Support NeoGAF

[Solo]

It's me or the game clock works in a weird way?. I beat the game in 27 hours but I'm 100% sure that I played +32 hours at least.

Its probably not keeping track of time when you've died, or during cutscenes and stuff. I have no idea though :lol

 

[Ranger X]

Man the AI in this game is awful, the more I play it the more I notice how seriously it's been toned down from the first game. I killed some beggar right across the street from a group of guards and they didn't give a fuck.

The AI is better than in the first because it starts on AC1 code + improvements, more reactions, more detection, etc.
Also, AC2, like GTA4 or again Oblivion are some of the most AI advanced games of this generation. I don't know if people understand what AI is. Or I don't know if they realise what is governed by AI in a game really. If you isolate a character and think about it, of course they will look stupid... just like in GTA or Oblivion. The thing that is impressive in that type of game is that there's alot of different AI that actually interact with each other and/or also work in group. In AC2 you have the crowd (individual or in group) + friendly NPCs (mercenaries,courtesans,thiefs - with all their different approaches) + militia. Now all those work together, have reactions, detection and whatnot. Don't forget all the player induced stuff that is even more than that. Also, the militia is the most advanced AI. They work solo, in group, in interaction with other groups like crowd and friendly npcs, to smokebombs, poison, pickpocketing, dead bodies, they detect, search, talk, attack, pick up weapons if need be, throw rocks with aiming, and ALL the fight stuff with also takes coordination and tons of reactions with the player and other fighting people. They can also detect and run after pickpocketeers.

I don't think people realise that this ENORMOUS amount of AI processes is all there in the memory, ready to be called and + a damn lot of it at the same time. Reality is that what is taking the more juice in this game isn't the graphics, the lod system, the texture or the sound, it's the AI...

.

 

[The Wise Old Man]

Picked up the game last night and I'm definitely digging it a lot. My only gripe is the graphics, which are way to colorful and simple compared to AC1. It's very similar to the graphical shift from Resistance 1 to Resistance 2. I liked the gritty gray details in AC1 a helluva lot more than the blown out warm colors in AC2.

But hey, I guess the Renaissance was a colorful time compared to the late Medieval era, so it's arguably justified.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

everyone is calling this game colourful, but I still found it to be very... well, not monochromatic, but you get the picture.

 

[neorej]

Picked up the game last night and I'm definitely digging it a lot. My only gripe is the graphics, which are way to colorful and simple compared to AC1. It's very similar to the graphical shift from Resistance 1 to Resistance 2. I liked the gritty gray details in AC1 a helluva lot more than the blown out warm colors in AC2.

But hey, I guess the Renaissance was a colorful time compared to the late Medieval era, so it's arguably justified.

Owh for the love of.... come ON people. Killzone: grey, dull. Gears of War: brownish grey, dull. And now AC2 presents itself with color, it's too colorful? REALLY? There's no satisfying you people, is there?

 

[Diablos]

I hear the framerate is worse on the PS3 version. I have a 360 as well. Which one should I get? Is there a difference in resolution and/or texture quality? Please don't get into systemwars or anything like that, this is a purely technical question, thanks.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

I hear the framerate is worse on the PS3 version. I have a 360 as well. Which one should I get? Is there a difference in resolution and/or texture quality? Please don't get into systemwars or anything like that, this is a purely technical question, thanks.

the frame-rate is virtually identical on both, however, the PS3 has noticeably more screen-tearing (15% of frames versus 5%) and a shorter draw-in distance.

if you have a choice, get the 360 version.

 

[neorej]

the frame-rate is virtually identical on both, however, the PS3 has noticeably more screen-tearing (15% of frames versus 5%) and a shorter draw-in distance.

if you have a choice, get the 360 version.

unless you want to sync up with the PSP-version, then you have to get the PS3-version.

 

[Diablos]

the frame-rate is virtually identical on both, however, the PS3 has noticeably more screen-tearing (15% of frames versus 5%) and a shorter draw-in distance.

if you have a choice, get the 360 version.

Screen-tearing I can understand, but draw-in? That's very surprising...

 

[CloakedPuppet]

Owh for the love of.... come ON people. Killzone: grey, dull. Gears of War: brownish grey, dull. And now AC2 presents itself with color, it's too colorful? REALLY? There's no satisfying you people, is there?

