Assassin's Creed 2. Excited? I know I am. Check this out:
http://goonlinegames.net/2009/04/12/assassins-creed-2-the-entire-10-page-game-informer-feature-new-info/
Believe it or not -- and I know I'm fighting the crowd here -- I thought Assassin's Creed was one of the best games of all time. Sure it has its flaws, every game does. It was certainly no Ocarina of Time in terms of groundbreaking technology, but it was damn fun to play. I picked it up the day it came out and I still play it from time to time. (I think I still have to collect all the flags in the Kingdom, too.) The repetition didn't bother me, I thought the combat system was awesome, and the story is amazing. I don't know what it was about it, but it just sucked me in.
Before Assassin's Creed came out, I was a little worried. The rumors of the "The Matrix" related sci-fi story was disappointing, and the early gameplay videos seemed to be showing a different game than they'd been advertising in media releases and dev blogs. That's about how I feel about Assassin's Creed 2 now. They're advertising some concepts in this magazine article that just don't work, have never worked. Things like being able to pick up enemies' weapons. It's an okay concept, but it just can't be done well. Look at the Prince of Persia series. Always picking up a new weapon off of an enemy (only to have it break five strikes later) was tedious and boring. It made combat a micromanagement instead of the roller-coaster ride it was supposed to be. It could get you killed for no good reason. And it's the same company developing Assassin's Creed 2. If they don't make serious improvements to this system, the game will disappoint.
I'm also worried about the flight system using Da Vinci's wings. Going back to the Prince of Persia example again, flight in the newest Prince of Persia was a boring, tedious trial and error. It wasn't even that it was difficult, it was just slow and boring. If they use this same system in Assassin's Creed 2, I'll be very disappointed; Assassin's Creed deserves better than that.
Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited to see the new Assassin's Creed game, and not trying to come off doom-and-gloomy. I loved the first game immensely, and I'm sure I'll love this one, too. Some of the systems I saw in that article I'm very excited about. Being able to assassinate people from the water? Awesome! Guards will check hiding places for you by stabbing them? Wicked-cool! TWO wristblades? That's like attaching a train to a gun! There is simply nothing more badass.
Like I said, I had bad feelings about the first Assassin's Creed, and it turned out to be one of my favorite games of all time. Assassin's Creed 2 is going to melt faces off, I guarantee.
