Assassin's Creed 2

Assassin's Creed 2

Though the game is presented through the protagonist Desmond Miles, the bulk of the game is played as Desmond experiences the memories of either Altair or Ezio through the Animus. This provides a means of a diegetic interface for the player, showing Altair or Ezio's health, equipment, goals, and other features as part of the Animus interface. The Animus is based on the player, as Desmond, controlling the assassin to maintain the synchronization between Desmond and his ancestor's memories. Performing actions that go against the Assassin's way or dying breaks the synchronization, effectively requiring the player to restart at a previous checkpoint. Furthermore, the player cannot explore outside of areas that the assassin has not experienced yet. There are also abnormalities within the Animus from previous users of the device that the player can find, linking to the larger story.

While playing as the Assassin characters, the games are generally presented as third-person in an open world, focusing on stealth and parkour. The games use a mission structure to follow the main story, generally assigning the player to complete an assassination of public figureheads or a covert mission. Alternatively, several side missions are available, such as mapping out the expansive cities from a high perch followed by performing a "leap of faith" into a haystack below, collecting treasures hidden across the cities, exploring ruins for relics, building a brotherhood of assassins to perform other tasks, or funding the rebuilding of a city through purchasing and upgrading of shops and other features. At times, the player is in direct control of Desmond, who by nature of the Animus use has learned Assassin techniques through a bleeding effect. Through the Animus interface, the player can go back to retry any past mission already completed; for example, in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, the player achieves better synchronization results by performing the mission in a specific manner such as by only killing the mission's target.

The games use the concept of "active" versus "passive" moves, with "active" moves, such as running, climbing the sides of buildings, or jumping between rooftops, more likely to alert the attention of nearby guards. When the guards become alerted, the player must either fight them or break their line of sight and locate a hiding place, such as a haystack or a well, and wait until the guards' alert is reduced. The combat system allows for a number of unique weapons, armor, and moves, including the use of a hidden blade set in a band on the Assassin's arm, and which also can be used to quietly assassinate targets.

Gameplay:

Though the game is presented through the protagonist Desmond Miles, the bulk of the game is played as Desmond experiences the memories of either Altair or Ezio through the Animus. This provides a means of a diegetic interface for the player, showing Altair or Ezio's health, equipment, goals, and other features as part of the Animus interface. The Animus is based on the player, as Desmond, controlling the assassin to maintain the synchronization between Desmond and his ancestor's memories. Performing actions that go against the Assassin's way or dying breaks the synchronization, effectively requiring the player to restart at a previous checkpoint. Furthermore, the player cannot explore outside of areas that the assassin has not experienced yet. There are also abnormalities within the Animus from previous users of the device that the player can find, linking to the larger story.

While playing as the Assassin characters, the games are generally presented as third-person in an open world, focusing on stealth and parkour. The games use a mission structure to follow the main story, generally assigning the player to complete an assassination of public figureheads or a covert mission. Alternatively, several side missions are available, such as mapping out the expansive cities from a high perch followed by performing a "leap of faith" into a haystack below, collecting treasures hidden across the cities, exploring ruins for relics, building a brotherhood of assassins to perform other tasks, or funding the rebuilding of a city through purchasing and upgrading of shops and other features. At times, the player is in direct control of Desmond, who by nature of the Animus use has learned Assassin techniques through a bleeding effect. Through the Animus interface, the player can go back to retry any past mission already completed; for example, in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, the player achieves better synchronization results by performing the mission in a specific manner such as by only killing the mission's target.

The games use the concept of "active" versus "passive" moves, with "active" moves, such as running, climbing the sides of buildings, or jumping between rooftops, more likely to alert the attention of nearby guards. When the guards become alerted, the player must either fight them or break their line of sight and locate a hiding place, such as a haystack or a well, and wait until the guards' alert is reduced. The combat system allows for a number of unique weapons, armor, and moves, including the use of a hidden blade set in a band on the Assassin's arm, and which also can be used to quietly assassinate targets.

System Requirements:

Assassin’s Creed 2 Minimum Configuration:

Windows XP / Vista / Windows 7
Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHZ / AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4GHZ
1.5 GB RAM Windows XP / 2 GB RAM Windows Vista and Windows 7
256 MB DirectX 9.0 compliant video card with Shader Model 3.0 or higher
DirectX 9.0 compliant sound card
DirectX 9.0
Dual-layer  DVD-ROM drive
8 GB HDD

Assassin’s Creed 2 Recommended System:

Windows XP / Vista / Windows 7
Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 2.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ or better
GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 4700 video card (or better)
5.1 sound card
Xbox 360 Controller for Windows recommended
Dual-layer  DVD-ROM drive
8 GB HDD