Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China Reviews
Take a leap of faith and you won't be disappointed
Refreshing for the series, but still underwhelming
Assassins Creed Chronicles: China offers some solid building blocks for this spin-off series, including beautiful art and decent stealth gameplay. The poor combat and sad attempt at storytelling, however, both leave far too much to be desired.
So far, Climax Studios seems to remember what Ubisoft has long since forgotten: Assassin's Creed isn't about captaining a ship or poaching animals or curating an art gallery. It's about wearing a hood and assassinating people.
It is nice, refreshing even, to see Assassin's Creed doing something a little different from the norm. But the differences are only skin deep. Much of ACC: China is routine and unpolished, failing to capitalize on an opportunity to stand out from the rest of the series.
'Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China' is a mixture of classic 'Assassin's Creed' gameplay, the stealthy 2D success of 'Mark of the Ninja', and sharp art design. It's rather short, but also rather cheap, and has more replayability than most games in this category. It's probably the most fun I've had playing an Assassin's Creed since 'Black Flag'.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China is a fun and enjoyable game that does the franchise justice while taking it into another genre. There are some truly fantastic ideas here, some super-smooth parkour, brain-tingling puzzle challenges and occasional flashes of brilliance when it's time to get down and dirty in combat. Some ideas haven't been explored as thoroughly as we'd have liked, and there are a few rough spots, though. We're looking forward to the next installment.
And yet despite those two criticisms, here is a game that I played through in a couple of long sessions of play, and typically my patience with 2D platforms is very, very limited. I could have done with a stronger and more robust narrative, and I would have loved to get to know Shao better, but where I generally tolerate the gameplay of an Assassin's Creed game because I find the world and history so inviting, this time around the reverse is true, and I rather like that.
The plot is also sadly quite predictable - certainly not living up to the superb presentation of the game. Still, at its budget price of just €10/$10/£8, this is a recommended purchase for both newcomers and veterans of the series.
Simply put, this first Chronicle alone is must-buy for any fan of the Assassin's Creed series.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China is a refreshing entry in the series. Shao Jun's story is interesting but the chance to see the Templar vs. Assassins conflict in a new historical setting is even better. Unfortunately, the emphasis on stealth and some of the tough stages in terms of enemy patterns and behavior force players into a trial and error approach.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China features some great stealth gameplay reminiscent of Klei Entertainment's Mark of the Ninja. Unfortunately, the mechanics lack more depth and grow tired by time you reach the end of your quest. Ubisoft also misses the opportunity to tell a bigger story. Worth playing, but Shao Jun deserves better.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China stands out on its own as a 2.5D action-platformer side-scroller with incredible presentation and seamless gameplay. While the story is lacking, the game plays exceptionally well.