Exactly! I'm sooooo tired of brown and grey. Playing ACII is a breath of fresh air - also, I know for a fact that it's a sharper, better looking game than the first (having literally started ACII the evening after finishing part I).

 

[Deleted member 30609]

Screen-tearing I can understand, but draw-in? That's very surprising...

I haven't seen it myself, I'm only going off of what I've read. I could be wrong.

 

[Pachimari]

Got the review copy for PlayStation 3 in today. Don't really know what to expect, but Assassin's Creed is one of my absolute favorite games this generation.

 

[aaaaaaaaaaaa7654]

I just got to venice and wow, what an awesome environment to run around in, they've done an incredible job, from the the music to the different buildings and little ladders scattered around here and there, amazing ! The other cities are really nice but Venice is just beautiful.

 

[Diablos]

I haven't seen it myself, I'm only going off of what I've read. I could be wrong.

Where have you read this?

I just want to make sure I have the right info.

unless you want to sync up with the PSP-version, then you have to get the PS3-version.

I haven't touched my PSP in two years, heh.

 

[neorej]

I just got to venice and wow, what an awesome environment to run around in, they've done an incredible job, from the the music to the different buildings and little ladders scattered around here and there, amazing ! The other cities are really nice but Venice is just beautiful.

Indeed, my favorite city so far, especially the details in the ornaments, I love it.

Where have you read this?

I just want to make sure I have the right info.


I haven't touched my PSP in two years, heh.

Bloodlines is actually pretty fun. It's short, but fun.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

Where have you read this?

I just want to make sure I have the right info.


I haven't touched my PSP in two years, heh.

the guys on the Co-op show mentioned it.

It'd check Digital Foundry over at Eurogamer just to be sure, if I were you.

 

[TheExecutive]

the frame-rate is virtually identical on both, however, the PS3 has noticeably more screen-tearing (15% of frames versus 5%) and a shorter draw-in distance.

if you have a choice, get the 360 version.

That's surprising, I have the 360 version and the draw-in can be terrible at times. In fact there can be times when the screen populates shadows, people etc from right to left and you can actually SEE the line moving from right to left :lol

 

[Ranger X]

Where have you read this?

I just want to make sure I have the right info.


I haven't touched my PSP in two years, heh.

The draw distance and pop-in the same on both version. There's no differences in the textures either. You have a bit more tearing on PS3 and a minimal loss on the FPS but nothing major. (both version are dancing between 25-30 fps with the 360 oscillating a bit less. I would go with the controller I prefer for this game. Personally I prefer to have "high profile" button on the right trigger of the 360 controller instead of freaking R1 on PS3. I also think the smaller deadzone of the 360 joysticks help the controls of this game.

 

[BeeDog]

Got my copy of the Black Edition today, game seems fun so far, just played for around an hour or so (just raced my brother).

A question regarding Ubi.com/Uplay/the bonus content; I entered the bonus code for the 3 quests before logging onto Uplay through the game, will this cause any problems? How's the content unlocked exactly, is it PSN account specific?

 

[jett]

The AI is better than in the first because it starts on AC1 code + improvements, more reactions, more detection, etc.
Also, AC2, like GTA4 or again Oblivion are some of the most AI advanced games of this generation. I don't know if people understand what AI is. Or I don't know if they realise what is governed by AI in a game really. If you isolate a character and think about it, of course they will look stupid... just like in GTA or Oblivion. The thing that is impressive in that type of game is that there's alot of different AI that actually interact with each other and/or also work in group. In AC2 you have the crowd (individual or in group) + friendly NPCs (mercenaries,courtesans,thiefs - with all their different approaches) + militia. Now all those work together, have reactions, detection and whatnot. Don't forget all the player induced stuff that is even more than that. Also, the militia is the most advanced AI. They work solo, in group, in interaction with other groups like crowd and friendly npcs, to smokebombs, poison, pickpocketing, dead bodies, they detect, search, talk, attack, pick up weapons if need be, throw rocks with aiming, and ALL the fight stuff with also takes coordination and tons of reactions with the player and other fighting people. They can also detect and run after pickpocketeers.

I don't think people realise that this ENORMOUS amount of AI processes is all there in the memory, ready to be called and + a damn lot of it at the same time. Reality is that what is taking the more juice in this game isn't the graphics, the lod system, the texture or the sound, it's the AI...

