Assassin’s Creed II Is Still The Best Game In The Series

2009’s Assassin’s Creed II is arguably still the best entry in Ubisoft’s mammoth franchise, and there are plenty of good reasons why.

[-Foxtrot]

and yet 6 games after, none of them have come close to beating it

I would say Black Flags but as good as that was the game was not an Assassins Creed game

[gillri]

AC2 is my favourite

[-Foxtrot]

Same

Like I said there's Black Flags but despite being a good game how can anyone say it's the better game

The series is called ASSASSINS Creed...not Pirate Creed. The story, characters, new features in Black Flags just don't fit Assassins Creed at all.

So if I had to choose the best Assassins Creed game it would be ACII

[FITgamer]

Same, but it was the last one i played lol.

[StormLegend]

Brotherhood is way better than AC 2

I don't know how AC 2 is better.

[gillri]

better story with more character developement, plus the 'Assassins Tomb's' were better than the 'Lair of Romului'

[Magnes]

I agree with you Travis. AC3 with all Its dlc was my favorite but AC2 was the just as good. I liked taking out all the towers it was a fun Distraction from the main story.

[PhucSeeker]

Yup, Brotherhood perfected the formula for me. It's also the the first one to get an awesome weird multiplayer mode which had then been recycled over and over till its death.

[Scrivlar]

I don't know about what's a better game overall but I've enjoyed Black Flag the most.

[Hroach616]

Have to agree with you

[WellyUK]

Black Flag was good because of the naval gameplay without that it wouldn't of been very good.

[goku]

Yep still my favourite game to this day and have ordered it again on ps3 to 100% it like I did with the xbox 360 version.

[generic-user-name]

I dunno, AC2 and Brotherhood are pretty close together in rank for me. Though 2 was still the best overall, shame they can't recapture the magic.

[PC_60]

AC3 is my favourite

[Neonridr]

it's sad then that AC 3 was my first entry into the series.

[superterabyte]

The second worst!
list:
AC 2
AC Brotherhood
AC Black Flag
AC Revelations
AC 3
Assassin's Creed
List doesn't include unity and syndicate because I haven't played them.

[PhucSeeker]

AC3 is the start of the series's downgrade for me.

Combat has been simplified. With older titles, there're 2 stance: defend and offend. And you have to use them effectively against different type of enemies. AC3 only has attack button, defense button and a break-defense button. Now with Syndicate, it is just a button masher.

And the parkour in the old ones was great, you grab nearby ledges to climb and when you see one that are faraway, you had to jump and use a hook to try and grab it. After AC3, the characters just float in mid air and magically grab that tiny ledge. Also auto running all wall with just a trigger is pain in the ass to navigate about too. Hold the trigger in tight place and the guy goes nuts.

When things get mainstreamed, the core elements will be dumb-downed (for me at least). I saw this not just in video games but in music as well.

[Heyxyz]

Same, but I got 2 later and loved it.

[Sir_Simba]

AC II is my favourite too, it also the best, I think what made it the special was Ezio. The game was centred around him, how he grow up, what he witnessed and the challenges he faced. It was just awesome, you got to know him. We got to see him grow old and even die ffs. Thats awesome.

Since AC 3 everything is been about the locations, same I think happened to far cry, the 3rd one was centred around vaas and you, then Far cry 4 went all about the Himalayas, it just wasn't the same any-more.

[spicelicka]

And the last Assassin's creed I beat.

[ufo8mycat]

Gameplay wise is AC2 better? Are people just remembering how they felt about AC2 THEN, rather then how it would be playing it now?

I remember how it was when I played it and the gameplay was great, but that was then. What is more important is how it would be now?

Honestly, if I played it again now, I don't think it would stack up gameplay wise to games like Black Flag.

Story and characters is a different story.

[Sly-Lupin]

Agreed. Black Flag's naval combat and exploration is better than any other AC game, and AC3's frontier was the best stealth sandbox in the series.

[magiciandude]

Assassin's Creed II and IV are still the best games in the series.

[WeAreLegion]

Story? Sure. Overall, Black Flag is the best in the series.

[NotanotherReboot]

Nope, Unity.

[DaGR8JIBRALTAR]

Nah part 2, then syndicate, then unity and black flag.

[guyman]

unity was a piece of crap. The bugs, disjointed and bland story, clunky gameplay and uninspired main character. I also dont get the praise syndicate is getting. It really wasnt anything special - dat cringeworthy final boss battle though.

[zsquaresoff]

Black flag has the honour of being the best Asscreed game to date.

The naval combat and the shanties. Good times.

[NovusTerminus]

Different aspects per game.

Brotherhood had the best combat
Black Flag was overall best (story was stupid)
Unity actually felt like an Assassin.

