E3: Assassin's Creed 2 connects to PSP ver
PSP version also out this year.
Ubisoft showed off Assassin's Creed 2 during Sony's E3 conference, which just finished, and reminded us that it's out on 17th November.
We were also reminded to expect Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines for PSP during this holiday season, and told that six further Assassin's Creed 2 weapons are available when linking up a PSP containing an appropriate save-file.
A considerable chunk of AC2 gameplay was on display during Sony's keynote, exploring the rooftops and piazzas of 15th-century Venice. It appears some of the criticism of the original has been taken on board too, with "increased diversity" touted as a major improvement.
The storyline picks up from the end of the first game, which we won't spoil in case you haven't finished it, but the character is a different kettle of fish despite cosmetic similarities. New star Ezio starts out as a relatively ordinary Joe, with no real assassin skills at all. Instead he'll pick up tricks from a menagerie of historical and mythical figures, including arch-inventor Leonardo da Vinci, who'll act as Ezio's "personal inventor".
The gadgets provided by the beardy scholar include a bat-like glider, enabling fast-moving travel around the Venetian landscape. In fact, swooping around on this man-powered ornithopter is the only way to access some of the enclosed squares where targets may be concealed. Any enemies encountered on rooftops along the way can be dispatched with a handy body-slam.
New assassination techniques were a key factor of the demo, with a vicious double-hidden-blade manoeuvre taking out two unwary sentries. 30 new weapons are included in the game, with a disarming mechanic enabling Ezio to steal the weapons of foes to use against them.
In further news, there are still hay bales, but a swimming mechanic means that the canals of Venice are not the death-traps which water courses proved to be in the first instalment.
Look out for hands-on impressions of Assassin's Creed 2 this week, hopefully.