Do you have what it takes to get a review published right here on Kotaku? Kieron does, as he leaps off a rooftop and stabs two men in the neck.
Yes, that’s right, we’re now publishing reader reviews here on Kotaku. This is your chance to deliver sensible game purchasing advice to the rest of the Kotaku community.
And thanks to the very kind chaps at Madman Entertainment, purveyor of all kinds of cool, indie and esoteric film, the best reader review we publish each month will win a prize pack containing ten of the latest Madman DVD or Blu-ray releases.
This review was submitted by Kieron Laine. If you’ve played Assassin’s Creed II, or just want to ask Kieron more about it, leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Assassin’s Creed II (360, PS3)
How do you create the perfect videogame sequel? You listen to the gamers. That’s exactly what Ubisoft Montreal has done with the sequel to the hotly debated Assassin’s Creed. Nearly every issue with the original game has been addressed here, especially the lack of variety and content in the missions and cities that make up the game.
Loved
There is SO much to do!: Seriously, this game is packed with stuff to do. There’s the main story missions, then side missions like races, assassination contracts and beating up people, then there’s treasure and feathers to find, viewpoints to scale, a whole money system with tonnes of armour and weapons to buy, a small village to run, and even Tomb Raider/Prince of Persia style tombs to explore! I played for a good solid week and finished the game, but still have so many more things to find!
Ezio > Altair: Altair was OK in a stoic, I’m-a-badass-because-I-have-no-emotion kind of way, but Ezio is way cooler. A suave, quick-tongued Italian playboy, Ezio provides some great dialogue, and it’s easy to empathise with his story of revenge against those that took his family from him.
Hated
“It must be a drunken wager or something”: Honestly, I must have heard this line 1000 times by now. The first game had some pretty repetitive dialogue from its citizens and NPCs, and while the sequel is slightly better, there’s still a tonne of repeated phrases here. It’s nothing game breaking, but still an annoyance that should have been fixed.
No, I said jump left!: It comes with the freedom and fluidity of movement in the game, as well as the slightly convoluted control scheme, but it’s still pretty frustrating to fall to your death because Ezio went the opposite way to what you wanted him to. Thankfully, he has a few more moves now, so this kind of thing happens a little less than in the first game.
There’s probably so much more I could say about Assassin’s Creed II, if I had more than 300 words, but it really is an amazing experience, and fans/haters of the first game alike would do well to check it out.
Reviewed by: Kieron Laine
You can have your Reader Review published on Kotaku. Send your review to us at the usual address. Make sure it’s written in the same format as above and in under 300 words – yes, we’ve upped the word limit. We’ll publish the best ones we get and the best of the month will win a Madman DVD prize pack.
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