Saturday Showdown is a new segment by Three Green Lights where we compare games within the same franchise, be it old, new or upcoming. This is where we bash the bugs, praise the innovations and hope not to be disappointed in the next instalments.

In this week’s entry, mortifiedpenguin does a quick recap of 2007’s Assassin’s Creed and discusses how AC2 should be done better than the first.

( Read the rest of the entry after the jump! )

I finally finished Assassin’s Creed on early Saturday morning, and I really mean early – around 2 a.m. I only finished the entire story though – there’re still hundreds of flags to be collected but I would rather be playing another game now, Need for Speed: Shift to be precise.

In short, Assassin’s Creed was one of the best games I’ve played both in terms of gameplay and presentation. You could free-run and perform parkour moves almost anywhere in the open-world environments of historic cities like Jerusalem, and everytime you’re perched on a high point the view is breathtaking. The major problem of the game however, which most reviewers would agree, would be the repetitiveness of the missions.

Everytime you embark on a new assassination quest, you first have to complete at least three investigations to gather enough information on your target. These can be broken down to Pickpocket where you attempt to steal a piece of paper containing information, Interrogation where you force a poor man to reveal what he knows through a few hard punches, Eavesdrop where you listen in on a conversation, and Informer where you have to help an informant complete a task before he can give you information. This would have been completed more easily if not the fact that you need to climb view points around the city in order to find these investigation missions.

To put it simply, it’s a very systematic process. Ride – Run – Bureau – Climb view point – Investigate ( x3 ) – Bureau – Assassinate – Bureau. Bureau is the secret headquarters of the Assassins in each major city where you will receive your task and report when you have completed the mission. Now look at the process again. You will do this 9 times, and this is not including the many fights you will engage in with the city guards. I wouldn’t say it’s boring because killing people is always fun, but it’s definitely mentally draining. Another reason why you won’t want to give up on the game so quick is the mysterious storyline which will only be concluded partially at the end of the game, setting the scene for the sequel.

The developers of Assassin’s Creed 2 have agreed that the first game was too repetitive and promised that the next game would be more engaging and diversified. Already it’s shaping up to be better than Altair’s adventures in the Middle Ages as you can see from the various previews and videos, but here’s a good list of pointers which developers should have taken note when making AC2. Fingers crossed they did.

#1 A.I

Hey, you look familiar!

Problem: I’m not sure how a man dressed in a white hood with a sword slung to his side and a bag of knives on his back can still remain discreet in a city, even after you’ve killed like twenty guards. This is the same problem with Hitman where your bald-headed character with a barcode tattoo on the back of his head can still not be recognised by the guards. Hitman: Bloody Money addressed this issue slightly with the tension meter – more kills would raise the alertness of the guards further. While AC1 had a similar system I felt that it was not well-developed. You could assassinate a rooftop guard and another guard on a higher point may not even notice. Either you were invisible or he was blind.

Solution: It has been confirmed that Ac2 will include a notoriety system where you will become more prominent with more kills. This includes wanted posters and witnesses to your assassinations, which you can remove to reduce your heat. You can now hide bodies as well so as not to alert other guards. But whether they have learned from their previous mistake of not being watchful enough remains to be seen. It would make things tricky as well if civilians who had seen you in action previously could report on you to a nearby guard.

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#2 Camera

Here's for blocking the camera!

Problem: AC1 featured a cutscene sequence when you performed an outstanding counter attack, which is very impressive. However there are instances where the camera would be blocked by another guard and you cannot move the camera since it’s a cutscene. On the Xbox there were also times when moving the camera around felt clunky.

Solution: This is a simple bug issue which should be fixed with no problems. Adding the ability to move the camera during the fight cutscene would be appreciated if that bugger happens to block my view again.

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#3 Health and memory synchronisation

Problem: If only falling from great heights didn’t hurt at all. AC1’s health system only featured a memory synchronisation whereby each damage hit would remove one synchronisation bar and when there is none left Altair would die and the player would have to restart from the last saved checkpoint. Even with serious injuries Altair looks perfectly fine – his clothes aren’t torn at all. How come nobody passed down that fabric technology from the Middle Ages?

Solution: AC2 will feature a new health system where the memory will synchronise up to a certain point, after which the player has to find a doctor to be treated. As for the visuals, it’s still unknown if there will be visible injuries to the body and damages to the clothing. It is also not clear if injuries sustained would affect Ezio’s abilities in movement and combat, a feature not included in the first game.

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#4 Dynamic environment

If the guards were to play Spot the Difference, they'd definitely lose.

Problem: The civilians in AC1 posed nothing more than an obstacle to your free-running delights. And they even blame you for breaking their pots. Oh, remember the female beggar who never failed to pester you for a few coins? And for saving a civilian being harrassed by guards, you could only get a bunch of fighting brutes or scholars to blend in with. To sum it up the crowd was too static in what was supposed to be a social stealth game.

Solution: Apparently you now can throw some coins to that irritating beggar, and to everyone else as well to create a distraction. Well you’re a rich man’s son so being charitable isn’t much of a problem at all. Unlike in AC1 where you could only blend in a group of white-clothed scholars, you can now hide among the crowd, though how is that possible I’m not too sure since your white clothing still stands out. And with your money you can hire certain groups of civilians to assist you. Not to forget the huge range of weapons on sale too. Sounds like you’re the boss of the town!

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#5 Swimming

Problem: How many times have you cursed at Altair’s unbelievable inability to swim? For an assassin of his stature, it’s frustrating to see him jump into a canal and drown.

Solution: You most definitely can swim in AC2, which means you can hide in water. Thank god for that, since the game’s set in Venice and there’re more waterways than walkways in that city. It would have been a deathtrap for Altair.

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#6 Desmond and Abstergo

You will find out more if you talk to me.

Problem: Now this is one strange man. A bartender he calls himself, yet he has the memories of his assassin ancestors. Who is he really? Are there any more assassins left? AC1 left a big question mark on Desmond’s story, answered only in bits and pieces through the interactive cutscenes where you can walk around the lab, talk to Lucy and use the computer later on.

Solution: The developers have promised us that there will be more than just ‘walking’ in AC2. But if he’s locked up in the facility what can he do? Perhaps they let him out? Hopefully there will be more cutscenes set in other places than the Animus room.

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#7 Multiplayer

Problem: AC1 was a single-player only game but there was so much potential to include a multiplayer mode. Imagine a group of Templars hunting down one Assassin through the town of Jerusalem or two Assassins racing against each other through the open-world environment to collect flags and reach the finishing line. Or how about a co-op mode?

Solution: It looks like AC2 will continue in its predecessor’s tradition and remain a single-player only title. Ubisoft can be forgiven for that though – if it ain’t broke don’t fix it! But many of us would still remain a little disappointed for sure.

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That sums up our debut of Saturday Showdown! If you’ve got your own opinions on Assassin’s Creed or wishes for the sequel, feel free to write them in the Comments section! In the meantime, stay tuned for our next Showdown on  Saturday not too far away.