.

Okay maybe it's not that AI is bad, but sometimes the guards seem to have eye cataracts like the soldiers in MGS. And maybe I'm imagining things, but it seems to be that they stop giving chase a lot sooner than in AC1. I guess it's not the AI proper at fault, but the way AC2 has been designed...

 

[Ridley327]

I noticed that the guards have a much easier time finding you (especially with how fast those agile guards can keep up with you), but Venice in particular makes it fairly irrelevant because of all the water you can escape into.

 

[LiK]

Finished it last night. Loved it. Anyone who finished the first game will appreciate the story and revelations alot more. I love how both games are connected

 

[CriscoDisco]

I had to play this game for an extra hour last night because my wife wouldn't let me turn it off. I guess that's a good thing.

I'm having trouble finding my last statue.

Spoiler

The clues for this group are something about the end of time and the other being somewhere deep(?).

I've found one of the two that go on that pedestal but I have no clue which one goes with which clue.

I also have one more crypt to find. Should they all be available by the time I finish the first few Venice missions?

 

[Zeliard]

I've noticed that guards seem far less likely to follow you up to and around rooftops than they were in the first game. I loved fighting them up in high areas in the first game. It still happens sometimes in AC2, but not as much and as naturally as in the first.

I guess they wanted to make it more 'realistic' since some people criticized the first game for having unnaturally acrobatic guards. :lol

 

[McBacon]

Christ, the sun just came out in Romagna, and I turned to my window because I thought it was real sunlight on my screen. That was weird.

 

[Baker]

Man, I should have left these last few pages unread. Between morons saying the crypts were pointless and people who either can't read the instruction book or see the big "PRESS Y FOR UPLAY" on the main menu, I'm pretty pissy right now. :lol

 

[Solo]

I've noticed that guards seem far less likely to follow you up to and around rooftops than they were in the first game. I loved fighting them up in high areas in the first game. It still happens sometimes in AC2, but not as much and as naturally as in the first.

Isnt there a new enemy type in AC2 that specifically chases you on rooftops though? At least, thats what the pre-release dev diaries said.

 

[Baker]

Isnt there a new enemy type in AC2 that specifically chases you on rooftops though? At least, thats what the pre-release dev diaries said.

The load screens sure made a big deal about different enemy types, but I seriously only saw each new version once.

- One time one of those seekers poked a haystack. I'm pretty sure it was scripted too.

- One time I had one of those extra fast runners on my heels.

 

[Ranger X]

The Agile type can freerun and climb to follow you. They only have small weapons though.

The Seekers are quite always in "investigation mode". When they see a hidepost on their path, they "poke" it. It is part of the particularity of their AI, it's not specific scripting.

.

 

[Ridley327]

Agile guards are the ones who will go poking about in hiding places if you haven't left the cone of investigation. They are superdicks because they run considerably faster than you do and can easily ding you if you're keeping to the ground. It makes the chases considerably more fun.

You will see guards poking around even if you aren't wanted, too; I actually saw a brute guard poking away at a haystack one time.

 

[Pachimari]

My first impression so far is (bear in mind that the original is one of my favorite games this gen) that the Desmond part was pretty poor and the fighting doesn't capture me yet, it's very simple in the start. Now I'm at the sibling race, at my tenth try and the controls and free-running is frustrating me, always jumping to the wrong places, didn't happen this much in the first one to me - makes me furious.

 

[Ranger X]

Agile guards are the ones who will go poking about in hiding places if you haven't left the cone of investigation. They are superdicks because they run considerably faster than you do and can easily ding you if you're keeping to the ground. It makes the chases considerably more fun.

All types can poke while in investigation mode and when you're in the zone. The Seeker (Parano) type will poke regardless, like a routine thing.

.

 

[adamsapple]

Quick Q guys ... will I be allowed to free roam the world once the central storyline is finished, or will I need to wrap everything up before ending the story ?

cause there's quite a lot of things to do in the game, and I don't want to side track too much from the story line, but I don't want to miss out on the side stuff either.

 

[Ridley327]

Ah, OK.

I also noticed that they'll check through congregated groups of people and benches as well, which sets up one of the more awesome hidden blade kills when you switch places with their corpse and they sit on the bench all slumped over. SO AWESOME.

 

[McBacon]

Fucking hate Danny Wallace's character. What a sardonic prick.

