Giving Assassin's Creed Another Chance

I hated the first Assassin's Creed. The sci-fi concept was so interesting, that it made it such a shame that the meat of the game was bad. I wanted to like it, I wanted to fall head over heels for such a unique blending of futuristic technology and detailed world history. But the game itself sucked, and I quit about halfway through, never to try again. I agreed to play #2 after much persuasion, but honestly, I think I played maybe ten minutes before turning it off, letting my hatred of the original spoil my objectivity for the sequel. That, was a big mistake.

Microsoft let us download Assassin's Creed 2 for free last month, so I took the opportunity to give the game another chance. My opinion has completely changed. I love how this game is built, I love that they provide me with the history of each historical Italian landmark instead of insulting my intelligence with omission. I like that Ezio's sudden change of lifestyle from banker's spoiled son to legacy assassin is so believable. I love that I feel powerful enough to fight four guards at once, but not forty, or that I can scale any tower of any height, but I have to be careful about falling. What makes this game so good is balance, you're highly skilled, very lethal, but mortal, and you certainly feel it.

I liked the sci-fi ideas that the first game presented, and they really drive it home in two. Now there is another person leaving me clues inside the animus, in the form of hidden glyphs. They took a game that was already a mix of Grand Theft Auto, Prince of Persia, Tomb Raider and Splinter Cell, and added a Da Vinci Code element. With the apple of eden and crazy monolithic conspiracy theories, Assassin's Creed 2 is interesting, and not just to 13 year olds who like stabbing prostitutes in the ear, but also fascinating to the history buffs and Dan Brown readers. This game speculates about Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, Henry Ford, and their involvement in a Free Mason like world control plot. It's unique, and worthwhile. 

Im excited to have a new franchise to slowly catch up with. Hopefully, Brotherhood is just as good, because I think I owe it to this story to seek out the next installment at least. My only request, is that they get rid of this chick. She's annoying, poorly voiced, and talks about hacking like they did in the 90's. "I'll just bypass the mainframe and siphon the data externally." You do that.