Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed 2.
I remember playing Assassin's Creed 1 on the xbx, it was one of the first games I had for it. Not only was it a gorgeous and huge game, it played well, it had great characters and great level designs, and basically made you feel like a badass. There were some flaws (I didn't care too much about them) but no one liked the repetitive nature of the missions, or the extremely linear design. They told us the next game would improve on what AC1 had.
Oh....oh it did.
I'll assume you're familiar with AC1, since this is the sequel and well yeah, saves me time too.
So with this one you're in Italy during the renaissance, a pretty cool time.
The first thing you'll notice is the level design. These levels are huge, HUGE. Big. There are alleys and small burroughs you'll probably never even walk through, but they exist. You can run, climb, and swim (yeah you can swim) across, over and through every single inch of the level. The free-running elements are still there, and since it was good in the first place, they didn't change much. They added a nice feature where you can jump up to a higher ledge, something extremely useful.
You're Ezio, an Italian son of an assassin (oh sorry, I ruined that). Your family is killed, and you start your revenge killing/ path to assassinhood.
Oh yeah, the Desmond story is still there, but there isn't much too it, so if you hate Desmond you won't see him much, if you like that kinda stuff, you can search for extra videos concerning it.
Lets see, music and sound effects- good, not very noticeable, but you'll enjoy the sort of rock/chamber esque tunes when they occur.
Controls- Solid. The fighting system is still some sorta sticky, you can't re-select enemies, which is mildly annoying. The free-running is brilliant, jumping running climbing and swinging are all very stable. You have some newer moves where you can assassinate from a cliff or ledge, or from a haystack. The haystack is a fairly unused feature, but fun when it happens.
Visuals- Stunning. You won't notice the details until you stop and look around, but when you do, you'll be very glad you did.
Hey, if you're still reading by now, that means you're a gaming fan, and maybe you have an Xbox. If you have the ability, please please please install this game onto your hard drive. It'll run faster, and you won't hear the annoying load sounds that normally you'll hear quite often. It takes quite a bit to run such a nice game.
Overall environment- Ok, the world here is basically your standard non-linear environment (which I'll explain the non-linear comment in a bit), there are prostitutes, art merchants, doctors, tailors, blacksmiths, and all sorts of other people. Thieves will rob you, which you can of course get your money back, by any means necessary. Doctors can sell you medicine which acts like an old school health pack.
Non-linear missions- Ok, there is a single storyline you'll have to follow to get to the end. However, the last AC1's problems occurred with the path to an assassination. You beat up a guy, overhear a conversation, trail someone, and then assassinate. Not so with 2. With 2 you basically go from assassination to assassination, or you can take on side missions to buy up armor, or weapons to build up your health and attacks and defense.
There are TONS of side missions you can take, assassination contracts, races, beat-up events, and courier situations. You'll max out your health and weapons before you finish the game, but that's ok since it helps. (a certain assassin from the previous AC's armor returns to this game).
There are so many parts of the game that you'll enjoy that it doesn't even matter if I explain them to you. From using Leonardo Da Vinci's flying machine to fly across Italy to killing the Pope in Rome, you'll do some amazing things, and you'll enjoy every single minute of it.
Time- even before I beat the game I was telling people you'll get 20 to 30 hours out of it, when I finally beat the storyline I was at 28hours, so there ya go. The game is tough in parts, a few sneaking missions and a few boss battles, but you'll keep coming back for more kills.
Overall- I'd say rent, but you won't be able to get through the game in a week. Buy it, and you won't regret it. My next goal is 100% on everything, including achievements.... it'll hopefully take me another enjoyable 10 hours.
Great game!
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