 

[jett]

LOL I guess I'm the only one that liked Danny? I thought he was pretty funny.

I've noticed that guards seem far less likely to follow you up to and around rooftops than they were in the first game. I loved fighting them up in high areas in the first game. It still happens sometimes in AC2, but not as much and as naturally as in the first.

I guess they wanted to make it more 'realistic' since some people criticized the first game for having unnaturally acrobatic guards. :lol

To be fair considering you're borderline immortal there's no need to escape, now that I think about it. The easy difficulty is the one thing AC2 didn't really address from the first game. Yeah your health no longer regenerates but you have 15 potions at your disposal, which you can activate while in the middle of getting struck. It's like one step forward, two steps back kind of thing.

 

[Baker]

Quick Q guys ... will I be allowed to free roam the world once the central storyline is finished, or will I need to wrap everything up before ending the story ?

It lets you free roam.

 

[Pizza Luigi]

My first impression so far is (bear in mind that the original is one of my favorite games this gen) that the Desmond part was pretty poor and the fighting doesn't capture me yet, it's very simple in the start. Now I'm at the sibling race, at my tenth try and the controls and free-running is frustrating me, always jumping to the wrong places, didn't happen this much in the first one to me - makes me furious.

That's a shitty race, after that, the running will go smoothly

I'm looking for two more glyphs, one should be in Florence but apparently I have not even discovered it. Does anyone of you know the glyph locations there? Just name the church ^^
I also need one in Romangna-Forli...also not discovered yet, weirdly enough.

 

[MirageDwarf]

I would really like to hear reasoning behind some lamest design choices.

Glyphs collection after finishing a game is fucking pain in the ass. All I know from database is how many and which one I collected in each area. Now game fucking doesn't show where is this building in the map, I have to use fucking guide from website to find out glyph location, go to each one and find out if I've got that glyph or not.

Wonder if QA had special map access which showed them exactly where to go. I mean how could this did not come up in testing and fixed. It should have been handled same as view points or treasure chests. You see it on the map with landmark name as you discover it and notification icon if you've not collected that glyph yet.

 

[Zeliard]

Interesting stuff about the seeker. I still haven't had a guard poke into a haystack I was in. Then again, I've found that I rarely hide in those anymore, as well as the rooftop gardens. But that's because escaping is done far more naturally in AC2 - all you have to do is lose the guards, not necessarily hide anywhere.

To be fair considering you're borderline immortal there's no need to escape, now that I think about it. The easy difficulty is the one thing AC2 didn't really address from the first game. Yeah your health no longer regenerates but you have 15 potions at your disposal, which you activate while in the middle of getting struck. It's like one step forward, two steps back kind of thing.

Another thing they did is that the window for countering seems to be a lot smaller than in the first game, but it still isn't enough. My only big criticism of this game is the combat difficulty. I understand they want to make you feel powerful, but there's still a way they can do that and make it more challenging, even if by simply making guards hit harder. That's basically what Batman: AA does on hard difficulty.

The only thing that's been a stumbling block for me so far is this one Florence assassination contract where I have to kill some guy in a tunnel flanked by guards undetected, but everything I do gets me detected.

 

[Baker]

I would really like to hear reasoning behind some lamest design choices.

Glyphs collection after finishing a game is fucking pain in the ass. All I know from database is how many and which one I collected in each area. Now game fucking doesn't show where is this building in the map, I have to use fucking guide from website to find out glyph location, go to each one and find out if I've got that glyph or not.

Wonder if QA had special map access which showed them exactly where to go. I mean how could this did not come up in testing and fixed. It should have been handled same as view points or treasure chests. You see it on the map with landmark name as you discover it and notification icon if you've not collected that glyph yet.

The locations with glyphs you haven't found have the red eye icon in the upper left of the thumbnail.

Initially, I also wished they put the location names on the map. However, once it was all said and done, I'm glad they made me work for it. It was a lot more satisfying when I finally pieced the whole story together.

Edit: I also never left an area until I found all of them. It probably would be extra frustrating trying to do this after completing the game.

 

[MirageDwarf]

The locations with glyphs you haven't found have the red eye icon in the upper left of the thumbnail.

Initially, I also wished they put the location names on the map. However, once it was all said and done, I'm glad they made me work for it. It was a lot more satisfying when I finally pieced the whole story together.

