LordOfLore
Banned
Yeah, I agree.
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On Nov. 15, Ubisoft released Assassins Creed The Ezio Collection for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It encompasses the trilogy of games about Ezio Auditore da Firenze, which are widely considered the strongest portion of the long-running Assassins Creed series.
We took a spin in Assassins Creed 2 and compared it to the backward compatible Assassins Creed 2 that was originally released on the Xbox 360. We played both versions on the Xbox One.
Right off the bat youll notice that something ... happened. There are some definite improvements in the remastered version. The draw distance is clearer, it has better anti-aliasing and colors are more vibrant. The stonework on the buildings is also more defined.
But whatever attention was paid to rendering the beautiful buildings of Florence seems to have been wasted on the characters faces. Ezios tan skin has been lightened to blotchy pink, in what looks like an effort to add texture. All the main characters suffer a little from patchy skin and popping eyes. But the biggest victim is this guy right here:
What happened to him? His outfit has even changed between the original (top) and the remaster (below). He applied a nice shade of plum lipstick and did some work on his brows. And those eyes!
The faces arent the only thing that changed. Ezio now climbs like a freaking spider monkey:
This is not sped up.
In playing the remaster, it felt like I was getting stuck on buildings more often. When I reached the top of a building, Ezio would refuse to climb up onto the roof.
Its not all bad. Check out 2:16 to see a beautiful Italian sunrise. The roof tiles and stonework look great these are definite improvements.
But I dont think anyone could say that the character models have been improved, and somehow the gameplay has become clumsier. Replaying the original Assassins Creed 2 on the Xbox One emphasizes how much it is a product of its time. Still, its a classic. The strange new animation choices and character updates of the remaster take away some of the charm from a much-loved game.
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