Peeped our Assassin’s Creed 2 first play yet? If not, why not? Head on over there now for our first impressions on Ubisoft’s historical assassination romp, then bounce back here for even more of the inside track on the game. Read on for the new features we’re loving most, and why you will too.
1. It’s bigger
An obvious element to any self-respecting sequel, but the scope with which Ubisoft has expanded Assassin’s Creed 2 is impressive. There are now 130 missions to complete, and game director Benoit Lambert told us they’ll take up to 40 hours to complete in total.
2. Secret locations
With such a big city, you’d think none of the buildings would be accessible, except for the villas of targets you need to dispatch. But Ubisoft’s promised us a whole bunch of secret interiors you can bust in to in many of the bigger buildings. We didn’t get a chance to see if we could stroll over the Bridge of Sighs inside the Doge’s Palace, but we’re hopeful. Completists will spend a lot of time trying to barge down all the doors they can, that’s for sure.
3. Sprawling story, script and cast
Ubisoft told us that the script for Assassin’s Creed 2 is 1,000 pages long, with 30 central characters entering in and out of the storyline, and three hours of cut scene to keep you entertained between kills. The dialogue we heard was hilarious, and the 30 voice actors have done a comedy job of playing up on the Italian accent. Ciao!
Assassin’s Creed 2 first play!
4. You move faster than ever before
If you were frustrated by the slower parts of the original game, you’ll be pleased to hear that Ezzio, the protagonist of Assassin’s Creed 2 is much nippier. Not only can he swim (quite surprising considering all the chainmail he’s wearing),a handy skill in Venice of all places, but he’ll climb faster too, scampering up walls and hopping between balconies on the double.
5. Replay mode
Combined with more shorter tasks is the option to replay any you complete. You could replay individual chapters in the original, but couldn’t quick jump to the juicy kill missions within them, leading to much mincing around pickpocketing people over and over. Not any more, just dive in and get your assassination on.
and one more mystery one…
Nosying around as we’re prone to on the menus in Assassin’s Creed 2, we stumbled across an intriguing option called “The Truth.” Unfortunately it was closed off, and Ubisoft wouldn’t tell us just what it did, but Lambert assured us that “it will add gameplay depth and time.”
