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Fails to Live Up to Original

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 12 / 18
Date: February 16, 2008
Author: Amazon User

A prequel to Assassin's Creed, "Altair's Chronicles" explores the titular assassin's life before the events detailed in Assassin's creed. It also makes the rather clumsy transition from the PS3 and Xbox 360 to the Nintendo DS.

The story is much more simple in this game than in the original, possibly because if the events of this game were particularly ground-breaking the events of the original would not make as much sense. Altair is attempting to find the Chalice - a powerful artifact said to be able to unite many groups under a single banner - by the order of his superiors. If the Crusaders or Saracens should find it, they would use it to end the Crusades and dominate the holy land. Notably absent is the "modern day" setting present in Assassin's Creed - showing the use of the Animus machine to re-live past events and so on (though the main menu is meant to be the Animus' display).

The gameplay is meant to be similar to Assassin's Creed, but isn't quite as advanced. Altair runs, jumps, and climbs like he does in the original, though with slightly less grace. Attacking has been reduced to attacking, blocking, and countering, with a lot less of the subtlety that made it so fun in Assassin's Creed. The top screen usually displays gameplay, while the bottom screen holds a map showing where all the people in the area are. Certain activities, like interrogation and pickpocketing, have been turned into touch-screen minigames. The former relies on a timed sequence of point-pressing to simulate pressure points, while the latter involves dragging an item through a bag without touching the bag's other contents. Instead of the old system of getting upgrades after completing missions, Altair must now collect "blue orbs" - slightly out of place in the otherwise fairly realistic setting - to upgrade his health and weaponry.

The graphics didn't survive the transition to the DS very well. The attempt at 3d is grainy and blocky, with little of the detail shown in Assassin's Creed. The level design is especially artificial, contrasted with the occasionally improbable but still acceptable cities in the original. In Altair's Chronicles, the buildings seem much less sensibly constructed, with one village containing giant stone arches and pillars that seemed out of place amidst its otherwise low-level construction (of course, you have to follow the path up and across the pillars the continue). As a whole, they seem fairly obviously like an attempt to compress cutting-edge graphics into a portable system (see also the GBA Splinter Cell games). The sound is similarly disappointing, being barely noteworthy in any sense of the word.

As a whole, the game fails to live up to the original Assassin's Creed. Even on its own, it's not a very good game. Despite an attempt to use the dual screen function, it seems more like a gimmick than an actual gameplay point. This game just doesn't have anything that the original did; everything, from story to gameplay to technical things, is eclipsed by the original.

4/10.

Enjoyable while it lasts

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 13
Date: February 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Assassin's Creed makes its way to the DS, and provides some solid fun despite a hiccup or two. Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles is a prequel of sorts as you play as deadly assassin Altair and take on some Price of Persia-esque platforming gameplay. Despite the 3-D environments, Assassin's Creed is more in tune of being a side scroller, which makes the game feel all the more linear. However, the game looks surprisingly good and well rendered, even though there is a somewhat choppy frame rate. The platforming elements is where Assassin's Creed on the DS shines, but the game's combat system is disappointingly shallow, while the game also offers some moderately enjoyable touch screen features. The game also features some great sound design borrowed from its console brethren, which is a big plus as well. Finally, the game is sadly quite short. You can get through Assassin's Creed in one sitting, and the game isn't all that difficult either minus some checkpoint glitches which are more annoying than anything else. Despite its drawbacks, Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles is a fun diversion while it lasts, and is definitely worth a look for platform loving DS owners or fans of the franchise, but whether or not it is worth picking up is entirely up to you.

A side-scroller with some good elements

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: February 20, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The good:
- Side scroller with Prince of Persia / Tomb Raider type of gameplay. Good level design and good graphics.

The bad:
- Controls are just horrible. Altair hardly ever does what you want him to do. Jumping from the wall-rope anywhere is an exercise in frustration.
- Wasted opportunity. Yes, this is DS, it does not have the graphics power of a console, but still... Is this the best they could do with this license?
- Game is very short. Took us around 8 hours, but it can probably be finished even faster.

The ugly:
- This game fails the #1 design rule: don't let the player move to a different area if the player did not complete all objectives! There are at least 2 moments in the game, where a big green arrow shows you to move forward, when instead you have to do something else where you are. If you move forward, you will get stuck and have to reload the level.
An example of this stupid design decision is Level 10.1, where you have to blow up a column, before you should be moving forward. If you do not do this, you will reach a place with 3 pressure plates. An unsolvable puzzle, if you missed the 'unmarked', no-Green-Arrow objective.

Overall: Buy this only if you must ... I love the XBox 360 Assassin's Creed, but this DS game has nothing to do with that.
I would recommend not to buy this game.

