Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China Reviews
It is the most sumptuous and stealth-focused Assassin's Creed yet, but Chronicles: China doesn't assemble its pieces into a gratifying whole.
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 does a lot of the hard stuff well, but can't convey the rush of being an assassin.
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.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China is an absolutely solid spin-off in almost every way. Traversal is fluid and fun, combat is enjoyably simple, and the level design is often lovingly crafted, but it never comes close to stepping out of its comfort zone and trying something remotely memorable. Even outside of Ubisoft's main series, the confining walls of Assassin's Creed remain recognisable and reliable, but they're in increasingly desperate need of a new lick of paint.
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.
This spin-off starts strong, yet loses steam the further you progress
At this point, unless you're an Assassin's Creed diehard, this offering is difficult to recommend in the face of the competition.
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.
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.
A joy to play for any fan of stealth and secret stabbing, Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China is nuanced and immersive in a gorgeous setting. If you loved Mark of the Ninja, you really shouldn't miss out on this one.
A stripped down stealth offering that reinvigorates Assassin's Creed by putting attention back on the sneaky stuff.
A refreshing take on the extended fiction of the series, and the most stealthy to date.
Without a better story, and the game ending before you can really ever test your mettle, Assassin's Creed Chronicles feels lackluster.
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.
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.
Assassins Creed Chronicles: China does an impressive job of taking the lore and core mechanics of the series and making them work in a 2D game. It's slick, fast-paced and entertaining, with some beautiful stylised art, and all it lacks is a little magic to turn it from a good spin-off into a great one.
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.
If the other two Chronicles games can build on this start then Ubisoft and Climax Games could show that just as with Child of Light and Valiant Hearts it's possible to make a smaller, superior experience.