ibn-la-ahad, a Syrian Assassin who rose to prominence in the Levant during the Third Crusade. In Altair's story, he's disgraced after failing a mission due to his arrogance and forced to rise up the brotherhood's ranks by assassinating nine prominent figures across the Holy Land (in Damascus, Acre, and Jerusalem).

It's been a while since I played the original Assassin's Creed. I recall that the game had some cool ideas, most notably the free-running and stealth elements, but the experience was marred by repetitive sidequests and dialogue-heavy cutscenes that can't be skipped. Anyway, I don't want to go too deep into that, but I'm mentioning it here because I'll likely come back to it later.

Despite the game's flaws, somebody in Ubisoft saw potential in it and Assassin's Creed II saw its release in 2009. I'll talk about that one soon.