Late To the Party
Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines
By Jorge Figueiredo - August 1st, 2010
My final destination (for now) in my mad quest to play everything in the Assassin’s Creed franchise was finally reached the other day upon my completion of Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines for the PSP. When Bloodlines hit the shelves last year, it received a lukewarm reception from many; I, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed it.
The story in the game takes place about a month after the original Assassin’s Creed left off; Altair is hunting down the last of the Templars. His quest leads him to Cyprus, where he uncovers a new, insidious Templar plot (really, do the Templars actually do anything nice? Charity work? Helping out at nursing homes? Pfft. Right) and must see his original mission through to completion to thwart their efforts. Unlike its cousins on the DS, this game is very much like the PS3 versions; additionally, unlike the PS3 versions, Bloodlines is played only from the perspective of Altair, rather than relying on Desmond as a gateway to the past.
When I started playing, I didn’t know what to expect. After finishing the DS interpretations, I was half-expecting this to be a 2.5D platformer; honestly, I had not actually followed the literature for the game as I have only recently acquired a PSP. I was very surprised to find that the graphics and sound, while not up to the same level as the PS3 versions, were both absolutely incredible. The cities were rendered in great detail, and the free-running sandbox-type play that I love about the next generation console series was in full effect.
One of the main complaints about the game was that even though it was a nice tip of the hat to the original title, the gameplay in Bloodlines was repetitive; some even argued that either sound effects or visuals were repetitive. I would have to disagree. The first Assassin’s Creed definitely had repeating moments. To be fair, it was a very long game and one would be hard pressed to introduce something new without having some sort of recurring gameplay (most games have recurring gameplay to some degree). Bloodlines is a shorter game than Altair’s first adventure, and while it does have some moments of repetition, it was engaging enough to be entertaining.
The game flows very well, allowing you to get a decent amount of adventuring done between critical points. I played this game whenever I was on public transit, and I almost missed my stop a number of times. It’s pretty easy to get wrapped up in a story that is presented with beautiful visuals, great voice acting, and well thought-out gameplay. My only criticism of this (other than the fact there is no eagle vision in the game) is that the controls were a little tough to manage at times because of the camera angles.
If you’re looking for a captivating action-adventure title for your handheld with a great story and smooth gameplay, look no further. Assassins’ Creed: Bloodlines for the PSP should give you the fix you’re craving. As an added bonus, if you own a PS3 and Assassin’s Creed 2 you can synchronize the two games, allowing you to carry over items and wealth from Bloodlines to AC2. Sweet!
