For the company Ubisoft 2007 became a landmark year to a certain extent. It was then that their inhumane experiments began to introduce sandbox gameplay into their games. The idea is simple – we draw several tens of kilometers of the world, give the player a means of transportation and allow him to complete missions as his heart desires. The production and scripts are thrown overboard, and this whole world has to play somehow on its own. It was because of this approach that the boring Far Cry 2 and the highly controversial Prince of Persia (2008) were born. Well, the first experimental sample was Assassins’ Creed.
For those who suddenly missed the first part, it would be useful to recall the plot of events. According to the plot, we got used to the image of an ordinary bartender named Desmond. This gentleman unfortunately fell into the hands of a suspicious professor, who locked the poor fellow within four walls, and every single day he put him in an infernal machine called “Animus” in order to delve into his brains. The player seemed to penetrate Desmond’s subconscious, where he took control of his distant ancestor – the killer Altair. In this way, a mad scientist tried to find a secret treasure hidden somewhere in the Middle East.
Actually, Altair himself served as an assassin and carried out orders from the head of the order, going wherever he was told, finishing off whomever they indicated. U Ubisoft, Let’s note that it turned out to be an exciting and unexpectedly mature story that touched on very slippery topics: religious wars, the role of the Templars and the same assassins in world history, and so on. So that no one leaves offended, the developers, even at the beginning of the game, hastened to mention that the game was supposedly made exclusively by tolerant people of various religions, so don’t look for hidden hints at inciting any kind of hatred.
For all its advantages, Assassins’ Creed turned out to be a very uneven game. On the one hand, it amazed the imagination with graphics. The main character was simply amazingly animated, deftly jumped on the crossbars, easily ran up steep walls and performed other crazy stunts – for example, jumping into haystacks from a height of several tens of meters. Plus, the game had some damn good combat. Altair performed feints with a sword, punched startled guards in the gut at the most unexpected moment, and did not hesitate to use throwing knives.
Behind the beautiful wrapper, alas, lies a stunning monotony. There were only nine types of tasks at your disposal, which were persistently repeated throughout the entire adventure. Moreover, events developed according to the same pattern. The main character broke into the city to find and send the right person to the next world. Before this, it was necessary to collect useful information, which, in turn, required helping the local population. Save a dozen citizens from the clutches of the guards, help a would-be colleague collect scattered flags (!), send some minor character to the next world, listen to conversations. Only after completing a number of tasks was it possible to visit a local representative of the order and obtain the coveted license to kill, so to speak, the plot victim.
Despite the disadvantages and monotony, the game was surprisingly addictive, and the final ratings in the press fluctuated between 90 and 100 percent. No one doubted that there would be a second part. And so it happened – this spring Ubisoft finally revealed its cards, announcing the long-awaited sequel.
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The main character of the new part will again be our old friend bartender Desmond, and we will again travel along the waves of his memory. Moreover, according to the developers, the game starts exactly at the same moment where the first part ended. That is, we will have a direct continuation of the story.
True, now we will remember the working days of another ancestor of Desmond – Ezio Auditore de Firenze. The plot of the new plot is somewhat different from the original. The developers do not hide that their goal is to better reveal the character of the killer, so even the story starts at the moment when Ezio is not yet an assassin, but an ordinary Italian aristocrat. Only after a certain turning point in his life does he enroll in the order of assassins, and now the player with him will have to go through a difficult path in the career of a killer, learning all the intricacies of the dark art and sending more than a dozen enemies to the next world.
Developers are happy to talk about Assassins’ Creed 2, but only a few minutes of gameplay were shown live, and they shared a gorgeous introductory video. Not much, of course, but there is still some information.
Since this takes place in 1476, Ezio’s arsenal is slightly different from what Altair possessed in the ancient Middle Ages. The main novelty is that the hero now does not carry weapons with him at all, except for a pair of stilettos hidden in his sleeves, which are guaranteed, without noise and dust, to send two opponents to the next world at once. The focus, I must say, is quite impressive.
