Assassin's Creed Bloodlines Preview
If you just couldn't get enough of Altair, the robed protagonist of the first Assassin's Creed, get ready to continue the slaughter on PSP. Bloodlines picks up the storyline where the first game left off with the assassination of Robert de Sable. Altair continues in pursuit of de Sable's girlfriend Maria, captures her and continues his investigation of the Templar Knights in Cyprus.
Having played the game from the beginning, the look and feel is extremely reminiscent of Assassin's Creed on the console. However, as far as we can tell there are no segments set in modern times or featuring Desmond, the bartender and main protagonist from the first game.
Our previous previews have described the look of Bloodlines in great detail, but now we can tell you for ourselves exactly how it plays. The developers have tried, within the limitation of the PSP, to recreate the first game on the handheld. Altair moves and fights like he did on the consoles with a control system that is nearly identical. The only major difference is camera control. Double tapping the left bumper centers the camera, or holding LB maps the face buttons to camera control.
The game opens with a lengthy tutorial that gets players used to the "passive" versus "aggressive" modes along with hiding and combat. Combat retains its almost rhythm based feel, with players timing their sword swings in sets to break through the guard of an opponent. They can also counter, which is far more effective for quickly dispersing enemies.
Altair retains his ability to scale almost any surface, which comes in handy since the quickest way to leave guards behind is by sprinting across rooftops. The environments in Bloodlines are open areas of urban landscape that offer plenty of alleyways and hiding places like pigeon coops and bales of hay. So far, it's surprising how large some of these areas are considering the game fits in our pockets, but the city is segmented into different sections divided by gates and walls.
The mission types are also familiar to the console game, and include climbing to lookout points in the city, saving citizens from oppressive guards, sneaking through certain areas undetected, and of course assassinating targets. One mission I encountered had me quickly assassinate archers before they could burn down a building. It combined free running with combat and required a quick eye for how to best approach the environment. From what we encountered, Bloodlines leans heavily towards quests that involve action and combat, a good choice for a portable game.
In each level there are also hidden templar coins for Altair to seek out. When collected these items can be spent on upgrades like an increased number of throwing knives, more health, more damage through attacks, higher chance at critical hits, and an automatic block ability. There's also the added bonus that special weapons transfer to the PS3 versions of Assassin's Creed II when certain areas are completed in Bloodlines.
So far Bloodlines looks and feels remarkably like the Assassin's Creed experience you might already know from the consoles. We'll let you know when we get our hands on the game for an even longer period of time.
Having played the game from the beginning, the look and feel is extremely reminiscent of Assassin's Creed on the console. However, as far as we can tell there are no segments set in modern times or featuring Desmond, the bartender and main protagonist from the first game.
Our previous previews have described the look of Bloodlines in great detail, but now we can tell you for ourselves exactly how it plays. The developers have tried, within the limitation of the PSP, to recreate the first game on the handheld. Altair moves and fights like he did on the consoles with a control system that is nearly identical. The only major difference is camera control. Double tapping the left bumper centers the camera, or holding LB maps the face buttons to camera control.
The game opens with a lengthy tutorial that gets players used to the "passive" versus "aggressive" modes along with hiding and combat. Combat retains its almost rhythm based feel, with players timing their sword swings in sets to break through the guard of an opponent. They can also counter, which is far more effective for quickly dispersing enemies.
Altair retains his ability to scale almost any surface, which comes in handy since the quickest way to leave guards behind is by sprinting across rooftops. The environments in Bloodlines are open areas of urban landscape that offer plenty of alleyways and hiding places like pigeon coops and bales of hay. So far, it's surprising how large some of these areas are considering the game fits in our pockets, but the city is segmented into different sections divided by gates and walls.
The mission types are also familiar to the console game, and include climbing to lookout points in the city, saving citizens from oppressive guards, sneaking through certain areas undetected, and of course assassinating targets. One mission I encountered had me quickly assassinate archers before they could burn down a building. It combined free running with combat and required a quick eye for how to best approach the environment. From what we encountered, Bloodlines leans heavily towards quests that involve action and combat, a good choice for a portable game.
In each level there are also hidden templar coins for Altair to seek out. When collected these items can be spent on upgrades like an increased number of throwing knives, more health, more damage through attacks, higher chance at critical hits, and an automatic block ability. There's also the added bonus that special weapons transfer to the PS3 versions of Assassin's Creed II when certain areas are completed in Bloodlines.
So far Bloodlines looks and feels remarkably like the Assassin's Creed experience you might already know from the consoles. We'll let you know when we get our hands on the game for an even longer period of time.
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