I posted this in the Black Flag thread about my replay of Assassin's Creed II.
Bertie wrote:[iup=3593249]Parksey[/iup] wrote:I am just about to replay AC2. I wonder if it still holds up today or whether I have franchise burnout, which has started to set it at times.
As someone who played AC2 through a few times, years back, I'd be really interested to see your thoughts on it now (I'd like to, but just don't have the time to tepjY it). As I said earlier AC4 is probably the best game technically, but that's because of the iterations to date and hardware advances.
I played the first sequence in ACII yesterday.
First things first, it's really evident how far the game engine has come on. It definitely looks five years old and a step back from ACIII and IV.
It isn't a bad looking game by any means, but the character models look a bit rough, buildings look less detailed from a distance/up high and its vistas are just a little less awe-inspiring. Climbing around Florence to get a good view is still quite atmospheric though.
I do like the opening though. As mentioned above, I didn't mind AC3's slow-burning intro (calling it slow is perhaps putting it mildly), but AC2 sets the scene much quicker and, arguably, more effectively. Ezio has already put Connor to shame.
Maybe it is because this is the first time I have played an Assassin's Creed game on the PS3 controller, but the controls definitely seem worse. Fights were very confusing, as is the whole "this button moves you head/legs/sword arm" marionette system they jettisoned not long after. Combat is still a bit shonky in AC in general, but 2 is definitely closer to the system used in the original to what we have now. And combat was by very good in the original at all.
Free running is a lot more painless and simple now I feel. Again, it could just be the controller and me getting used to it, but I wasn't as smooth or as graceful scaling buildings, and it was a bit more plodding going vertical.
Still, I am only one sequence in and still getting used to it. The good points are that if I remember rightly, the game pretty much kicks on now (I have my assassin's robes already), whereas the later games sort of collapse under all the stuff they still need to introduce.
I might play Brotherhood and AC3 after this.