Not content with the current unforgiving onslaught of Assassin’s titles that do little to move the franchise forward Ubisoft now bring you Chronicles: China. Moving away from the intricate open worlds of full titles Chronicles is a 2D scroller set, rather obviously, in China. But Assassin’s Creed is Assassin’s Creed and try though I might to resist I still get hooked into every new game.
My biggest problem with the franchise is the lack of direction and seemingly zero intention of pursuing the ultimate ending we are assured is planned. It definitely seems the primary goal is to squeeze games out at any cost. The move into a 2D world feels more like this than ever. There’s really very little attempt at a plot other than a token reason for you to go around assassinating certain people to retrieve an item. Fair enough I wasn’t expecting much in the way of plot for a 2D scroller but there’s little to no attempt at injecting the larger Assassin’s Creed world around Chronicles. It’s very much a stand alone addition with little connection to the wider story and lore. Other than the fact our protagonist was trained by Ezio. Again. Apparently.
Considering gameplay is completely different to anything else we’ve seen before it does a surprisingly good job of mimicking the 3D world. Most of your time is spent sneaking around to slip past guards or killing them silently. There’s also the opportunity for open fights should you want them. The lack of depth that a 3D world allows does become a problem before too long though. Even during some full AC titles the missions can become repetitive but with the limited possibilities to either slink into the background or hide in a hay bale action quickly becomes repetitive.
This isn’t helped by the fact that guards are really quite dense. And I’m talking by AC standards. There are convenient sight lines strutting from every guards face that allow you to sneak past easily – which isn’t hard given that all the guards seem to be badly short sighted. It’s fun for a while even if it is a little on the easy side but after an hour or so I expected a ramp in difficulty. Unfortunately the mechanics are just so limited that there isn’t any room for a difficult ramp.
Right up to the end of the game puzzles and solutions are still exactly the same. There’s a real opportunity for a game that makes you think within the AC world. I’m thinking Hitman GO but Assassin’s Creed. As it happens there wasn’t even enough challenge and different puzzles to keep me interested for the 5 hours of the game.
Ironically the most fun I had goes completely against the thinking game and was actually during the fighting or escape scenes. Hopping from ledge to ledge, back ejecting and diving from impossible heights was when Chronicles came to life. It’s also when it best mimicked one of its 3D counterparts. It’s the last place I expected to find enjoyment but there it was.
The combat is appropriately simple but satisfying too. I was always a fan of AC when it’s combat was simple and basically made you feel like a complete badass. With a few elegantly thrown punches and high kicks your foes are cut down. It’s not challenging but it is fun. Sadly just like the rest of the game there isn’t space for expansion or evolution of mechanics as the game progresses. Before the end the magic had worn off.
One thing Chronicles definitely has going for it right up to the end is style. There is a gorgeous Asian artwork style to blood splatters when you take enemies out and cutscenes look like living paintings. Chronicles looks undeniably good throughout.
But it’s difficult to remain interested in a game that shamelessly does nothing to engage the player. The completely missed opportunity for a puzzle game or an expanded version of the management style mini games within the full titles baffles me. I cannot see why Ubisoft opted for this instead. Decent stealth puzzles with a real challenge would have been infinitely more desirable than a four hour guard slaughter with very limited mechanics.
At only 4 or 5 hours long Chronicles still gets boring before the end. Chronicles really just feels like another needless AC tie in that forgets the wider franchise. It’s not that it’s a bad game and I certainly had fun at points. There just isn’t enough interesting gameplay or plot in chronicles to really get involved.
