Set in the 15th century Florence, Itay. This game follows the exploits of one Ezio Autitore. This is the sequel to the hit Assassin's Creed.
The technicals: Graphics are excellent, with some minor glitches (esp. when synchronizing on rooftop map points.) But overall the presentation is gorgeous.
Music is a right mix of soundtracks depending on action sequences or sneaking around. Voice acting is stellar for a video game. I did have some issues with balancing the music and voice volume though (which can be adjusted in the options menu).
The good:
Everything that was wrong about the first game, repetive missions, pointless overworld, pointless secondary goals like *shudder* flag collecting have been done away. There are still plenty of secondary objectives. Ezio has plenty of cool new gadgets (as well as the trusty hidden blade). The story follows Ezio, the ancestor of the series future protagonist Desmon Miles. Using the Animus, a machine that allows the user to relive the memories of one's ancestor's (convienently stored inside the user's DNA).
This game is fun. From jumping on rooftops to figuring out ways to assassinate your targets, it has never been cooler to be an assassin.
The bad: Glitchy at times (XBox 360). One odd glitch in particular when trying to assassinate a rooftop guard, only to have him replicate into about 20 guards. Needless to say, I had to leave in a hurry.
The restrictions: Sexual innuendo abound, as well as R-rated language (mostly in Italian, but subtitles. Realistice violence and blood.
From a faith perspective:
From Leonardo da Vinci's Animus profile, "Rumors abound about his homosexuality." Right then I realized I was playing a Dan Brown novel. The game itself seems to go out of its way to attack the Catholic Church. I was particularly annoyed about some of the profile entries regarding the treatment of religion. Unless you read the profiles however you may not see this aspect of the game until ***SPOILER ALERT*** you have to assassinate the Pope (not kidding), who is revealed to be the Templar leader this time around. Now granted this is Alexander VI (and who didn't want to take a swing at him). But I found it very disconcerting to say the least, since by this point the reason why the papal staff is the key to unlocking the secret of Eden under the Vatican (not kidding, seriously) doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Overall the tone of the game is anti-religion. In particular anti-Catholic.
In the future, I intend to post why the Assassin's Creed story ultimately makes no sense whatsoever. But for now suffice to say that this sequel improves on the gameplay but basically nukes the story.
But I was a little disturbed athow much fun it was to kill two guards at once with Double Hidden Blades. That didn't get old...
Overall:
Graphics: 9.5
Sound: 9.0
Control: 9.0
Fun value: 9.5
Faith value: 1.0
Rated: Adults only (if that)
4 comments:
I'm confused. You say the game storyline doesn't make sense but at the same time support the hypocrisy and evil perpetrated by the Catholic church for thousands of years? Geez, this game makes more sense than the Bible.
"You say the game storyline doesn't make sense but at the same time support the hypocrisy and evil perpetrated by the Catholic church for thousands of years?"
The story itself is not coherent. That it goes out of its way to attack the Church is simply another aspect of its incoherence.
Fair criticism of the Church (given that it has been around for two thousand years) is worthy of discussion. you would have to prove that the Church has perpetrated "hypocrisy and evil". Gl with that.
The Crusades and the Inquisition? That was hard... ;-)
So the West is not allowed to send military help to defend against the Invading Muslims that were slaughtering the Christains in the East? That would be what the Crusades are about.
As for the Inqusitons (plural) they were established by various states. The Church ruled on the if a person was a heretic or not. But she had no power to execute. That was up to the state.
Although I'm doubtful that such a nuance would matter to someone who doesn't seem to have any inkling about what the Crusades were.
Post a Comment