The creators say that in total Ezio will have as many as 36 types of various deadly weapons at his disposal, only our hero does not carry so much junk with him, preferring to strategically take it away from his stunned enemies directly in battle. Having captured some formidable-looking ax, Ezio immediately uses it, sends the gap to the next world and immediately throws away the useless thing. If earlier skirmishes were based on blocks and counterattacks, now, it seems, we will have to learn to pull weapons out of the hands of the insolent.
The opponents will also change a little, in addition to ordinary soldiers and their commanders, for example, there will be big guys armed with two-handed swords or huge maces. The knights are clad in heavy armor, so, apparently, it will not be easy to deal with them. Skirmishes will become more difficult also because health is no longer restored, and in order to heal wounds, you will have to look for a healer on the streets of the city.
But open battle, of course, is a last resort. As before, you will have to get rid of opponents mainly silently, fortunately, they promise to teach Ezio several new tricks. Firstly, he can not only hide in boxes of hay, but, without leaving the shelter, kill guards and immediately hide them from prying eyes. Secondly, the main character can make fatal blows while sitting on a bench or jumping onto the head of an unsuspecting guard from a roof or steep wall. There are many more options than before.
The guards, however, have also become much more vigilant – many of them do not hesitate to check suspicious places, simply by poking them with a spear. What will happen if the weapon pierces Ezio’s soft spot is not yet clear, but a fight with the rushing guards certainly cannot be avoided. In addition, the guards remember the hero’s face, so they may well recognize him on the streets of the city, spotting him in the crowd. According to the developers, there are no absolutely safe places in the game anymore, and even after a series of murders you won’t be able to feel comfortable in the city. On the other hand, a new opportunity has appeared to escape from annoying pursuers by simply diving into the water. The technique is convenient, but, of course, not a panacea – the enemies will persistently search the suspicious place, and Ezio will not last long under water – he will run out of air. You can escape from your pursuers in a simpler way – by throwing a smoke bomb right at the feet of your enemies.
Additional missions will also change significantly. The creators promise us sixteen unique tasks, and among them there will be no pickpocketing or eavesdropping on conversations on the streets. Instead, the developers are preparing entire mission chains. Let’s say, first Ezio accompanies an important person to a designated place, is ambushed there and fights off attacking enemies, then flees the city. And there will be quite a lot of similar combinations. However, you don’t have to complete optional missions, focusing entirely on story missions.
Events Assassins’ Creed 2 will take place in Toxana – the central region of northern Italy, and this is noticeably reflected in the graphic style of the game. If Ezio himself is not that much different from Altair, then the world around him has become much more colorful, and the creators’ attention to detail is amazing. The developers demonstrated a short episode in Venice, and it amazes: a cheerful crowd, bright fireworks, a magnificent play of chiaroscuro, the main character walking sternly through this celebration of life. Plus, the developers have implemented a fair day and night cycle, which is not only beautiful and realistic, but will also likely affect the gameplay.
The creators again promise maximum historical accuracy. Many buildings, for example, are copied from real-life models. In the same Venice we will see St. Mark’s Cathedral, the Rialto Bridge, famous canals and even a workshop Leonardo da Vinci. By the way, the Renaissance genius is close friends with Ezio, so he helps him in every possible way with his inventions. So, the developers showed a real paraglider, with the help of which Ezio can easily fly over entire city areas. To prevent the fragile toy from plopping down at the most inopportune moment, you need to fly up to numerous fires in time – the warm air emanating from them throws up the paraglider, and it successfully continues its flight. Besides it, of course, there will be other interesting inventions, but, alas, nothing is known about them yet. The plot is replete with other historical names. We know for sure that they will appear Niccolo Machiavelli And Caterina Sforza, well, in the attempted murder Lorenzo Medici Ezio will probably be very involved.
And yet, despite the impressive list of innovations, Assassins’ Creed 2, in fact, it won’t go far from the first part. We will still secretly penetrate cities, run along the roofs of houses, jump on beams, climb steep walls, eliminate unwanted people, and after a fatal blow, have a long conversation with our victim. But this is by no means a minus, because the first part, despite all the objective problems, really turned out to be a very exciting game. So a comprehensively revised and improved sequel is what we need. There is very little time left before the release – Assassins’ Creed 2 will appear on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on November 17 this year, so it’s time to start saving money for the purchase.
