When the team at Ubisoft came to create the sequel to their new IP, Assassin’s Creed – they made notes. A LOT of notes. Every criticism and gripe was included, from (they claimed) fan forums right up to the top gaming sites. And boy did it show. Every facet of the game was picked clean and reworked or built on: many new features were added, from an economy to new weapons and a ton of new moves – an entirely new world was open to explore. Italy was overflowing with nuance, character and quality content – so much so that it almost felt like an entirely new game at times. And so Assassin’s Creed 2 became one of the most awesome and captivating open world gaming experiences of this generation.
Don’t get me wrong, Assassin’s Creed 3 is still a pretty sweet game; it has a gorgeous new frontier, a very strong central storyline that features some stellar voice work, and yes those naval missions induced more than one boyish fist-pump from this gamer. But along the way, it seems that some of the best lessons learned from AC 1 have been forgotten (or just plain ignored). It needs to be said these things by no means make AC3 a terrible game – they’re not game breakers by a long shot – far from it, as it hits more than it misses for sure. Some of them are quibbles, some of them may even be nitpicking to other gamers, but for me AC2 captured the tone, the setting, the character and the sheer fun of being an assassin – which is what Creed is all about.
So here’s 10 things that made AC2 so awesome five years ago… which AC 3 could and should have learned a few more lessons from…
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17 Comments
Well, no one can disagree that AC 2 was way better than AC 3. Ubisoft wanted to make it the greatest game ever and faltered to a huge extent. They were so baffled wirh the gaming contents that they ommited the basic things a AC game need- kickass assassinations and music. Connor can never match upto the character and sheer class that Ezio possessed. Being an AC and Unchartered maniac, I would say AC could not live upto its expectations. I hope AC 4 comes to India and becomes a class to be remembered.
India (or any Asian continent with amazing architecture for that matter) would be awesome :)
I actually loved the community part of the game and really hope that its kept in the next. But the best addition of all would be co-op
Co op would be pretty cool… especially if you could combine your attacks for some sweet, brutal combos.
The Truth puzzles from AC2 and Brotherhood were awesome and I wish they had something similar in AC3.
Agreed, the added puzzle elements were very well done and built another pillar of gameplay that AC3 lacks.
I strongly disagree with you on the protagonist part, I liked Connor much more as a character then Ezio, btw every character had personality.. They are just different, so to say Ezio has more personality then Connor is false. Ezio was unrealistic and cliche, his emotions were all mixed being badass then chasing woman didn’t appeal to me and was unrealistic. Connor turns from a happy child to a badass which I liked, and he acted as an assassin should….. Get over Ezio, native Americans were humble and didn’t chase every woman they saw. Connor was a much better character..
I’m glad you found Conner a character with a lot of personality. I guess we’ll see how popular he becomes with future installments :)
I loved that assassin recruits came with special abilities but the missions you could send them on were utterly pointless. It was great that they were proper characters this time round and you actually had to work to recruit them. But in Revelations and Brotherhood though you ran the risk of losing your assassin if they failed whereas now you just lose them for a few minutes. Assassins with special abilities and the risk of losing them in missions would have made it much more interesting and actually worth paying attention to.
I 100% agree to this article … especially the part that you are playing an Assassin and not some Landlord-Guy is important.
No Creed is to hear in the game … no other Assassins (only the strange guy that help you like the french butcher or wth he is) …
Also I think the templer philosophy is bigger than the assassins philosophy in the game … I thing Conners dad is right: he do evetything cuz he is naive … … at least there is no part where Conner can handle his dads arguments … thats weak.
… sometimes I’ve the feeling iam doing something bad in helping Conner … rly bad for a game where you have to kill your way through ><
I am almost finished AC3 but have not finished it as to me the game is well … not able to keep my interest the way AC2 and brotherhood did. I agree with you that AC3 has very little of the polish that AC2 and brotherhood did, which is a shame because I would have loved to play in the old time US during such a interesting time. This game is about Assassins and templars and their war, but it feels like there is none of that going on, just a man who is trying to act on his vandetta and the targets just happen to be templars. If we do see connor again I hope that he is a Assassin and not just a person who happens to be in the order. Also the whole Landlord thing was a good idea but poorly done, which seems to the case for other ideas in this game.
I was sick of Ezio by the end (3 games was just stalling until they’d finished making AC3). Still feel Altair is the best character, especially if you’ve read the books.
Agree with every single word you just say. AC3 is still a great game, but I think AC2 was the best that the series could ever reach. Hopefully Ubisoft makes an even better Assassin’s Creed game in the future. Maybe on the next generation of consoles…
I think i agree with all of your points, one i think you missed which really annoyed me is the fact the creed is barely even mentioned, you only know your an assassin because of the robes, theres no initiation, no robes for the recruits and as you said the assassinations are pretty boring, i also felt achilles bored me to death! Anyone agree?
Music is the key to a great game for me. It sets the tone more than anything else in a game. Just like a movie, AC without an epic/suitable soundtrack is nothing.
For me AC3 was a step down. I see all your points to be rather thought out and true Sasha. 3 was bland in its execution. I bought 3 a week after release, played it on and off for a month (couldn’t play it much due to classes and work) then my PS3 died (7 years old) so i whipped out my 360 and played Halo 4. Two days ago all the Creeds were on sale for $9.99 each so I decided to buy them all. I am having 10x’s more fun replaying 2 right now than I did with 3. Even leaving the game on idle listening to the music makes my texting this more interesting. I probably won’t rebuy the 360 version of 3 until it drops to $9.99.
AC3 was the first game out of the five that I ever completed. Conner, however, bored me. I had attempted the other games previously and subsequently found myself stuck on Sequences 7 and 9. Anyway, my point is that I came into the AC world backwards. Conner bored me to tears and I almost considered not touching the other games but upon starting AC2, I thought to myself that this is what the game should be. It is truly a beautiful game, so much thought poured into it. Love Ezio, even if he is a bit cocky. Sure, he likes skirt. Considering he was just a teenager, almost a man, of course he would like skirt. Conner was so… boring! I am not even half way through AC2 at the moment and could happily play for days, maybe longer. I have spent most of my time just running around finding treasure, building up my town, etc. I am deeply disappointed that they will continue with the Hayward family, that ships will be a part of AC4 and that once again the main character will be male. A female assassin, teamed with the brilliance of gameplay we get in AC2 would be the ultimate game for me. Hayward family bores me and although I want the game, I won’t be rushing out to get it as I am worried it will drag the franchise down more. But here’s hoping the next instalment returns to some of the key features that has made this series one of the best games ever presented to us