[Summons75]

But...Brotherhood did everything 2 did but better and they added in a lot of more awesome content. Brotherhood is the best in the series, and the last good game in the series.

[Tauriel]

The assassins's tombs, the glyphs, the story... And Florence (God I love this city)
Definitely AC2 is the best for me.

[user9950279]

and thats saying something, because it got boring and could never bring myself to finish it. Never bothered with AC after the second one. Too shallow in the combat department for my liking. And now you cant murder innocent people.

[WellyUK]

AC1 is personally my favorite just because of the setting and it was fresh.

[JasonBloodbourne]

Same here mate, I actually hated AC2. Next for me was black flag.

[WellyUK]

I didn't hate it but I never really liked Ezio or the setting, found him uninteresting. Going to get disagrees but meh. The only one after that which had a good setting was Black Flag and Syndicate for me. I like most of the AC games though except Unity which was just terrible.

[StormLegend]

No it's not!

AC Brotherhood is the best one in the series.

[Eterna1Ice]

I'd say it's a tie between II and Brotherhood.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Syndicate all the way

[R6ex]

Evie & Elise all the way!!! :)

[TwoForce]

AC 2 is my favorite game. Man, i loved that game so much.

[Relientk77]

Yeah 2 is amazing, then Brotherhood. Amazing games

[Bercilak]

There's one simple reason why "AC II" is the best in the series, and that reason can be summed up in two words:

Patrice Desilets

[Nucler100]

3 was my favorite.

[P_Bomb]

AC4 is what I'd recommend to anyone looking to play an AC game in 2015. If they liked that, I'd recommend Rogue too as its direct sequel. Enjoyed exploring eastern Canada and Sleepy Hollow by the Appalachian valley after the tropical Carribean.

I don't have the desire to debate whether or not the Kenway era are "real" AC games. AC was never just about killing targets, or it'd be called Hitman. Rogue for example, had the sea combat and exploring of #4 but also lots of classic assassinations from a Templar pov. Too bad most never played it.

[victorMaje]

AC 2 & Brotherhood!
If I had to pick one I'd go for brotherhood, Ubi could have done so much from there, dunno what happened from Revelations & on...oh well here's to Ezio!

[ShiranaiJittai]

No Brotherhood was when the cracks started to show. It's all downhill from there. Brotherhood was still good but the quality between II and Brotherhood are night and day. As is the length of the game. As is the difficulty of the game. As is the size of the environments. As is even the Animus Menu detail. As is everything else. Brotherhood had a great twist and it was still good. It just wasn't ACII and the first time I noticed something was "off" with these yearly releases. Which so many freaking companies now follow as their damn business model. ACII is good, ACI isn't as bad as people say but isn't ACII. III isn't. Great ideas time period full of story potential turned into fetch quests. Black Flag was a breath of fresh air but still not ACII.

Haven't played Syndicate after playing Unity I pretty much will not play an Ubisoft game until 6 months after release (give time to polish or pretend to polish most of the games issues) don't care how bad I want to play it their PR lies to a criminal extent.

You will notice I didn't list some titles? F**k Unity, F*c* Revelations, **ck every damn handheld title. Well actually haven't played Liberation so can't comment on that one. Also haven't played any of the damn dlc that should of been in the game to begin with. Where in most cases you can tell it fits neatly in where the story just ripped out 20 pages of it's plot before randomly jumping from chapter 3 to 4.7.

Sadly Ubisoft can just go to hell until they restructure the entirety of the way they operate their business of lies and buggy releases.

[victorMaje]

I know exactly how you feel! Now I need a favor, will you let me know if syndicate is worth playing (if you ever play it)? I'm not touching that until a reliable AC source tells me I should & I think I found it :)

[PistolsAtDawn]

Nah 2 was great, but Black Flag is the best one, then for me Syndicate, Brotherhood, Unity then the rest are kinda lumped together with AC3 at the bottom....by a ton.

[FN4GM]

Could we please start adding 'Opinion Piece' to these articles that are nothing but.

[ShiranaiJittai]

You mean like where it is listed? In the Opinion Piece section? On this very page right next to the person who typed it? Anywhere else you need it?

[R6ex]

For me, Syndicate is the best, followed by Unity, then AC2 and I could not bring myself to complete the rest.

[BronyAssassin]

I liked Assassin's Creed III
But I think I found Assassin's Creed Revelations better because it was the ending for both Altair and Ezio, and the moment Ezio stares down at Altair, i cried so much ;-; *cries* it was heartbreaking for me :(
Also Asssassin's Creed III, Connor Lost everything.
His mom and dad, his best friend, His mentor, his village, got betrayed for those he helped...

I feel Assassin's Creed lost this touch after Black Flag

[ShiranaiJittai]

I agree. So much agree. One of my all time favorite games. Not one game in the series has come close to even half as good as ACII not even Armored Core 2 which was decent as well.