Assassin's Creed 2 Catch-All

UCRC wrote:
dumb_kid wrote:

international hulu ?

Sweeet.

Indeeed!

Having started this thread I feel obliged to post some further proof why AC2 is going to be awesome:

Producer Sebastien Puel told us that around 450 people are working on Assassin's Creed II, and that 75 per cent of the original Assassin's Creed team is working on the sequel.

"The team's size for the second title of Assassin's Creed 2 is about three times the size of the team of the first game," said Puel.

"Making [Assassin's Creed] from A to Z took around four years...it's a very good thing we are keeping most of the core members who envisioned the first Assassin's Creed. They know the project very well."

450 people working on sequel, when they've got all their stuff laid out already. Number is probably inflated by people who don't really work on game but are QA etc., but triple the size says something about their intentions.

Also:
IMAGE(http://nowgamer.com/static/images/news/513/6542_390_AC2_S_003.jpg?i=1242663350)
That's some massively polished graphics, man! (And probably heavily photoshopped or not even in-game)

That screenshot was taken just before he sunk to the bottom of the canal under the weight of his sword, daggers, and stabby-wrist-thingamajig.

Great, another game with an hour's worth of credits to sit through.

muttonchop wrote:

That screenshot was taken just before he sunk to the bottom of the canal under the weight of his sword, daggers, and stabby-wrist-thingamajigs.

He has two in this game..... i expect in the third game that he'll have three.

Aside from that, having so many people working on a game makes me a little worried that there'll be some problems integrating projects and managing that many people. Of course, there's probably a large portion of hyperbole in that statement though, as UCRC mentions, what with QA, freelancers or outsourcing for minor portions of the game like models, textures etc.

IMAGE(http://ve3dmedia.ign.com/images/05/17/51735_AssassinsCreed2-Screenshot-01.jpg)

That cloak is going to get on my nerves.

Higgledy wrote:

That cloak is going to get on my nerves.

If you're gonna do superman dives, might as well dress the part! Although yeah, a little conspicuous. "Where'd the assassin go? Oh there he is.. he's the only monk wearing a needlessly decorative red cloak."

Enzio's mission is to assassinate Carlo Grimalde, one of the most powerful men in Venice. In the original AC, you'd need to gather three sets of intel in order to unlock the ability to take out Grimalde. These tasks were somewhat menial and were a common complaint among critics. Ubisoft Montreal obviously agreed with the criticisms, because they threw that entire system out the window. That's right, you won't go to a handler to get a mission, then perform repetitive tasks to gain information that doesn't really assist you, kill the target and then have to return to that same handler. The mission's are a little more structured this time and any intel you need is going to be gathered as you progress towards the assassination.
The climbing controls are unchanged from AC1, but you'll be able to perform longer acrobatic sequences, some upwards of half-a-minute. There's also a ton of new animations being added, though the demo didn't showcase many of these. Regardless, it still looks incredible.
The basics of combat are the same, but there are different enemy types. You have seekers, the regular guard and even some brutes. Each requires a slightly different tactic to take down, which should make combat a little more challenging since you'll be fighting a mixture of different types of enemies throughout Assassin's Creed 2.

The big change to combat, though, is the ability to take weapons from enemies.
See a halberd you want? Snatch it from your foe, then use it again him.

From IGN preview. I've skipped all story details.

So apparently this assassin doesn't know jack about being stealthy, either?

Rat Boy wrote:

So apparently this assassin doesn't know jack about being stealthy, either?

I think he's from the 'kill everyone who sees you' school of stealth.

Rat Boy wrote:

So apparently this assassin doesn't know jack about being stealthy, either?

Well, you judge, it's first gameplay video:

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3...

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Man, I don't want to be fooled and shamed.

d3p0 wrote:

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Man, I don't want to be fooled and shamed.

For me the great stuff in AC 1 outweighed all the flaws. That said, I'm actually starting to get a feeling that AC 2 might be underwhelming in a 'Splinter Cell - Pandora Tomorrow' kind of a way. I'm going to wait and see what the feeling is once people have been playing it for a while.

UCRC wrote:

Well, you judge, it's first gameplay video:

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3...

Oh, man, I am beyond excited for this game now. I think this series has completely reinvigorated the stealth genre for me.

Looks beautiful and the climbing/running on rooftops looks to be fun just like the first one. But still, in this new world, there are guards standing around on rooftops waiting for you to kill them and your combatants seem to politely take turns attacking you. Doesn't seem different enough to overcome my disappointment with AC1.

IMAGE(http://ve3dmedia.ign.com/images/05/21/52112_AssassinsCreed2-08_normal.jpg)
Right now I'm a little disappointed with color palette. It's a big improvement from AC1, but it still looks a bit too bleak. (Or maybe blur in background ruins it?)

That video was quite disappointing when it comes to gameplay. The whole thing about "we want to give more diversity" followed by "the only way into the palace is from the air" really rubbed me the wrong way.

MoonDragon wrote:

That video was quite disappointing when it comes to gameplay. The whole thing about "we want to give more diversity" followed by "the only way into the palace is from the air" really rubbed me the wrong way.

I don't mind there being only one way into a specific building as long as not all story line buildings require the air ship to enter them.

The hood doesn't seem to make sense anymore. When it was a cowl like those worn by the monks that he would hide amongst it was appropriate. Now he should have a big floppy feathered beret.

I don't care what anyone says, this is one of the gaming highlights of '09 for me (along with ME2). I loved the first one and from what I'm seeing of AC2 it'll be another batch of awesome.

It seems that the whole "diversity" thing they talk about isn't necessarily in how you enter the final assassination, but in how, and what, you do up until that point. Am I wrong in thinking this?

kuddles wrote:
UCRC wrote:

Well, you judge, it's first gameplay video:

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3...

