Globe and Mail posts a lengthy and unusual Q&A with AC2 director Benoit Lambert on the nuts and bolts of developing a game's level of difficulty. Says Mr. Lambert:
"...But what does difficulty mean? What is a challenge? How can you ensure fun when it comes to difficulty?
Let's forget about games for a couple of minutes and remind ourselves of the first time we rode a bicycle. If you learned how to ride a bicycle properly, if you were trained using a tricycle, if you encountered some success for the first few metres you were riding, then you will want to ride more. You will feel you are progressing and you will expect to continue experiencing new emotions and new challenges.
Similarly, Assassin's Creed 2 is all about learning. You are becoming someone you are not: The best assassin there is. It is true not only for the main character, who is by no means an assassin at first, but also for the player (I hope). The game design, the story, the environment...everything steers toward this objective of allowing the player to properly learn, receive rewards, and face new and adapted challenges..."
GF365: "Oftentimes, video games have characters who are antagonistic and really not very pleasant. Here are some of the friendliest characters in games where you might not otherwise expect to find them."
This weekend from August 10-14, players can play for free Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood, Revelations, Black Flag and Valhalla on Xbox, PlayStation and PC (availability dependent on platform).
GF365: "Most games are not perfect and that may be because of a character or an enemy. Here are 10 mediocre bosses in great games."
The Pursuer from Dark Spuls 2 was great, I think the author just sucks at games.
The gentleman interviewed really didn't want to give a definitive answer to the difficulty question, and he's right, it's all about the person playing it in some aspects.
Still no mentioning on the stealth aspect of the game. He mentioned briefly the re-tuning of the detection system, which I can only assume was in reference to the guards ability to spot you/find you. What have they done to the stealth aspect as a whole to counter-balance it?
Have they included more places to hide (Ezio can swim so is that a possibility?) Is their a deeper, more thought out crowd based stealth component?
I would love an article discussing the stealth aspect of the game ,where it's headed, and it's contribution to the final product as a whole.