In many ways, Assassin’s Creed:
Bloodlines is an impressive game. From a technological standpoint, it shows how
far the game industry has come – just a few years ago, no one would have ever
dreamed of developing a portable iteration of a series as massive Assassin’s
Creed, not without changing the gameplay perspective (pick your flavor: top-down
or side-scrolling) and not without turning the graphics into something hideous.
But here we are, the end of 2009,
and Ubisoft has done it, producing a game that is rich with 3D environments,
spectacular with its synchronizing camera pans and even breathtaking with its
leap of faith effects. These are the kinds of things you just don’t come across
that often in a handheld game, not on PSP and certainly not on the Nintendo DS.
If the developers could have gone
one step further, if they could have added something a little deeper than what
amounts to a showpiece for Sony’s handheld, the rest of Bloodlines might have
lived up to its own impressive visuals. But as you’ll soon learn, this game is
very much a show – one that quickly turns into reruns.
Mission: Straightforward
When people think of Assassin’s
Creed, the original or the sequel, they envision large, open-ended worlds, a
never-ending list of missions, both essential and optional, and combat that was
clearly choreographed but is still heavily engaging.
Bloodlines doesn’t contain any of
that. The game is linear in every sense of the word. First of all, every mission
requires you to locate a noun (that is, a person, place, or thing), which is
shown on your radar. Don’t worry if the location seems unclear since the game
blocks off any portion of the environment that you aren’t currently supposed to
access. Thus, you’re locked into one area of the game, with only one goal, and
zero side quests to get lost in.
On Guard, Off Duty
Bloodlines is also guilty of having
the dumbest guards known to man. Whereas the guards in Metal Gear Solid have
been criticized for walking in circles while tracking dubious footprints, the
guards in this game are practically blind. Their competence comes into question
the moment you realize that it is possible to run up to guards, slow down just
before you approach, and assassinate them without anyone realizing you were
there. And when I say anyone, I mean it; you can’t run through a crowd of guards
without getting noticed, but if two are standing within 10 feet of each other,
there’s a good chance you’ll be able to kill one without the other noticing. In
fact, I can’t think of a single time where this didn’t work; the only times that
I failed were the times that I made so much noise that I alerted the guard I was
trying to assassinate.
Combatively Challenged
The combat of Assassin’s Creed seems
to have left the building since there is no sign of it here. You can block and
reverse attacks, or tap the square button repeatedly until enemies die, which
they do very quickly – just attack until one of them stops blocking, and then
all of them will stop blocking. It’s quite comical, to say the least, especially
when you throw archers into the mix. Aside from the archers who carry swords,
they have no way of defending against an attack. But it takes three or four open
(unblocked!) attacks to kill them. Meanwhile, only one slash is needed to take
out the sword-wielding enemies.
I guess we should file this one
under The Big Book of Video Game Ironies.
Get the Connection
By now you’ve likely heard that the
Bloodlines, developed exclusively for PSP, can connect with the PS3 version of
Assassin’s Creed II. While definitely a neat feature, the only benefit of making
this connection is to unlock additional weapons and items with the press of a
button. If you have both versions, be sure to take advantage of this option, but
don’t buy both just for this reason.
There Will Be Blood
Visually, Assassin’s Creed:
Bloodlines will be remembered. Other than God of War: Chains of Olympus and a
couple of Metal Gear Solid titles (one of which isn’t out yet), there aren’t
many PSP games that have been able to emulate the visual effects of their
console predecessors. Bloodlines is far from being PS3-worthy, but few will be
able to ignore what was accomplished.
Graphics, however, are all anyone
will remember. The gameplay amounts to little more than a weak version of a
revered console series.
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Gameplay: 5
Boring, by-the-books mission-following that does little to expand the
series, and in no way has the power to excite fans of the console versions.
Graphics: 8.9
Always gorgeous and frequently breathtaking, Bloodlines is one of the PSP’s
best-looking games.
Sound: 7
Nothing too memorable, musically or vocally. The dialogue isn’t atrocious
but the story certainly is.
Difficulty: Easy
Assassin’s Creed: Cakewalk Edition.
Concept: 6.9
Bloodlines is a nice attempt at PSP greatness, but the soul of the series
got lost somewhere in the development process.
Multiplayer: N/A
Overall: 5.3
Generic at best, Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines is a great example of what can
be done on the PSP visually, but should in no way be considered an example of
great gameplay.