Oh, man, I am beyond excited for this game now. I think this series has completely reinvigorated the stealth genre for me.

This.

I didn't find the flaws in AC1 to be such that they made the game not fun, so I'm looking forward to more. I'm glad you can actually swim this time (there's a limit to how far I'll suspend my disbelief), and playing with the inventions sounds cool. I really hope they expand the ranged weapon options, it would be very nice to have a bow option in addition to throwing knives.

Agemmon wrote:

I don't care what anyone says, this is one of the gaming highlights of '09 for me (along with ME2). I loved the first one and from what I'm seeing of AC2 it'll be another batch of awesome.

I totally agree. I really, really, really enjoyed AC (to the point where I bought it even after having played through a copy a friend loaned me) and am looking forward to AC2.

I love that they're trying to make improvements to it. It was far from a perfect game, but it was probably the game I've enjoyed most for my 360.

ahrezmendi wrote:

I really hope they expand the ranged weapon options, it would be very nice to have a bow option in addition to throwing knives.

In the opening cinematic for AC1 Altair had a crossbow, but it never showed up in-game. Lets hope Mr. da Vinci can make one for Ezio.

kaostheory wrote:
Agemmon wrote:

I don't care what anyone says, this is one of the gaming highlights of '09 for me (along with ME2). I loved the first one and from what I'm seeing of AC2 it'll be another batch of awesome.

I totally agree. I really, really, really enjoyed AC (to the point where I bought it even after having played through a copy a friend loaned me) and am looking forward to AC2.

I love that they're trying to make improvements to it. It was far from a perfect game, but it was probably the game I've enjoyed most for my 360.

Definitely not a perfect game. The endlessly annoying handlers spring to mind, but I read somewhere that this was one of the things they were eliminating from AC2. Also, double-kills with two hidden blades makes this a day 1 buy regardless of any other failings.

Agemmon wrote:

It seems that the whole "diversity" thing they talk about isn't necessarily in how you enter the final assassination, but in how, and what, you do up until that point. Am I wrong in thinking this?

See, that's the thing that turns me off. The way that they talk of "diversity" seems to imply your conclusion. But the video seems to imply otherwise. Instead of always climbing a wall to enter an assassination location, you'll have "diversity". Once you'll have to climb a wall. The second time it'll be a flying glider. The third time it'll be a swimming sewer entrance. And so on.

But the thing is, those aren't options. Those are rigid requirements. So you don't have a choice on how you go about the assassination. The story is on the rails and you have to follow along. Doesn't matter how you get to find out about the flier, you have to find out about the flier, so that you can get into the palace, that can only be entered into by flying.

It seems to me that they are diversifying what you'll be driving on the rails, rather than diversifying rails themselves to give you choices and options on how you want to play.

MoonDragon wrote:
Agemmon wrote:

It seems that the whole "diversity" thing they talk about isn't necessarily in how you enter the final assassination, but in how, and what, you do up until that point. Am I wrong in thinking this?

See, that's the thing that turns me off. The way that they talk of "diversity" seems to imply your conclusion. But the video seems to imply otherwise. Instead of always climbing a wall to enter an assassination location, you'll have "diversity". Once you'll have to climb a wall. The second time it'll be a flying glider. The third time it'll be a swimming sewer entrance. And so on.

But the thing is, those aren't options. Those are rigid requirements. So you don't have a choice on how you go about the assassination. The story is on the rails and you have to follow along. Doesn't matter how you get to find out about the flier, you have to find out about the flier, so that you can get into the palace, that can only be entered into by flying.

It seems to me that they are diversifying what you'll be driving on the rails, rather than diversifying rails themselves to give you choices and options on how you want to play.

That's exactly how I interpreted 'diversity': responding to complaints about having to do the same pickpocketing / eavesdropping / etc missions for every assassination by dressing them up a bit more snazzily. It'll still be the same gameplay cycle - go place, set-up kill, enact kill - but they're hoping we don't notice how blatant it is because it's now soaring overhead in a goddamned Renaissance flying machine OMG.

I may come off as a bit cynical, but I actually didn't hate the gameplay cycle for the first AC the way most seemed to. Sure it was repetitive, but sometimes I like a bit of pattern in my play. Makes the game more approachable for 30 minute sit-downs.

Good lord this game looks beautiful.

Higgledy wrote:
d3p0 wrote:

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Man, I don't want to be fooled and shamed.

For me the great stuff in AC 1 outweighed all the flaws. That said, I'm actually starting to get a feeling that AC 2 might be underwhelming in a 'Splinter Cell - Pandora Tomorrow' kind of a way. I'm going to wait and see what the feeling is once people have been playing it for a while.

I just want to slip in here that Pandora Tomorrow is awesome. It's far better than the original Splinter Cell. Hopefully, Assassin's Creed will likewise be amazing.

adam.greenbrier wrote:
Higgledy wrote:
d3p0 wrote:

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Man, I don't want to be fooled and shamed.

For me the great stuff in AC 1 outweighed all the flaws. That said, I'm actually starting to get a feeling that AC 2 might be underwhelming in a 'Splinter Cell - Pandora Tomorrow' kind of a way. I'm going to wait and see what the feeling is once people have been playing it for a while.

I just want to slip in here that Pandora Tomorrow is awesome. It's far better than the original Splinter Cell. Hopefully, Assassin's Creed will likewise be amazing.

It'd be a dull world if we all liked the same things. I felt kinda let down by Pandora Tomorrow but I can see how someone might prefer the tweeks they made. Anyway, yes, here's hoping AC 2 is amazing.