With the holiday release season thinning, Assassin's Creed 2 is quickly becoming my most anticipated release of 2009. The first game was a real accomplishment in terms of presentation but failed to deliver because of several key game design flaws. The sequel looks just as impressive as the original but lets face it, there is long list of ways that this game could go wrong. Ubisoft has said that they have corrected many of the original games problems but that opens the door for a number of new problems as well.

For the second part of this series, I dissect one of this years few remaining juggernauts to see exactly what Ubisoft could do to fall victim to hype.

Nick says:

1.) Mission Variety – You can’t discuss the original Assassin’s Creed without mentioning its undeniable lack of mission variety. It was so bad in the first game that repeating this mistake in the sequel would probably be a death sentence for the franchise. The game stuck very close to a “rinse and repeat” style of game play, making it increasingly difficult to remain dedicated completing the game. Luckily, Ubisoft has already assured fans that missions will be unique and allow players to approach the missions in different ways. Instead of switching between three medial tasks (eavesdropping, pick-pocketing, and interrogating), players will now switch between 15 different tasks. Once again, this all sounds good on paper but the game could still fall apart if it relies too heavily on a set formula and simply gives you more options. For this game to truly be superior to its predecessor, missions must change significantly depending on the situation and progression of the story. Missions shouldn’t be triggered by returning to your home and speaking to someone. Significant story events should be woven into the missions and determine the approach you take to missions that follow.

2.) Presentation-  The original game looked absolutely breathtaking with its accurate recreations of the time period and culture. Unfortunately that same polish wasn’t applied to the story presentation. Dialogue and major story events unfolded in boring, lifeless interactions seen from a fixed camera position. Ubisoft should take a page out of Bioware’s book and apply some of the presentation prowess of a game like Mass Effect to help bring the story to life. Assassin’s Creed has a very unique story concept that should be supported by an equally impressive presentation. Hopefully the team has focused on keeping the player invested in the story with better use of camera and cutscene implementation. You know that awesome cinematic trailer that debuted at E3? There is no reason why cool cinematics like that shouldn’t be in the actual game. Alas, i’m sure we will have to be satisfied with whatever “in-game engine” tactic that they use.

3.)  Human Interaction- One of the new technologies that made the original Assassin’s Creed so impressive was the characters ability to realistically interact with people as he moved through a crowd.  As he walked, he would bump shoulders and push people out of the way.  Unfortunately, the player’s interaction with the world around him ended there.  In order to make the world feel more alive, players should be given the ability to be a part of it.  Players should be able to start a dialogue with NPC’s to learn more about the world and perhaps your assassination target.  Like an RPG, every person should have something to say the player.  This should obviously lead to side quests that involve using your Assassin abilities in new ways.  The new trailer even hinted that you might be able to bribe various NPC’s to provide a distraction, unlock a door, or perhaps even provide an escape route.  All of these things need to be in the game to really make the player feel like a part of the world.

4.) Side Quests-  One of the biggest questions that many people asked themselves while playing the first Assassin’s Creed was:  “Why the hell would I want to collect all of these damn flags if it doesn’t give me anything?!”  I don’t mind collecting flags or emblems if it gives me some kind of bonus.  Collecting flags this time around should provide the player with either extra content like art, videos, developer diaries, or costumes or it should somehow tie into upgrading your characters stats or combat abilities.  To make a long story short, there had better be incentive to do these missions (already confirmed by Ubisoft).   In addition to providing an incentive, there should be an abundance of new mission types like taking bounty missions or helping factions take out smaller targets that don’t necessarily tie into the main story.  These of course, should reward players with money or upgrades.  

5.)  Character Development-  Altair was a cool character to play as but the guy had the personality of a doorknob.  This new character, Ezio, is apparently motivated by revenge, suggesting that he might actually be human.  Hopefully he will talk and give some insight into what drives him.  Make him a living, breathing part of the story and not just a silent bag of potatoes with a cool weapon.  

6.)  Character Customization- Above all, Assassin’s Creed is a video game, so the developer should treat it as such.  Provide the player some choices in how he/she developers the character.  By the end of the game, my Ezio should be different from yours.  The inclusion of Leonardo DaVinci as a major character leaves plenty of room for a variety of gadgets and weapons that could allow players to tailor their gaming experience the way they want to.  If every player’s character advances the same way, every time, where is the replay-ability?  If these RPG elements aren’t present in this sequel, my faith in the IP will be shaken.

7.)  Improved Combat-  There isn’t a whole lot to say here because I was actually rather satisfied with the combat in the original game.  The game used a unique control scheme that mapped Altair’s limbs to each of the face buttons and relied on well-timed button presses to trigger quick kills.  My complaints however were with the way that enemies would only engage the player one at a time.  I’m not saying that the player should be overwhelmed with multiple enemies at once but there is a balance to be struck by forcing the player to think about evading one enemy while attacking another.  New attacks such as the double stealth kill and the ability to kill while hanging from ledges or hiding in hay open up combat even more.  If they combine these things with customizable weapons and new stealth kills, the game could so much more engaging.  

It seems that Ubisoft is one of the few developers who hasn’t cowered in fear from the release of Modern Warfare II this holiday.  Hopefully this means that the team has tremendous faith in their product.  Hopefully, it is clear that there is a tremendous amount of room for improvement over the original game.  If the team doesn’t make many of these improvements, I can see myself not being nearly as excited for the next game in the series.  Introducing new IP often yields imperfect products but sequels are where these games have a chance to really shine.   Hopefully, the dev team has taken many of these constructive criticisms to heart but I won’t believe it until I see it. 

