Assassin's Creed II: Fun and Games
A brand new gameplay style is revealed using 'toys'.
Australia, August 27, 2009 - As part of Ubisoft's Cologne GamesCom showcase this year, the Montreal-based development team behind Assassin's Creed II finally laid a few of their cards on the table – addressing the first game's issues of lack of diversity and more. A new location was also revealed – the iconic city of Florence, Italy – home of the famous Santa Maria Novella church, which holds dark secrets within its cavernous catacombs.
As the demo begins, we join Ezio – the lead character and veiled assassin for this story – as he undertakes the third mission in this particular quest line, 'Caveat Emptor'. To succeed, Ezio must kill three rich targets without being seen. As you can see, with new conditions now surrounding the way targets must be executed, a new dimension is added to standard assassination missions – but the changes don't stop there. The 'Conditional Success' scenario is nothing new to gaming, but it adds a further degree of risk to the role of playing an assassin.
Ezio's 'Toys'
'Toys' – the term Ubi Montreal has coined for the gadgets and environmental 'modifiers' that Ezio can use – play a big part in adding variety to the experience. Of these, only a few have been revealed so far, but their implications and usefulness are already clear.
![[IMG]](http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/101/1019101/assassins-creed-ii-fun-and-games--20090826093852076.jpg)
One of da Vinci's 'Toys' that Ezio gets to take advantage of.
Coins
Who would've thought that underlining human greed and using it as a gameplay mechanic would make for such handy tool? Underpinning this 'toy' is Ezio's ability to toss a handful of coins into a bustling crowd and then watch the chaos as villagers scatter and bounce around to collect them. It's brilliant – makes for the perfect kind of disruptive, non-violent defence.
Poison
From early in the game, Ezio can obtain poison for his wrist blades. With a little bit of timing, this poison not only eventually kills its target, but actually drives them insane for a good minute or so. During this time, the poisoned target babbles with madness, thrashing about and lashing out at people aggressively. If you poison an armed guard, the result can be a bloody rampage.
![[IMG]](http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/101/1019101/assassins-creed-ii-fun-and-games--20090826093851373.jpg)
Ezio lays down the law with his two buddies, knifey and pokey.
Smoke Bombs
As you may have seen in previous videos and previews, Ezio's smoke bombs unleash a thick cloud of soot into the area around him, lingering in the air for just long enough for a swift-footed escape. Used while being pursued, it stops guards in their tracks. Used just after an assassination, it becomes even more valuable.
Fun and Games
Combining all of these elements is where the beauty of Assassin's Creed II's vision becomes apparent. See, there's a lovely overlap of these Toys and their effects within the world, and this overlap highlights the beauty of logical AI and sandboxy gameplay – flexibility.
Ezio now has a third-person version of his 'eagle vision', essentially allowing him to quickly pinpoint colour-coded targets and assailants in the environment with ease. This small adjustment has bigger implications to the way you can approach a mission. By easily differentiating guards and bystanders from your target, you pave the way for using Toys to mix things up and create some incredible distractions.
![[IMG]](http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/101/1019101/assassins-creed-ii-fun-and-games--20090826093852592.jpg)
Finding your target while on the prowl is made much easier with the improved Eagle Vision.
Taking an example that uses all of the items above, Ezio can silently walk up behind a guard, poison him and walk away. Then from a distance, while the crowd gathers to watch the uncontrollable rantings and flailing of a madman, he can toss a handful of coins at the poisoned target. This causes the people to come rushing in and start scooping up the coins. From there, the poisoned guard will start attacking the peasants mercilessly with whatever weapon he has it his disposal. It's a total massacre – and a perfect distraction. From here, Ezio can either use the time he's bought to sneak past or simply smoke bomb his way out of sight and away from the threat of guards in the area – guards who clearly already have their hands full.
As you can see, the toys complement each other, overlapping their uses to create a streamlined and logical way to plan your ultimate assassination and escape.
Ezio and the Prince
Taking more than a few cues from Ubisoft's other major action-platformer franchise, Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed II reveals another major twist to its formula – the inclusion of secret side-missions that take place underneath many major landmarks throughout the game world. These landmarks, such as the Santa Maria Novella church in Florence, allow Ezio to gain entrance to the vast subterranean catacombs by way of a secret assassin's entrance, marked with the familiar 'A' symbol.
![[IMG]](http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/101/1019101/assassins-creed-ii-fun-and-games--20090826093850670.jpg)
Prince of Persia-style free-running obdstacle courses are just one way the gameplay has evolved and expanded in Assassin's Creed II.
After a nifty animation in which the 'A' symbol parts and slides into the wall, a passageway is revealed and the fun begins. The objective is fairly simple – much like Prince of Persia, simply navigate through the catacombs towards your objective – be it to eavesdrop on a meeting of the Knights Templar or pursue a target. At the end, you're rewarded with access to an Assassin's treasure chamber, holding collectable crests that eventually unlock the most valuable and important item in the game. What is it? We have no bloomin' idea.
Regardless, the inclusion of these side areas – completely voluntary missions that change up the gameplay – really do cater well to Ubisoft's promise of more and varied gameplay in Assassin's Creed II. There are still a lot of questions hanging over our heads – specifically, what other Toys can we look forward to, and will the world feel more persistent and alive this time around? Thankfully, with the game due to drop in just a couple short months, we won't have long to wait.
|
