Game of the Month: Assassin’s Creed II

Posted on 25 December, 2009 by Matthias Scheler

As I already liked its prequel I was looking forward to the release of Assassin’s Creed II. It continues the story of Desmond Miles who got involved in a war between two secret organisations, the Assassins and the Templars. Once again Desmond uses a machine called the Animus to relive the memories of one of his ancestors.

The basic course of the game hasn’t changed since the first game. You control a character who moves in a three dimensional landscape resembling historic sites. This time the story line takes you to Italy in the late 15th century where you guide an assassin going by the name of Ezio Auditore during his search for the murderers of his father and brothers.

The game retained all the advantages of its prequel:

  1. Brilliant graphics, especially the virtual Venice is worth seeing.
  2. Cities full of people who socially interact with your character.
  3. A fighting system well-balanced between challenge and fairness.
  4. A fascinating storyline.

The designers also got rid of the annoying parts:

  1. No more investigation phases to unlock main missions.
  2. Collecting flags is (mostly) gone.
  3. No tedious horse riding through a landscape full of aggressive, respawning soldiers.
  4. The interruptions by the plot taking place in the present time are less frequent and less irritating.

New elements make the game even more interesting:

  1. The goal of the main missions vary to some degree. Dispatching an enemy is often not good enough. You e.g. need to follow him to a secret meeting without being discovered first.
  2. Treasure hunts in dungeons which require expert climbing and careful jumping pay homage to Tomb Raider.
  3. Running the Auditore family’s countryside villa introduces an admittedly very simple economic simulation into the game.
  4. The ability to buy weapons, armour and other equipment or get extra training for money adds elements of a role-playing game.

All in all Assassin’s Creed II provides hours of fun with just the right level of difficulty accompanied by an entertaining story. I’m already looking forward to the third part of the series.

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Movie of the Week: Law Abiding Citizen

Posted on 13 December, 2009 by Matthias Scheler

The justice systems is sometimes hard to comprehend. Criminals walk free, politicians don’t even get charged with anything and people downloading music from the Internet are treated like dangerous criminals.

Law Abiding Citizen tells the story of a man who feels betrayed by the justice system after the murderer of his wife and daughter walks free due to a deal with the district attorney. He takes justice in his own hands and doesn’t only go after the criminals but also after the people who failed to prosecute the culprits.

The movie is a well done thriller. The main character Clyde Shelton is terrifying and likeable at the same time, hero and villain in one person. Gerard Butler‘s performance in this role is excellent. He manages to engage sympathy for a stone-cold killer.

If you like a good thriller with action and an original story you don’t to want miss Law Abiding Citizen.

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Holiday on Madeira

Posted on 15 November, 2009 by Matthias Scheler

On our quest to explore sunny islands in the Atlantic Silke and I have already visited Tenerife and Gran Canaria. Our latest exploratory trip took us to Funchal on the Portuguese island Madeira. We were welcomed by sunshine, blue skies and a gentle breeze which was a relief after the dreadful autumn weather in England.

On the way to the hotel we noticed that Madeira is very mountainous and features much more luscious vegetation than the Canary Islands.

Vegetation on Madeira

This is due to the rainy climate in the mountains which provides ample water that is distributed over the island via levadas.

After relaxing in Funchal for two days Silke and I finally went on our first tour of the island. We decided to drive to Ribeiro Frio to visit the Laurisilva forest. When we arrived up there we gained first hand experience with the humid climate in Madeira’s mountains.

Clouds in Madeira's Mountains

When we got sufficiently wet we drove to Ponta de São Lourenço, at the east end of Madeira. There at sea level the weather was much nicer. The view on the Atlantic Ocean was splendid.

Atlantic Ocean at Ponta de São Lourenço

Two days later we had forgotten about the rains in the mountains and went on another tour, this time to Rabaçal. When we arrived there the weather was alright and the view was stunning.

Mountains near Rabacal

But while we were walking down into the valley it started to rain lightly. We carried on nevertheless and decided to follow the path to the 25 Fountains, it was only 2.5km after all. But the path was narrow, steep and muddy and slippery from the rain. It took over an hour of effort to finally get there. But the spectacle at the destination was well worth it.

25 Fountains on Madeira

After enjoying the view for a few minutes we set off on the laborious way back to our car. When we finally arrived there we were happy to get out of the rain and being able to sit down.

On our last day on Madeira Silke and I took it easy. We granted our sore legs a day with little activities and a massage to loosen the stiff muscles. We felt slightly sad when we had to leave the island the day after. We really liked it on Madeira and are considering to come back outside the rainy season to explore the rest of the island.

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