Comments on: Gamer Limit Review: Assassin’s Creed II

By: Steven Shepherd

Steven Shepherd — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 20:45:55 +0000

This review is spot on in my opinion – the first game was great, but flawed, but this fixes many of the frustrating aspects of its predecessor. The combat system is brilliant – to someone watching it looks incredibly difficult, but simple timed combat sequences and counter-attacks are a piece of cake and loads of fun – to those who dislike it, you probably haven’t quite got to grips with the timing of combos and the countering of multiple enemies.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:04:27 +0000

As a casual gamer, I have to say this is one of the best I’ve played, for reasons already stated in the review. Glitches? I guess I’m not nitpicky enough to notice. The combat’s need for timing definitely kept me entertained. But what do I know? As a teen male, I only represent the primary demographic for video game marketing.

By: Chris Carter

Chris Carter — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:13:41 +0000

@Denton
I actually beat Arkham Asylum in 9 hours on Hard, with hardly any trouble, or any deaths.

I’m saying theoretically, you could mash through it, meaning the combat system is not as deep as people think it is (it just “looks cool”). As far as Devil May Cry goes, I’ve beaten all of them on Dante Must Die, and at that point in the difficulty timeline, they’re not mashers. When I say “masher”, I mean on the standard difficulty (the only hard standard DMC game is DMC 3, non-special edition).

You can easily beat every Devil May Cry (especially 2) by mashing, just like you could beat Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2 by constantly using flying swallow, and the Bayonetta demo (again, on normal) using the double wave kick. They’re called exploits, and are fairly common in fast paced action games.

By: Denton

Denton — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:06:13 +0000

@Chris
the way you describe gameplay in DMC (‘mashers’) and Batman AA (you could just keep pressing the ‘Y’ button constantly…) it’s clear you were terrible at these games.

generally I appreciate when reviewers are, yknow, actually GOOD at the games they are playing and reviewing. I can see why you gave this game a 9.5 now. Thanks!

By: Chris Carter

Chris Carter — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:08:04 +0000

The combat system, I would argue, is a completely different animal than most action junkies are used to (mashers such as Devil May Cry, Dynasty Warriors, Bayonetta), which is why some may dislike it.

Whereas Batman Arkham Asylum’s “Free Flow” is a more action-oriented homage of Assassin’s Creed I’s combat system, AC II feels deeper, which will naturally appeal to different audiences.

For instance, Arkham Asylum’s combat was incredibly easy (which was part of the draw for some people). You could just keep pressing the “Y” button constantly, and counter everything your foes would throw at you.

It looked cool, sure, but AC II requires precise timing for it’s counters, and has a whole host of weapons to use (any number of the game’s 10+ swords, daggers, throwing knives, hidden cannon, and more) rather than just your fists. While Batman’s traditional allure is his fisticuffs; again, I feel AC II will appeal to a different audience.

By: Kevin Miller

Kevin Miller — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:48:20 +0000

Combat system is just so bland to me.

And glitches… oh lord. On more than one occassion I’ve had chase sequences glitch on me where the guy would climb up a building and get stuck on the edge of the building and keep running in place. Couldn’t kill him or anything.

That happened on two different occassions and had to kill myself to redo it. Then on two occassions I found a shortcut to the sarcophagus for one of the tombs and JUST because I didn’t go through the ambigous, unmarked “checkpoints” I wasn’t able to finish it. Specifically it opened the window but wouldn’t let me interact with the window.

By: Chris Carter

Chris Carter — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:58:32 +0000

Weird. I didn’t encounter any glitches, and had no problem with the combat system: most of the time, I was just stealth killing anyway. I’m glad I bought it, as I have a lot of extra missions left, and will re-beat it in a month or so after I’ve played some Left 4 Dead 2.

By: Kevin Miller

Kevin Miller — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:21:51 +0000

@Jordan

You are spot on. It is without a doubt a rental. Glitchy as all hell, terrible combat, and it is definitely repetitive.

This game is no more than an 8 in my books.

By: Kevin Miller

Kevin Miller — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:30:10 +0000

Just rented this a couple of hours ago. REALLY enjoying it.

Never played the first and never plan to. Watching some videos and reading up online more than caught me up with the storyline.

I might not realize the things they have fixed from the first but I think I can appreciate them just as much since they have done a lot of things right in AC2.

If you haven’t played the first and just want to play it to get caught up on the storyline or get used to the controls, don’t kill yourself with repetitive gameplay just to experience it. There are websites that explain it and IGN has a quick 3 minute run through video of the story.

By: Ferahtsu

Ferahtsu — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:18 +0000

Call me anal but I much appreciate you using the term “parkour” instead of “free run”. The prequel contradicted itself by referring to the A button action as “free run”.

By: Shawn Evans

Shawn Evans — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:26:39 +0000

Great review Chris. The game must have been incredibly good for you to play through the entire thing so fast. I’ll be picking this up in a week or two, but I’m not sure how I’m gonna have time to play it considering I’m hooked on MW2 multiplayer right now. I did love the original though, so I’m going to make time at some point for it.

By: Chris Carter

Chris Carter — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:36:02 +0000

@Komplex
I agree! I frequent tons of other sites, and in the threads for all of the reviews you mentioned, people are saying things like “another 9.5?!”

There’s just that many good games out!