Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China Reviews
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China does a lot of the hard stuff well, but can't convey the rush of being an assassin.
A stripped down stealth offering that reinvigorates Assassin's Creed by putting attention back on the sneaky stuff.
'Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China' features a unique art style and fun level design, but the stealth-focused gameplay starts to wear thin after a while.
Though it sheds many of the series' best elements, Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China has its own charm, and is worth a play for those in search of a simple stealth experience.
This spin-off starts strong, yet loses steam the further you progress
Chronicles: China is the smartest twist on the Assassin's Creed formula yet
It is the most sumptuous and stealth-focused Assassin's Creed yet, but Chronicles: China doesn't assemble its pieces into a gratifying whole.
An entertaining if perosnality-light translation of Assassin's Creed from open-world 3D to linear 2D.
A refreshing take on the extended fiction of the series, and the most stealthy to date.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China feels like an Assassin's Creed game without the sense of adventure and scope, and a Prince of Persia game without the cool platforming and exciting combat.
However, the game's main problem is that it's just rather dull overall. Perhaps it's the push to avoid enemy contact or the lackluster sound design or the droning music, but Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China never really comes to life. It's a different take on side-scrolling gameplay, but the added depth doesn't save it from feeling flat.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China is a decent change of pace for the franchise. The goals are more focused and deliver some great stealth gameplay across the approximately five hours it takes to complete. With all the open world distractions stripped away I felt like I was playing a proper assassin-based title, with the only focus being to take out the target. The issues with the combat, as well as a story that feels shallow, combined with lackluster delivery, detract from the overall experience.
As a 2D interpretation of Assassin's Creed this works perfectly well, but the workmanlike design and bland atmosphere makes it hard to get excited about.
Still, I think of how The Devil Inside essentially is a film with no third act. By the same token, ACC: China never really lets the itself soar. Everything feels deliberately muted. And that leads Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China being ultimately just as forgettable as The Devil Inside.
Despite its issues, Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China is one of the most entertaining experiences I've had from the series in a while.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China has the makings of a good 2D Prince of Persia re-awakening, but it lacks a lot of character both aesthetically and mechanically. Still, there's very little actually wrong with it if you're looking for another platformer to add to your pile. Hopefully future iterations of the Chronicles subseries can build upon the foundation that China has provided.
That is kind of the way Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China feels like in general — it starts out okay, but soon becomes dull fairly quickly thanks to a lackluster plot and uninspired gameplay. While there is a lot to explore, especially considering the $10 price tag, the poor enemy AI and almost useless gadgets probably won't have you staying in the game's visually beautiful world for long. Unless you are the world's biggest Assassin's Creed fan, you should probably think long and hard before giving this a go.
Retaining the flavor of core Assassin's games without the stodginess and content padding that undermines them, China is – in my humble opinion, of course – a superior Assassin's Creed production. It's clear that China took the best bits of its larger siblings and added its own flavor – I feel the big budget work of Ubisoft Montpelier would be served well by returning the gesture.
Without a better story, and the game ending before you can really ever test your mettle, Assassin's Creed Chronicles feels lackluster.
This side-scrolling spinoff of the famous series is a striking, well-executed game, but it could have been a lot more.