Thanks,

Nick

Comments

  • Avatar
    pittbuller
    14 years, 7 months ago

    brad is not gonna like this lol

  • Avatar
    Lukeamania
    14 years, 7 months ago

    Pittbuller: Brad was the one who suggested each member of 4PP to do a "Managing Hype" article on their most anticipated games.

    Great article Nick, I was actually working on a personal list of games to get for the fall and remembered about Assassin's Creed 2. I didn't have the best time playing through AC1, so I hope that Ubisoft has listened to the complaints we've made about it and try to improve AC2.

    And who knows, maybe this could be so good that even Brad could play this for more than a few minutes without hating himself.

  • Avatar
    rickstick
    14 years, 7 months ago

    Great article Nick. You pretty much explained my feelings. I was one of the few who really liked the first and most of its flaws seemed rather easy to fix. So hopefully this game won't disappoint.

  • Avatar
    TheBlueFabbit
    14 years, 7 months ago

    Nick, I think your "Hype Management" is just you saying that this game is going to suck, there is no way this game is going to pull off half the stuff you are suggesting would make it good, you are setting your hopes too high, While I have no doubt that AC2 will be better than AC1, I am not expecting it to be leaps and bounds better than it.

  • Avatar
    Nick
    14 years, 7 months ago

    This is meant to be a reality check blue. It seems you have managed your hype well enough. If you think about it though, nothing I have suggested is unreasonable. It is all possible if the team takes the time to implement it.

  • Avatar
    DuckNow31
    14 years, 7 months ago

    actually, i think they are going to do most (if not all) of what nick was asking for

  • Avatar
    mrservo
    14 years, 7 months ago

    What I'm worried about is the historical aspect of the game. I studied the Assasins in college and most of the story in AC1 was based on real events.

    What's the storyline for 1500's Venice?

  • Avatar
    TheDanimal
    14 years, 7 months ago

    Could never get into Assassins Creed, probably going to pass on this one too, who knows though. If they are actually doing most of that stuff, I can see picking it up, or at the very least renting it.

  • Avatar
    NekTM
    14 years, 7 months ago

    Couldn't have said it better myself Nick.

    Character customization could be tricky. If it's customization as in abilities or attacks then I would think you should be able to go down any path you like, and each ability would string together so that there would be no wrong choices. After completing the game it would drive you to replay the game and try a different route for variation. Those are my thoughts anyways.

    The flag collecting was just an annoyance. I tried to bring myself to collect all the flags so I could 100% it before I started AC2. New costumes would be amazing. Going back to before achievements, trophy's, and DLC ruined things.

    I enjoyed the combat, but like the missions it got repetitive and boring. Every battle it would end up with me waiting for them to attack me and I'll counter it for an easy kill. That was 70% of my battles.

    Needs more replay value, definitely.

  • Avatar
    Mr. Calico Cat
    14 years, 7 months ago

    I never really understand what makes a game good or how it can be improved. You and Brad made really good points to check on under all the hype. I will be watching the feed when you guys play these games.

  • Avatar
    Helomer
    14 years, 7 months ago

    if this gets delayed im going to cry lol

  • Avatar
    G_money
    14 years, 7 months ago

    The one thing I hope they fix is the ragdoll efects. Once a person died in the game its like all there bones disapeared

  • Avatar
    giocatore del gioco
    14 years, 7 months ago

    Very well said, Nick.

    I think you've got quite a few good points in this. There are a lot of ways this game could let people down, and I think its good that you tried to name the majority. It's never good for a person to get so exceited about a game that they ignore all the faults it has or could have. It's great that you guys are doing this.
    I can only hope that the improvments they say they have made are worth it. But one must ask themselves: will it be enough?

  • Avatar
    silaswhistlebottom
    14 years, 7 months ago

    Good article Nick.

    I've come late into the XBox 360 thing, having bought one just a a few months ago, and AC was the first game I bought. I loved the landscape, character movements and concept, but beyond that I was a little disappointed (though perhaps a bit much, I think Brad's unbridled disgust for AC is rational). Like Mr. Calico Cat said, most of my combat ended up being waiting games for counter attacks, so I hope that- along with mission variety and character growth- will be much improved.

    That said, I look forward to buying it on release day.

  • Avatar
    freeman32
    14 years, 7 months ago

    Wow if the guys who r making these games see this, there gonna delay there games to 2010 or 2011, that will suck

  • Avatar
    Damien
    14 years, 7 months ago

    "If every player’s character advances the same way, every time, where is the replay-ability? If these RPG elements aren’t present in this sequel, my faith in the IP will be shaken."

    Dear God Nick, the game's replayability is in the side missions and exploration, not the story. The franchise still have a third game to continue with, and you want to go altering everything now. It's not a damn RPG.

  • Avatar
    Assassin’s Creed Dev Diary 2 = Learning from
    14 years, 7 months ago

    [...] If you are curious, here is a link to my initial article: Managing Hype: Assassin’s Creed 2 [...]

  • Avatar
    I’m Starting to Feel Better About Assassin&#
    13 years, 10 months ago

    [...] had many concerns about Assassin’s Creed II that I expressed in my Managing Hype article from earlier in the year. My fears were made worse after the underwhelming demonstration at [...]