Assassin's Creed 2 PS3 or Xbox 360 Version

johnny_ultimate

Played for a few hours there and definitely seems like an improvement over the first. While they get you straight into the Desmond story, the pace then begins to take its time, and while I'm not too far in yet (just did the three letter deliveries for his father), they are admirably taking their time building Ezio as a character, and seem more focused on an overall story. Gameplay at a basic level is still the same glorious engine and movement (there is something endlessly compelling about high points) although far more to do already - my maps is ridiculously cluttered with stuff to do! The combat system seems like the weakest link so far - feels far stiffer than the likes of say Arkham Asylum. Apart from that though, little to complain about, and I'm looking forward to playing more of it.

Star Lord

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

The combat system seems like the weakest link so far - feels far stiffer than the likes of say Arkham Asylum.

To be honest, I can't think of any combat system that measures up to Arkham Asylum, so I don't think this is a major criticism!

Mr. K

I picked my Black Edition from Gamestop this morning, only played for about two hours so far. I'm liking it a lot so far, it feels very like the first one. The start of the game is pretty cool all round! I'd suggest that people watch the Lineage prequel movie beforehand, it really sets the scene.

Regarding the Black Edition's content; the Ezio figure really nice, but a good bit smaller than the Altair one from the first game's CE. It also comes with a nice art book and an extras disc.

As it happens, one of the lads on here bought the White Edition and (knowing I'm fond of such things) gave me the Ezio figure! The sculpt and detailing are pretty much identical on the Black and White Edition figures, only the colour of Ezio's cloak is different. Kudos to the generous nature of my fellow Boardsie, I'll let him decide if he wants to make himself known!

johnny_ultimate

DamoElDiablo wrote: »

To be honest, I can't think of any combat system that measures up to Arkham Asylum, so I don't think this is a major criticism!

True that, but overall the fisticuffs so far (have yet to get my hands on any sort of weapon) have been particularly bland. Except in the moments when you throw a guard off a roof, which is amusing It doesn't detract from the overall experience or anything, but would be the first obvious criticism I have (it has plenty of time to improve!)

inFamouxe

markmcg wrote: »

Would it load better. also i find the Xbox live better than psn. i recently just got the call of duty 250gb xbox 360 so need to build up a library of 360 games.

But AC 2 Don't have online at all... :rolleyes:

Burning Eclipse

inFamouxe wrote: »

But AC 2 Don't have online at all... :rolleyes:

Well... Devil's advocate here, but if he was playing the game on Xbox360, he would be able to chat to friends who might be playing other games, something he would be unable to do on the PS3... Just saying.

gizmo

DamoElDiablo wrote: »

You lucky b*****d... when was yours dispatched? Mine was only dispatched yesterday morning.

It was dispatched at 5am on the 19th but, despite what my location says, I'm currently living in Scotland so Play orders tend to arrive the day after they're shipped.

dazza_480

as far as i can tell their is know difference

Grim.

i made the mistake of ordering it from play.com last Tuesday with luck ill have it before my birthday in february

Star Lord

Has yours been dispatched yet Grim.?
Mine was dispatched at 11:19 on the 19th, and still waiting. Hoping I get it today!

Holsten

Posted on the 22nd.

Still nothing.... ugh!

I'd say it will be here next Monday.

Grim.

DamoElDiablo wrote: »

Has yours been dispatched yet Grim.?
Mine was dispatched at 11:19 on the 19th, and still waiting. Hoping I get it today!

My order was dispatched on the 17th and still no joy today

Star Lord

No joy here today yet either!

gizmo

In case anyone missed it, the Digital Foundry Face-off was put up last week and can be found here.

Results were as expected but glad to see things are improving on the PS3 version.

MiCr0

been playing this on the 360 since monday - if you ignore the awful face models the game is awesome
its been a long time since i've played a game until after 1am every day :-)

quarryman

Picked this up yesterday and put about 2-3 hours into it.

What exactly are the improvements?

I played the first game and eventually got pissed off with the repetitivness of it and moved on.

AC2 seems VERY similar.

johnny_ultimate

quarryman wrote: »

Picked this up yesterday and put about 2-3 hours into it.

What exactly are the improvements?

