This is a review of the video game soundtrack Assassin’s Creed II by Jesper Kyd.
“What is in here is enough quality to make even the most sceptic of game music fans come alive.”
Jesper Kyd is back with the sequel to Assassin’s Creed, and this time with lots more music. The game itself was released back in 2007 and it was an incredible game, but they have managed to make it even better. The original soundtrack from 2007 was well received by fans and critics, but not by me. I didn’t quite like the score, which felt messy and wasn’t atmospheric enough for the game. At times I think I am the only one who thought that, because I believe it even scooped up some awards (please correct me if I am wrong). The last time around, the music was about 45 minutes, and now it is a massive 1 hour and 53 minutes on 2 CDs. Fans of game music rejoice! But wait, we are missing one crucial point here, is it any good? Let’s find out!
Track List
CD1
1. Earth (****)
2. Venice Rooftops (****)
3. Ezio’s Family (*****)
4. Florence Tarantella (****)
5. Home In Florence (****)
6. Approaching Target 1 (***)
7. Approaching Target 2 (*****)
8. Venice Fight (****)
9. Florence Escape (***)
10. Tour of Venice (*****)
11. Flight Over Venice 1 (*****)
12. Back In Venice (****)
13. Dreams of Venice (****)
14. Home of the Brotherhood (****)
15. Leonardo’s Inventions, Pt. 1 (****)
16. Venice Combat Low (***)
17. Venice Escape (***)
CD2
1. Darkness Falls In Florence (****)
2. Sanctuary (****)
3. The Madam (*****)
4. Approaching Target 3 (****)
5. Flight Over Venice 2 (****)
6. Ezio In Florence (***)
7. Venice Industry (****)
8. Stealth (***)
9. Venice Combat (***)
10. Notorious (***)
11. Night Mission In Venice (***)
12. Chariot Chase (***)
13. The Plague (****)
14. Wetlands Combat (***)
15. Wetlands Escape (***)
16. Leonardo’s Inventions, Pt. 2 (****)
17. Hideout (****)
18. The Animus 2.0 (***)
7.4 Times Better
Jesper Kyd should be a common name by game music fans now. He is mostly known for creating the music for the Hitman series, but also written music for Unreal Tournament III and Freedom Fighters to name a couple. When I saw the trailer for Assassin’s Creed II, I noticed the music in it was very different from the first game, it felt truly updated and exciting. I was wondering if it was Jesper Kyd’s own music that was being used and I now know that it is. So when the copy arrived at my doorstep, I was really excited, tore up the packaging while taking care not to ruin the contents. It wasn’t long until the first CD was playing on my computer, then the second. You know what I discovered? This is about 7.4 times better than the first Assassin’s Creed soundtrack. I’m not kidding!
The atmosphere is truly there within the game and the score. It’s hardly recognizable from the first score (except a few cues), and that might shock and even upset some fans. I feel this is the perfect way to go with the game and music. The choir is pretty much the only thing left, and even that sounds hell of a lot better in my ears. Gone are the messy cues, and in comes the atmosphere and melodies that you really want to listen to again and again. It’s a slight ethnic style like the first one, but it sounds a lot more controlled and better composed than the first Assassin’s Creed.
Conclusion
The highlights of this score are the ones that are most melodic and are extremely atmospheric (hint: uses a lot of voice). The big change here is that Jesper Kyd is using a woman’s voice that’s almost like an Italian opera mixed in with ethnicity. Sure, with so many cues (35 in fact), there are bound to be some fillers in there but that’s to be expected. What is in here is enough quality to make even the most sceptic of game music fans come alive. I would say that if he cut out some of the fat and left the meat, it would be on one CD and that would perhaps have been just right.
What do you think about Assassin’s Creed II? Let me know in the comments section below!
Listen to Assassin’s Creed II by Jesper Kyd below:
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personally, i thought the first score did a far better job of capturing the mood and feel of the game. the score for AC1 never struck me as being out of place, which is a feeling i got several times with AC2.
beyond that, the themes in AC1 seemed stronger to me as well, the AC2 score seemed pretty workman-like.
i was rather disappointed by it.
This is one of the top game soundtracks of the year. Enzio’s family, tour of Venice, and Flight over Venice are three tracks I can listen to over and over.
Interesting. AC1 was certainly more unique, but I felt it was all over the place ruining the mood for me.
It’s high quality all over, but for me it’s not in the top 5. Hey, I got high standards
I didn’t really find the first AC soundtrack all that great either; I mean, it had its good points, but it wasn’t really special. But the second one far surpasses anything Kyd has done before. I would actually rate this one in the 8.5-9.5 range instead of 8.
When compared to the first one, perhaps a higher score would be appropriate. I judged the score on it’s own and 8 is just about right I thought.