Assassins Creed II

Well yesterday the new Assassins Creed II gameplay trailer went live over at the Official Assassins Creed II Website, and let me be the first to say - it looks amazing. But then again it would surprise me if anyone actually thought that the trailers for Assassin's Creed II would look anything short of electrifying, the graphics for the original AC were brilliant so it stands as obvious that ACII would look even better. In fact, the graphics were the second best feature of the original AC - second ofcourse to the intuitive free-running style gameplay. And, of course, the free-running is back with a vengeance.

The latest trailer has shown an even more interactive world for all your free-running needs. One particular clip impressed me specifically - the new main character Ezio dropping from a building and swinging around a corner on a hanging flower pot. This may not sound impressive, but it conveys the ease and flow of free-running that we can expect from ACII. Unlike in AC, the newest instalment looks to allow curved paths around the cities whereas achieving this feat in the original was difficult at best.

Another level of interactivity is outlined in a small clip of our hero leaping viewpoint-style into a river. Swimming? Yes, swimming. This may again seem like a small feature, but it adds to the variety of escape options - something AC seemed to have a lack of.

Although Ubisoft have obviously tried to address the gameplay problems outlined in the original Assassin's Creed, it fills me with doubt that there has yet been a mention about major assassinations. One problem for me in the original was that I put a lot of work into completing missions to gain information about my target, only to find that not a lot of it really mattered at all. Without exception, the target was always most easily killed through a straight up slice-and-dice method, then a run-for-your-life-and-find-a-roof-garden escape plan. I have seen little so far to suggest that this will change at all - which is slightly worrying.

Another thing that worries me is the lack of mention of audio. I don't know about you, but after a couple of hours of hearing "What is he doing?" and "He's going to hurt himself!" I feel like slicing my own throat. It really is little things like this that make a game these days, no-one wants to be perpetually bugged by silly lines playing over and over - no matter how sad they are.

However, the biggest worry of mine over this game is whether or not Assassin's Creed II will discard it's predecessor and have actually developed even a shade of re-playability.

This was my biggest problem with the original, the fact that there was no way in hell I would go through all that again. For starters, you have to entirely start a level again if you want to go back and collect flags or visit viewpoints. That really annoyed me. Just the ability to go back and get collectables would be sufficient to extend the life of what was - in essence - an abysmally short game. If i think back to my favourite games of the last ten years, each one of them had at least 60 hours of gameplay before it reached trade-in. Assassin's Creed didn't even make a quarter of that. I sincerely hope that Ubisoft have addressed the re-playability issue so that I can continue to enjoy what is an excellent concept!

After all, who doesn't want to play the assassin?

Excitement Rating: A dream or two.

Smackdown vs Raw

I remember all those years ago when wrestling games were good. I remember firing up my PS2 and slotting in Just Bring It and having an excellent couple of hours smashing badly modelled bodybuilder's faces into the ground. I remember being somewhat satisfied with the career mode, for the time is was in-depth enough (although looking back today it really is abysmal). Ever since then, every WWE game that has arrived for console gamers has been terrible. The same game has had a graphical revamp and a control system change every year since I played Just Bring It, and nothing much else has changed. They may as well have just released patches for the original version and left it at that.

The main disappointment has always been season mode. It strikes me as odd that a game based on a television franchise that revolves entirely around the story (lets be honest, the actual wrestling doesn't compare to UFC) would simply omit any type of engaging storyline! It doesn't take that much effort to make everything much more adventure-like, and yet every year there is a distinctly familiar feeling of disappointment on completion of the season mode. And every year there is a huge thing made about it on the big review sites. And every year the next instalment is touted to have 'a great season mode'. Bollocks.

So with the release of Smackdown vs Raw 2010, is it really worth going out and buying the same old recycled game with a few new superstars and an equally terrible season mode? I wouldn't say so. I'd say if you have bought a WWE game for any next-gen console then you already have enough Smackdown vs Raw, save your money for a different game that actually has some depth and work put into it.

Maybe I'm wrong, but if we all just sit and ignore the new instalment in this series then maybe THQ will get the idea. Include some new features - and make them ones that we actually want to use. Create-a-finisher? Why? Season mode - end of. The only way this game will ever be a gaming success is if it ceases to be a financial success and THQ are forced to listen.

I'm probably going to buy it anyway. I - like many people - cannot resist the urge to go out and buy it. I'll get it. It'll be crap. I'll trade it in. Unless they really have fulfilled a promise this time.

Leave the gameplay alone. Give me some kind of storyline. Please.

Follow? On the right hand side of the screen? You know you want to.