Stealthy adventuring it's not
Despite the green arrow, Assassin's Creed Altair’s Chronicles does display some of the traits that made Assassin's Creed so enchanting. As you traverse the cities and rooftops, there’s a soothing blend of natural sounds, such as background chatter, clucking chickens and church bells ringing. There’s also a pleasant blend of orchestral music, choirs and Middle-Eastern instrumentals that fills the streets with a warm vibe.Despite this oldy-worldy atmosphere and the admittedly crisp visuals, the game's main irritation is the combat, which doesn’t quite live up to expectations and becomes repetitive the further you venture into the five hours or so of game-play.
Combat is quite good fun for the first hour, with acrobatic attacks and high flying kicks being the order of the day, but after slaughtering your hundredth Templar, it becomes nothing more than a button bashing chore. You can pull of a few combos, which on the whole look great and animate well, but the counter attacks and blocking maneuvers often feel out of sync with the action.
Aside from platforming and combat, there are also a few mini-games that crop up which use the stylus to good effect and provide a welcome respite from the main game-play.
The pick-pocketing missions show you a picture of the inside of a pocket on the lower of the two dual-screens and you need to move the item that you’re stealing (e.g. a key) with the stylus by maneuvering it around other items whilst trying not to touch them. Interrogation on the other hand requires you to tap pressure points on the informant’s body in order to make him spill the beans. It’s simple stuff, but once you’ve slipped off yet another roof, you’ll be glad to try something different.
Overall, Assassin's Creed Altair’s Chronicles is a fairly forgettable experience. It’s not the worst platformer I’ve ever played, not by any means, but it’s also far from being the best. The best way to sum it would be that if I was a schoolteacher and Ubisoft sent me a copy of Assassin's Creed Altair’s Chronicles as its homework, I’d mark it 6/10, scribe in big bold writing: ‘Distinctly average. Could have done better’ and swiftly move onto marking the next one.
Pros
Nice graphics
Audio captures the Middle Eastern atmosphere
Mini-games compliment the action well
Cons
Falling off roofs, constantly
Falling off roofs and then being chased by guards, constantly
Combat feels clunky
Looks nice, has some decent moments, but doesn’t leave any lasting impression.
HEXUS Awards
Assassin's Creed Altair’s Chronicles (6/10)
