This might be another short one, but I've got to say its a good one. I've now got the very last major link in the series for me, at least that was the case until unity and rouge ironically came about on the very same day. Oh well, that's ok, unity sounds like its betraying itself by removing- oh I mean "Streamlining"- player input and removing (sorry, streamlining, got to remember that triple A buzzword for this kind of thing) manual hidden blade function, pick-pocketing, and even carrying corpses... in a game that's supposedly focusing on stealth roots. So yeah I'll take this time to reinforce the notion that AC2's arc is the best, and the rest gets comparatively worse even with the game that is supposedly like AC2 in its simplicity. With the actual AC2 in my hands though it looks like I'm finally getting to the roots of what matters to me and not what ubisoft (I'd be developer specific if it actually had a focused dev) tells me matters from unity's messy implementation. Anyways I grabbed AC2 yesterday when rummaging through the dirt cheap case-less bin at gamestop (aiming to see if it still had soccom 4, but it didn't). I got that and operation flashpoint for even less, but I'd rather focus on AC2 first.
So to be totally honest most of what I think could probably be a reframe of what I already said when I was replaying brotherhood. Its a good game with better base mechanics than its successors, and tells the story of a rouge type vigilante as he fights the Templars during the Italian renaissance. To the best of my knowledge the biggest thing AC brotherhood did was the assassination system, the big setting, a faster combat flow, and maybe a couple extra gadgets... most of which I don't think I bothered with (like the parachute). So the biggest loss to me will be my assassin minions, but apart from that I'm seeing the core game come together and delivering a lot of what I love. The only real difference I do feel is in how a couple things are paced, including what might be one of the best uses I've seen of QTEs where they pop up at just the right time in cut-scenes to help bring you in at just the right moments, or even as optional interactions like one bit where I had the ability to walk up and punch a guy in the middle of his faux-friendly greet. Similarly combat is just slower paced and has more of this odd loose feeling to it that actually feels pretty good once you get used to it, though strafing replaces a kick command which is just a bit weird and unnecessary considering the counter option. However I didn't pick it up soley for the gameplay, to be honest $5 for the story alone is a steal. So far I'm hooked on it, though I'm still a bit early. I pretty much beat the first mission or so in sequence 3, so I'm still early in and Ezio isn't old enough to be where I know he'll go. Still I've enjoyed seeing his beginnings, how he knew Leonardo, and just generally seeing how this stuff started. My only real complaint is that they really executed Ezio's educational part poorly. He literally learns about his family's assassination period through a flash. Now... I'm keeping my fingers crossed good 'ol La Volpe shows up soon.
The game all in all is pretty good and I hope to stay attached to it for some time, and finish it before FarCry 4 takes my attention. Well... actually I've got a couple things going on, starfox adventures just arrived in the mail and as soon as I get a gamecube card I might be aiming on that as well. Despite my badmouthing of Unity I also hope to eventually play that, as it does sound somewhat exciting despite its dumb faults. I just might ask for it as a Christmas present though rather than stressing cash on it. Its like I said before, AC is a series that has a lot of mixed bag results and I suppose I can't keep my nose out of it even when it smells a bit bitter. For now though... I'd really rather have the younger entries like AC2, and I still have loose ends to tie between the original, revaluations, and if I absolutely desire to maybe one of those that came out of the AC3 format. I do know rogue is up for rent, so there's that chance to. For now though, I'm going back to Ezio's beginnings, and I'm really enjoying it so far.
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