Assassin’s Creed II

Assassin’s Creed II – Don’t strike, until you see the whites of their eyes!

After the phenomenal success of the plot heavy, thinking man’s third person hack’n’slasher Assassin’s Creed, came the eagerly anticipated second instalment of the game that redefined console games for an era.

This is all well and good for the bigger consoles but how does the humble mobile phone version compare? Well, actually, it’s pretty darn impressive! Alright, you don’t get the same panoramic views that you may be familiar with and the animation is not as slick, but all the main components of the game are beautifully rendered in this game. You get to jump, leap, fly and, of course, do away with your opponents in various ways.

As a fan of the console version, I found the only element missed was the gore and blood spillage when you assassinated the opponents. Although this to some may be one of the main points of the game, it can be forgiven as this version tries so hard to cram in all the elements of the console version into the palm of your hand.

If you think you’re only going to be diving around the various platform levels ruthlessly dispatching various unsuspecting opponents and making good your escape, you’d be in for a treat. There are levels where you get to fly around using Da Vinci’s Ornithopter (the flying bat plane looking device) which turns the game into a top-down shooter style game which makes the game enjoyable and much more addictive.

The game does lose some finesse, such as stealth mode and sprinting mode is not an option, instead you just have to use your fingers as fast as possible to turn every surface into a platform. Ascend tall buildings using hopping technique from one wall to the other, swing from posts and even use your opponents to trigger switches as you carve a path of destruction through all the streets and buildings of Venice.

The controls are pretty decent to use. You can switch between a gun and sword using the * key, the key and d-pad all work intuitively and by pressing the OK or 5 button, you’ll slash your way through everything and grapple, swing and do just about everything you thought free runners would struggle doing in the modern day!

Overall you will not be disappointed by the game. Whether you’re looking for some quick levels to explore and battle your way through, use your wits and work your way round some of the courses or just marvel at the way your hero kicks the hell out of everything. If you liked the original or never played the game before, this is certainly going to hit the right spot.

Rating 78%

Positives

A diverse game with lots of levels to immerse yourself in

The graphics are quite impressive

Controls are pretty good to use

Negatives

No blood and gore anywhere to be seen

All too easy to die when falling off surfaces and it’s not always easy to see where to go

Not so plot laden as it could be