Unenjoyable.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: April 05, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I simply did not enjoy this game. I expected a portable version of the console game, and I was largely disappointed when I played a mediocre platformer.

The controls are clunky, and while the graphics push the DS to their limits, the unrealistic death scenes, cheap deaths such as hitting the water, and overall clunky controls with the D-Pad are just lame. It felt like a platformer from the Nintendo 64 age. And while the mini-games are fun, the lower-half of the DS is sparingly used, and the graphical effects beyond the textured 3D are just unimpressive and unimaginative. The game lacks the stealth components and free-roaming game-play that made its console big-brother great.

I was hugely disappointed and it was a waste of my money. I wouldn't recommend this to anybody.

Sweet game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 15
Date: February 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

More and more lately there have been great AAA games available for the DS, and quite a few of them are more adult oriented than the usual kiddie fare. This game is sweet! Offering quite a bit of sophistication for the system and displaying some of the best graphics seen to date on the DS, the story will also hook you and pull you into the world of Altair, a much feared assassin. I've never felt so immersed on such a small screen. I feel like I AM Altair every time I play this. Excellent!

Awsome Game...But...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: February 22, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have played games in the past,mostly Tetris and puzzle games but never an RPG type of game,and I have never finished a game before. I really love this game I have started AND finished it( it took me 3 weeks more because I could only play it at lunch and in the evenings when my kids were in bed), If you knew me you would know that that is a feat. I get board with games pretty easily so I never finish them. The only draw back that I found is that you couldn't change the Views for the character. The little arrow would be pointing to the left or right and you couldn't see were to jump. Needless to say I Died A LOT, the cool part with that is it Saves A LOT too so once I completed an obsticle i never had to do it again. I have an 8 year old and I probibly wouldn't let him play it only because he would get frusterated due to the camera angles.

Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: April 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Very good, better than i expected from a handheld game, obviously does not measure up to original, but much better than expected, good gameplay, interesting plot, if a bit sketchy, some glitches, but nothing major, very good game over-all

Can't compare...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I think I'm one of the few people who hasn't played this on the XBox, so I can't compare the two different versions (but there seems to already be plenty of those reviews). I picked this game up a few weeks ago when it was a Gold Box deal, I figured it was worth a try for the price.

Overall I found the game enjoyable, but felt that it ended too soon. I got to the final battle and found myself saying "that's it?" I felt very cheated by the outcome of the game. I would have liked for it to play out a bit more. So now, it has me thinking about buying the XBox version now, so that I can find out what happens next.

I think it would probably be a good introduction to the XBox/PS version of Assassin's Creed. I know some other reviews mentioned having difficulty control Altair, but for the most part I found it fairly easy - possibly because I have never played the other version, so I didn't have to learn a new set of controls. There were some weapons that I felt they could've done without. I didn't find the posion daggers or smoke bombs to be effective at all in a combat setting. I mainly relied heavily on my sword, and occasionily the crossbow (which comes up later in the game, but isn't available all the time).

Better than expected.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I got Assassins's Creed when it was on sale for $15 a couple weeks back, so if you can find it for cheap, than it is worth it, but i wouldn't waste $30 on it. After reading all the mediocre reviews, I had pretty low expectations for the game, but it defintely isn't as bad as a lot of people are saying it is.

I, too, have yet to play the console version, so i can't compare, hoeever, you can't really compare a handheld version the console versions, its not really fair. So far, i think it's a solid platformer, and I have yet to run into any of these so called glitches or anything. It's not quite worth 5 stars, but it does deserve a better rating than what it has now. Its probably worth 3.5-4. Heres to hoping Assassins Creed DS 2 is a little less of a platformer and more like the console versions.

Fun game for all ages....Story Line Concept, not a big fan

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is a fun game to play. My three year old son has really enjoyed beating up the bad guys with his sword. It has some reading, but it really isn't necessary to be able to read, since you just follow the arrow to where you need to go. He has really enjoyed it so far. The story line is that you are basically on the other side of the crusades and the Templers are the "bad guys". So you are an assassin killing off the Templar. Not exactly the "team" I really would be on, so it is probably best my son can't read just yet. Other than the storyline, the game itself is fun. The graphics are good, the game play is good, and it is overall a fun game. Just be aware of the story line. This story line could be very touchy especially in today's world with the strife still going on in the Middle East. Now the assassins strap bombs on themselves and blow themselves up in crowds of people, hoping to take out their targets. The "holy war" still continues today, unfortunately. This is why I had to give it a lower grade then it would have received from me.

[...]

I hope this helps with your decision to buy this or not. For some the story line may not be a big deal and just want to play a fun game, for others it could be a big deal. So I wanted to make you aware of it all.

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