I played the first game and eventually got pissed off with the repetitivness of it and moved on.

AC2 seems VERY similar.

The core gameplay is similar but the situations and flow are vastly different. It is no longer tied to a rigid structure of "generic side quests (X4) followed by assassination followed by Animus break" and hence the whole thing flows far smoother. Elements such as the underground catacombs provide plenty of variety, and really show off the graceful engine. The open world has been reigned in a bit, and they've removed the dull countryside you had to trek to to get to every city. There is far more variety in quests, gadgets and general mission structure. They have also somewhat dealt with the painfully inept 'interactive' cutscenes in that you don't hold endless conversations while glued to a very limited area (although there are a few bizarre QTEs).

Overall, the game just works better, and the lack of a rigid structure means that the game has dealt with many of the issues that caused problems in the first. The sub quests are now (mostly) entirely optional and varied, and the story is far superior with a strong protagonist. Simply a better experience IMO.

quarryman

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

The core gameplay is similar but the situations and flow are vastly different. It is no longer tied to a rigid structure of "generic side quests (X4) followed by assassination followed by Animus break" and hence the whole thing flows far smoother. Elements such as the underground catacombs provide plenty of variety, and really show off the graceful engine. The open world has been reigned in a bit, and they've removed the dull countryside you had to trek to to get to every city. There is far more variety in quests, gadgets and general mission structure. They have also somewhat dealt with the painfully inept 'interactive' cutscenes in that you don't hold endless conversations while glued to a very limited area (although there are a few bizarre QTEs).

Overall, the game just works better, and the lack of a rigid structure means that the game has dealt with many of the issues that caused problems in the first. The sub quests are now (mostly) entirely optional and varied, and the story is far superior with a strong protagonist. Simply a better experience IMO.

ye know what, you're right.

It does actually flow much better. I keep expecting to get pulled back to an Animus break but it hasn't happened yet.

Also, i hadn't even noticed the lack of countryside travel, was wondering if it would appear later. Losing that is big plus.

sarumite

WolfForager wrote: »

Hmmm, really torn on this now. I recognize the rendering issues on the PS3, it's just that i prefer trophies to achievements :P Hmm...

Where the hell is my magic eight ball...

http://8ball.tridelphia.net/

calex71

Thats exactly what I kept thinking , ok now i'm gonna get pulled back to the real world. The glyph puzzles are a nice break / change.

They seemed to have done a better job of the travel between places in this one too. That was a major downer in the 1st one.

It's also a MUCH bigger game than I was expecting

ribena41

markmcg wrote: »

Hi,
I have both PS3 and Xbox 360 but i'm not sure what to get assassin's creed 2 for.

I have played on both. On my own xbox and on a friends ps3. I thought it was better on ps3 than my xbox

Helix

quarryman wrote: »

Picked this up yesterday and put about 2-3 hours into it.

What exactly are the improvements?

I played the first game and eventually got pissed off with the repetitivness of it and moved on.

AC2 seems VERY similar.

give it time

first few hours are dreadful, but it picks up to be one of the games of the year for me

and i HATED the original

grizzly

For retail, would smyths be the cheapest place to get this currently for the 360?

markmcg

I got it at smyths for 35.2. this was with discount. its being sold for 50.
check this
http://www.toys.ie/Shop_Product_List.aspx?Profile=Euro&query=creed

AARRRGH

Helix wrote: »

first few hours are dreadful, but it picks up to be one of the games of the year for me

I hope so. I've been playing it for an hour and am having to force myself to keep at it.

Currently it is absolute rubbish.

noodler

dazza_480 wrote: »

as far as i can tell their is know difference

Leprachaun

AARRRGH wrote: »

I hope so. I've been playing it for an hour and am having to force myself to keep at it.

Currently it is absolute rubbish.

:O

Personally, I enjoyed it more than any other game this year, from start to finish. Easily goty for me, even beating Uncharted 2 and Batman.

cml387

Anybody having any trouble unlocking the exclusive content? The key I've been given is rejected.
Tried lowercase, uppercase,and I include the "-" but still no luck.
I notice from Ubisoft.com that an Xbox code should start with A2X but mine is AVX (tried that too).
It was a sealed box btw.