[Beretta55]

Originally Posted by merylsilverburg

Hey Beretta, thanks for the info. It's interesting how the second game seems to be focused on the idea of storytelling (main character, causes and effects, etc.) which is usually supposed to be the case in first installments. Would you say this one is better or worse than the first or about the same?

I think the story overall in AC2 was better and Ezio overall is a better character. Altair starts out really unlikable (to me anyway) then slowly changes his ways so he does develop as a character but other then the events of the first game and some references to him in the second one you don't really know what is up with the guys history or anything about him really. So he's sorta just a blank slate, which is fine I guess but compared to how they set up Ezio at the start and what happens with his life (the game chronicles at least twenty years of Ezio's life, not bit for bit but some of the DNA sequences move quite a bit by years and you see how Ezio has changed.) it's just a lot more fulfilling overall.

The game really does feel like a sequel should be, they make things better and fix the issues that plagued it's older brother, it is a more solid and enjoyable product then the first one. Ezio is also an enjoyable character too; he starts out interesting and matures from a young man with a devil-may care attitude to a mature adult who is a scary individual to come in contact with if you cross him. But his assassin abilities don't feel overplayed either, he doesn't act like he owns the place because of his skills and doesn't act like a generic badass you see in videogames. He grows into a relatively wise man who can also wipe the floor with you. You like the character because of how he acts and conveys himself not because "OH MAN HE CAN KILL TWO DUDES AT ONCE WITH HIS BLADES!!!!" you like him for who he is, not what he can do. But what he can do is also pretty damned awesome.

Although I did like the setting in the first one more, but I just personally felt the Middle East was a more interesting playground to the kind of themes they were presenting but that's just personal preference. Venice though is absolutely beautiful and gigantic.