Assassin's Creed 2 playable at Eurogamer Expo, major publishers backing show

still not sold on this game not being as repetitive as the first

I'll be at this and PAX this year. Can't wait. :-)
Also, this was launched at the same time last year, and did really well at the same time, so I don't think that'll be a problem.

Remind me, did the Renaissance have abundant stacks of hay lying around, or was that just the Crusades?

I really look forward to continuing this story. The shots & art in the gallery are awesome, but the best part is that there seems to be a good amount of colour. I look forward to being stunned by the beauty of this game.

Does anyone have any idea if Digital Life is still going on at javitts center NYC? It got cancelled last year and I can't find any info about it now. =/ major sadness!

If this game gets delayed, I'm going to start busting heads. The first one was AMAZING!

Can't wait for this.

I don't know why, but after seeing the trailer I got really stocked for this game- now it's on my "must buy" list of Fall 09.

"Remind me, did the Renaissance have abundant stacks of hay lying around, or was that just the Crusades?"

"still not sold on this game not being as repetitive as the first"

I couldn't agree more. Assassin's Creed 2 sure looks as bland and repetitive as its predecessor. The only improvements I've seen so far are swimming (which should have been in the first game) and flying. It's a shame that all the things that made AC bad -apparently- appear in AC 2.

1. Repetitiveness
Now, Instead of just having 5 repetitive missions, you have 10 repetitive missions. Great.

2. Stealth
You still wonder the streets in a conspicuous costume. Couldn't Ezio do a little more to blend in? Why not change into something a little more suited for the district he's in? Well, at least he's no longer carrying a large blade on his back like Altair.

3. Improved Guard AI
In Assassin's Creed the guards were too aggressive and agile. Assassin's Creed 2 needs to make you feel superior to the enemies in the game, so when you're on the run you should have a clear advantage. I hope there's less being knocked off ledges by rocks now.
There's also another problem in Assassin's Creed because you are supposed to be able to walk in front of the guards without them attacking you, unlike Metal Gear Solid. In MGS, whenever somebody saw you, you were busted. But in AC, if you attacked them and then hid without killing them, they weren't aware of you the next time you walked by them, even though they should be. Will this be changed?

4. Interesting Cities
The three main cities in Assassin's Creed are something Ubisoft should be proud of, but more should have been made of them. Most of the buildings in the game were only for show and couldn't be entered, while there was very little sense of the citizens actually going about their daily lives - instead simply going along pre-determined routes. Will AC 2 have more life, random occurrences, scripted events, epic moments and more interactivity? So far, I've only seen the stores where you can buy weapons and armour... Being able pickpocket anyone on the streets seems cool, but will it be more than just pressing a button and stealing a random amount of money?

5. Interesting NPCs
Assassin's Creed's cities were full with citizens. The number of people wandering the streets was truly amazing to see, but most of them were just there to make up the numbers. Why can't they each have something to say, and why can't more of them trigger side missions and objectives? A citizen who needs to be saved from some guards got old after doing the same thing a handful of times, and it just made no sense for the same thing to be happening all over each of the cities and to the same person (the voice was always the same!). To make matters worse, there was barely no ambiance of the town like civilian chatter and the like. You'd frequently hear the same voice despite being in a different street or town (supposedly located in different countries) as the last time you heard it. Was all of this changed? Were more voices recorded? At least tell me that you got rid of the drunken beggars!


These are the changes I want the developers at Ubisoft to tout. Not some shitty economic system that's no more than buying weapons and armour.

Mmmm.

I'll have to go to the Leeds one! Thanks for the heads up!