This review contains spoilers
Assassin's Creed 2 is, surprisingly, not game I started the franchise on, that would actually be Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. Bought that when I was with my mum in a game shop having a mild panic over what game to buy with my £20 pocket money and just randomly picked up that like a year after it came out. I instead went back to AC2 when I did a big replay of the series prior to Revelations
Assassin's Creed 2 remaster is... fine. But simple remasters of old games kinda will never get over 3 stars for me, as it's the same clunky and vanilla experience Assassin's Creed 2 still is due to it being FOURTEEN YEARS OLD NOW. Unless you want an HD experience, you may as well play the original if you still have it on disc for the Xbox 360. This version of AC2 isn't like the wonderful Mafia 1 remake, so don't buy it expecting that.
I really don't know why they didn't spend more time smoothing the parkour mechanics, adding Brotherhood's (rather nice for the time) combat and overall polishing the game. I accept that such improvements would probably require remaking the game in some parts, Ubisoft can handle it, surely.
AC2 is a wonderful story that deserves it's own paragraph tho. From Ezio's mother dropping one of the greatest insults ever:
"self expression is vital to understanding and enjoying life. You should find an outlet.
I have plenty of outlets.
I meant besides vagina"
To Ezio becoming the badass Italian thoroughbred he is in Brotherhood and Revelations. A story of a young man having to grow, rebuild and lead an order he didn't know existed and take down the catholic church. Absolutely wonderful. Also that CGI trailer is absolutely BADASS. There's a reason why besides Edward Kenway, Ezio is the most beloved protagonist in the franchise.
But yeah, this was a horrible experience when I went back to this game after like 10 years once I got the Ezio collection. Because it's simply the same game but in HD and some UI changes.
Assassin's Creed 2 remaster is... fine. But simple remasters of old games kinda will never get over 3 stars for me, as it's the same clunky and vanilla experience Assassin's Creed 2 still is due to it being FOURTEEN YEARS OLD NOW. Unless you want an HD experience, you may as well play the original if you still have it on disc for the Xbox 360. This version of AC2 isn't like the wonderful Mafia 1 remake, so don't buy it expecting that.
I really don't know why they didn't spend more time smoothing the parkour mechanics, adding Brotherhood's (rather nice for the time) combat and overall polishing the game. I accept that such improvements would probably require remaking the game in some parts, Ubisoft can handle it, surely.
AC2 is a wonderful story that deserves it's own paragraph tho. From Ezio's mother dropping one of the greatest insults ever:
"self expression is vital to understanding and enjoying life. You should find an outlet.
I have plenty of outlets.
I meant besides vagina"
To Ezio becoming the badass Italian thoroughbred he is in Brotherhood and Revelations. A story of a young man having to grow, rebuild and lead an order he didn't know existed and take down the catholic church. Absolutely wonderful. Also that CGI trailer is absolutely BADASS. There's a reason why besides Edward Kenway, Ezio is the most beloved protagonist in the franchise.
But yeah, this was a horrible experience when I went back to this game after like 10 years once I got the Ezio collection. Because it's simply the same game but in HD and some UI changes.