I admit I have never really paid attention to the Assassins Creed series. Almost none at all, but my friends all love it. It just hadn't interested me. But this summer has been short on good games so on a whim I picked up the second game to see what the fuss was about. (I had heard it was much better than the first).

You can imagine my surprise when I found out that it was taking place in some guy in the present times mind. This took me aback at first but I kept playing, but I was still troubled. The renaissance is one of the richest times in human history. There is absolutely no need to back up a story set in 16th century Italy with some silly conspiracy in the 21st. The renaissance has everything; great people, wars, political turmoil, new sciences, culture, and yes assassins. Why does the game some guy wearing a grey hoodie. Really a grey hoodie??? I don't know how he could have been more unoriginal. The even sadder thing is that Ubisoft wouldn't have had to change too much to the story to make the game work without the modern story. Enzio could still be out to get revenge and find stuff and it would have been an okay game.

There is still a problem. Even if the story is atrocious great gameplay would have made the game somewhat enjoyable. But the game play is just as bad. In one of the many boring tutorial missions, you have to carry a box for Leonardo of Vinci. Sure why not, the screen says push O to pick up the box. But it doesn't work. It took me close to a half hour to get the box in my hands… Shortly after I'm running across the buildings starting to maybe have fun and then all of a sudden I've fallen to the street and am killed by the soldiers. Spider Man on the PS2 had better climbing mechanics then Assassins Creed 2.

This game and the series as a whole make me sad. Ubisoft has taken one of the best periods in human history and made it into a farce. I don't know what they were trying to achieve but I'm going to go play Superman 64