Assassins Creed II Discovery (DS)

Gamecow’s Price	$39.95
Availability
Genre	Action Adventure
Platform	Nintendo DS
Release Date	19/11/2009
Rated

Assassins Creed II Discovery (DS) Product Information

Discover an untold chapter from the Assassin’s Creed II storyline
Discover an untold chapter from the Assassin’s Creed II storyline. Follow Ezio as he travels to 15th century Spain to rescue fellow assassins being held under the guise of the Inquisition, only to uncover a Templar plot to sail west and discover the New World.

Features:

• Momentum-Based Gameplay: Combine breathtaking speed and aerial kills to become the ultimate master assassin.
• Untold Story: Learn about Ezio’s mission to Spain and his untold story. 
• Variety of Mission Types: Choose between stealth, assassination, escape, chase, and freeform to accomplish the task at hand.
• Nintendo DSi Functionality: Take a picture with the Nintendo DSi camera and put yourself in the ‘WANTED!’ posters in-game!

Assassins Creed II Discovery (DS) Review

I'll bet if someone told you that Assassin's Creed II on the Nintendo DS was a lot like Sonic the Hedgehog, you'd probably have a hard time believing them. That's exactly what happened to me: David Clayman, hot off his trip from Italy and his hands-on play with an early revision of the Nintendo DS version of Assassin's Creed, tried to explain to me just how weird and wonderful the sequel was on the handheld, describing it as a game that feels an awful lot like Sonic the Hedgehog. Always the skeptic, I dismissed his description, but after finally playing through this game I can see exactly what he means. In fact, I'd go one step further: Assassin's Creed II: Discovery is what you'd get if you crossbred SEGA's mascot with UbiSoft's own Prince of Persia. Believe it.

The DS game follows a separate chapter from the console Assassin's Creed II, but you're still Italian assassin Ezio running through missions of both stealth and combat. Or rather, you're playing as a guy named Desmond who's virtually plugged into the past revisiting his ancestor's life into something called the Animus. The game really doesn't do a very good job explaining this "virtual" aspect in the same way that the console game does – in fact, unless you read the manual or have played the console games the whole "Holodeck" element will probably be lost on you because the game doesn't really walk players through the "present day". But where it falters in its explanation, it makes up for it in a unique action experience.

Ezio is fast and agile. Crazy fast and agile, in fact. He can run really fast and climb pretty much any ledge he can grab onto. The developers had a great time adding to Ezio's skillset – when this guy ramps up his momentum running across the land or rooftops, he'll be able to leap longer distances or climb up much higher walls without awkward pauses. It's fun exploring all the various locations, finding the best areas to scale and leap from, and when you run through a specific level you'll immediately find yourself lunging through the same area in the opposite direction in a separate escape attempt. Assassin's Creed II: Discovery encourages replay and speedruns because your score's based on time, how many enemies you defeated, and how much damage you took getting to the end.

I was one of the few reviewers that legitimately enjoyed the first Assassin’s Creed on the Nintendo DS – it had its problems but it was a solid Gameloft effort that captured the console gameplay in a more limiting handheld experience. The sequel, helmed by Griptonite, is a much more ambitious design but in a more restrictive 2D environment. The result is a much more fulfilling and fun DS experience that runs parallel to the far more elaborate console production, and while I had problems with the blind jumps and trial-and-error, mapless gameplay, I had a great time with Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery.

Full review IGN