Game #993: Assassin's Creed - Bloodlines

  I thought we were done with Altair...

 While AC: Brotherhood and AC: Revelations almost made me quit the franchise, it was the first AC that I liked the least, so I was the least bit excited about revisiting Altair's adventures in Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines. I'll tell ya this, the game brought back memories of how clunky the movement was in the first game, so I'd say that they managed to offer a very authentic portrayal of the original game!

 The game takes place shortly after the original AC, so Altair is in possession of the Apple of Eden, and now he is out to murder more Templars. Something I loved is that this game does away with the modern day segments, it's just you as Altair 100% of the time, the way Assassin's Creed should be. I'll die on this hill. Since the PSP is much weaker hardware than what was available of the time, they pared down the open world, so while you do get a sandbox to play around in, it's much smaller and divided into different sections separated by gates and loading times. It works well, although the game limits through which gates you can go depending on the chapter you are in, so it's not like you are completely free to do as you want. The game is fairly brief, for a change, taking about 6-7 hours to complete, and that's including the few sidequests you can complete.

 The controls take a bit of getting used to, kinda like the original game which it tries to ape. You hold R to run, and you hold R+X to enter parkour move as you move around. But you can't just climb over any and every surface, you walls to have edges or stones or something that Altair can cling onto. Holding down X helps you 'blend in' by imitating an old sage. You hold down L to make the face buttons move the camera around. There's no eagle vision, but you don't really need it, as the mini map shows you everything you need to see. Combat is alright-ish, you target enemies by pressing triangle, you have your basic attacks and counters and dodges. The combo system is very weird because it's timing-based, most enemies will block every single attack you land, but if you press the attack button right as your blade is deflected Altair will attack again, usually after 3 deflections you'll just murder the guy, even though they blocked all your attacks. Fighting multiple enemies is a bit of a chore because, once again, you use the triangle button to swap targets, and you can only counter the enemy you're targeting, as far as I could tell, so expect to get hit by plenty of cheap shots.

 The game is a simplified take on the original AC, but it works well on the console. I don't think I found myself bored at any time, and there's more mission variety than in said original game, if you can believe that. On the other hand, movement can be rough, which, in a way, is faithful to the original. Sometimes some roofs will just make you stop on your tracks because who knows why. Or Altair will move in a way you don't want to because he'll fail to make a jump he should have done because who knows why. Or you'll try to climb a roof only to fall as you get to the top because reasons. This game reminded me of how spotty AC 1 could be at times, even though Parkour was one of its key features, and made me appreciate how the series evolved it. Oh! And one time Altair went completely invisible when I tried to climb a tower. Had to kill myself to fix it.

 Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines is far from bad, and I think they did a great job at scaling it down for a handheld release. For a change, I had fun playing with Altair, and while controls and gameplay can be a bit rough, I'd say it's overall fun.

 6.5