Edit: I also never left an area until I found all of them. It probably would be extra frustrating trying to do this after completing the game.

Yeah it shows red eye icon in the thumbnail you haven't found yet. But if you're collecting it after finishing a game like me, you wouldn't know where the fuck is that location on the map unless you're from that area in real life. So only option for me is to follow a guide, visit each locations to find out if I have it or not.

 

[Baker]

Yeah it shows red eye icon in the thumbnail you haven't found yet. But if you're collecting it after finishing a game like me, you wouldn't know where the fuck is that location on the map unless you're from that area in real life. So only option for me is to follow a guide, visit each locations to find out if I have it or not.

Well... You could look at the database picture then run to every landmark on the map until you match it up.

 

[Valkyr Junkie]

I would really like to hear reasoning behind some lamest design choices.

Glyphs collection after finishing a game is fucking pain in the ass. All I know from database is how many and which one I collected in each area. Now game fucking doesn't show where is this building in the map, I have to use fucking guide from website to find out glyph location, go to each one and find out if I've got that glyph or not.

Wonder if QA had special map access which showed them exactly where to go. I mean how could this did not come up in testing and fixed. It should have been handled same as view points or treasure chests. You see it on the map with landmark name as you discover it and notification icon if you've not collected that glyph yet.

Finding the glyph locations is a lot easier than you make it out to be. The DNA section tells you what landmark the glyph is on, and landmarks clearly stand out on the map as they are darker icons and have unique shapes. Plus you even get a picture of the landmark which helps you determine if it's close to a city wall or canal.

For the glyphs that don't appear in the DNA section because the landmark is whited out due to not having visited it yet, checking your map for viewpoints you're missing because you haven't visited the area is usually the giveaway. I didn't have a guide for the glyphs, and I was able to find the missing ones in almost no time.

 

[Ridley327]

All the landmarks are dark grey on your map, so it's not like you have to comb every inch of the city to find them. They'll even bring up the info link when you reach them and whether or not you've discovered the secret of that location.

 

[Jugendstil]

LOL I guess I'm the only one that liked Danny? I thought he was pretty funny.



To be fair considering you're borderline immortal there's no need to escape, now that I think about it. The easy difficulty is the one thing AC2 didn't really address from the first game. Yeah your health no longer regenerates but you have 15 potions at your disposal, which you can activate while in the middle of getting struck. It's like one step forward, two steps back kind of thing.

I agree RE: the invincibility thing, but look at this thread. Look how much people whine about the most insignificant things! People are like 15 minutes into the game and they can't clear something on their first try and they immediately come online to complain. Can you imagine how furious people would be if the combat (which don't get me wrong, I like) was actually challenging?

 

[BrassMonkey1010]

Now I'm at the sibling race, at my tenth try and the controls and free-running is frustrating me, always jumping to the wrong places, didn't happen this much in the first one to me - makes me furious.

:lol No offense, but you suck at the game.

 

[jett]

Yeah you're still a one-man army, which I wouldn't have a problem with if the game had several difficulty levels. I mean lately I don't bother to buy options or even heal myself, and it's still so hard to die(playing with one block of life). Even when the screen starts to shake and wobble, you can still take a couple of hits in. Wat? The annoying part about this method of playing the game is that the framerate goes to shit everytime you're near death.

edit: Haha Jugendstil I suppose you're right...but yeah difficulty options would fix that.

Yeah it shows red eye icon in the thumbnail you haven't found yet. But if you're collecting it after finishing a game like me, you wouldn't know where the fuck is that location on the map unless you're from that area in real life. So only option for me is to follow a guide, visit each locations to find out if I have it or not.

If the "eye icon" is red, it means you haven't found the glyph yet. If it's greyed out, you already finished the puzzle. AND if you have found the glyph already but didn't finish the puzzle, you can access any unfinished puzzle from "The Truth" option in the menu.

BTW, Google maps, yo.

 

[SlasherJPC]

It gets better. It's not the amazing game people are making it out to be though. The story is the only really great part.

WTF!!!! Must be playing a different game then you. :lol

 

[MirageDwarf]

Even though I hate feather collection, I will eventually do that. Like one area at a time. Achievements in this game are easy so this is gonna be my first game with 1000 points until new content adds achievements and screw my 100% completion.