I am on my 3rd playthrough of AC2 & the game has me addicted. Other reason is that I don't have any other shooter game to play right now besides L4D2. Anyways, while playing this game for the 3rd time, I felt like revisiting AC1 so I installed it & started playing it. After like killing 2 targets out of 9 assigned, I can say that AC1 is
better than AC2 in some areas. Why ? Read below:
(What I have listed below is just a matter of personal preference & you all are welcome to agree or disagree with the points but pls do not try to be sarcastic or say anything that indiates negative vibes coming from that post...else don't bother posting !!)
1. The atmosphere & background music that plays while eavesdropping or pickpocketing was thrilling. I can't complain about this in AC2 because its based on rennaissance era & so the mood was more jovial but still I would go with AC1.
2. The fights were difficult in AC1 because the AI can grab you & throw you away. The fights in AC2 have been dumbed down & they are not difficult to win. Also when the soldiers in AC1 grabbed you & shoved you away, I had a feeling of awareness of the situation but its just not there in AC2 & the fights are also easy in AC2 in my opinion. Morover, the NPC's were able to feint, defensive break and counter in AC1. I wish they had kept this feature in AC2.
3. The most important part I loved about AC1 was that when Altair killed a target, he had to ESCAPE & reach the bureau headquarters in that area for the chase to be over & the music that plays while escaping also gave a feeling of rush. The point is that you ultimately had to reach the headquarters undetected for the chase to be over but this is just not there in AC2. In AC2, you just hide or blend & thats it...you get the florins. This is like a piece of cake.
4. In AC1, before killing the target Altair had to make some investigations to know about the enemy which gave some depth about the target. In AC2, you just go to the memory spot, talk to your ally, then head for the area & kill the target. What I want to say is that this has been made too easy.
5. In AC1, when the player finally has enough evidence to locate and track down their prey, it usually led the game's hero, Altair, to a stronghold where the target would be on the premises. Then you could decide the best course of action to take your enemy down: kill undetected or be bold & kill all the guards in the vicinity to finally kill the target. In Assassin's Creed 2, the assassin, Ezio, is not able to assassinate every target with the option of stealth. Ezio has to fight a horde of baddies the majority of the time, with the small handful of assassinations where he has the ability to sneak around.
6. When Altair took down his main enemies in AC1, a cutscene took over the game with just you and your target, where the dying character would spill out all the info he knew about the plot that would lead you to your next destination. In these conversations, they were more meaningful and were more rewarding when they came along. In AC2, Ezio had the such scenes with his dying targets, but they were shorter and less gratifying. The assassinations in AC2 seemed more like Ezio marking off the names from his list and Ubisoft paid these targets with little regard on how they truly fit into the picture.
All in all, AC2 is the better game but AC1 has nicer, more natural feel in my opinion with the older setting of Crusades, the dusty merchant filled streets of Damascus or the nice green tint in Jerusalem.
Assassin's Creed 1 vs Assassin's Creed 2
Linear Mode
