Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles

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Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles is a video game released for the Nintendo DS and Symbian Mobile, as a prequel to the video game Assassin's Creed. It was published by Ubisoft, developed by Gameloft and was released in the United States on February 5, 2008. A port with improved graphics and gameplay was made for the iPhone OS by Ubisoft, and was released on the App Store on April 23, 2009.

Gameplay

&nbsp Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles takes advantage of the Nintendo DS's features. The game's main gameplay is primarily Prince of Persia-style platforming, mixed with stealth and combat. It utilizes the touch-screen for mini-games, like interrogation and pickpocketing, as well as for displaying a map during standard gameplay.

File:Altair Chronicle battle screenshot.jpg

Altaïr Fighting two Templar Guards (iPod Version)

The game's combat system consists primarily of weak attacks, strong attacks, and combos of the two, as well as using bombs and projectiles.

Seven different weapons are available, including the Hidden Blade, Altaïr's Sword, a Crossbow, explosive bombs, smoke bombs, throwing knives and a grappling hook which can be used to rip enemies off their feet.

Weapons and skills can be upgraded or unlocked by using orbs, which can be found throughout the game. The game also features three different levels of difficulty, allowing for more experienced players to take on a bigger challenge.

Plot

The year is 1190 AD, and the Third Crusade is engulfing the Holy Land. Crusaders clash with Saracens for control of the Holy City, Jerusalem.

Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, an Assassin, returns home to Alep from an arduous journey, and finds it under attack by the sworn enemies of the Assassins, the Knights Templar. He has no choice but to repel the attack, defeating many of them and even killing a low-ranking captain before the attack is halted. Tasked afterwords by Al Mualim, the Grand Master of the Assassin's Order, to find and retrieve a sacred object known as the Chalice, which is said to have the power to unite under one flag all the factions of whatever side possesses it (either the Crusaders or the Saracens) and end the Third Crusade in victory for one side or the other, Altaïr sets off immediately on his new quest.

Beginning his journey in Damascus, Altaïr meets with a Rafiq, who tells him (after testing his skills on a target) that the merchant, Tamir, has connections to the Templars in the area. Upon interrogating Misbah, a man with connections to Tamir, Altaïr confronts him and, before killing Tamir, learns that the Chalice is kept in the Temple of the Sand and that Altaïr needs three keys to enter it. Altaïr then visits the circus dancer Fajera, but she is unwilling to help, leaving Altaïr to fight a circus brute known as, Badr. After defeating the man and catching Fajera, she gives Altaïr the first of the three keys, and tells him that a man at the Templar hospital in Tyre can help him find the two other keys. Before he leaves, Fajera also tasks Altaïr with killing a Templar named Alaat.

Later arriving in Tyre, Altaïr first seeks Hamid - the Tyre rafiq - from whom he learns that Roland Napule, head of the hospital and a Templar, has been questioning someone recently. In order to get into the hospital, Altaïr then navigates through the sewer, enters the building from below and then proceeds to assassinate Roland. Altaïr is then given the second key by a prisoner of Roland, an old man who has been to the mysterious Temple of the Chalice.

Traveling then to Jerusalem and speaking with Kadar, a local Assassin agent, Altaïr learns that the Templar leader of the region, Basilisk, is usually at the Jerusalem royal palace with the king, and that he has the third key. The king is going to have a party somewhere soon, and in order to get closer to Basilisk, Altaïr logically decides that this location should be discovered. Overhearing some of the noblemen's conversations, Altaïr then questions Ayman, a man invited to the party and finds out where the party is about to begin, infiltrates it with the help of one of Kadar's men, and encounters Lord Basilisk for the first time. After a brief battle with him, Altaïr gets the key, but has no time to kill the Templar master before Basilisk runs away.

Afterwords, a group of Templar attack Hamid and steal a map to the desert temple where the Chalice is supposedly located. Altaïr then chases them to their tower and climbs to the top, facing heavy resistance including catapults, archers, and a mindless man known as The Brute (whom he faces off against in a courtyard). After making his way through the tower defenses and killing the archer captain in charge, Altaïr encounters the Master, an Assassin-like figure who is actually a high-ranking Templar. Having no choice, Altaïr fights his way through tower, killing the Master's guards and his student until finally, he reaches the Master himself, kills the Templar and takes the map back.

Altaïr then leaves the Tower afterwords, following the map which leads him to the Temple of the Sand. There, he encounters Templar forces and fights his way to the antechamber, which he enters after defeating a large brute carring an axe. Inside he finds an empty chest and Basilisk, who hints that the Chalice is in fact a woman. Basilisk taunts Altaïr then flee's once more, yet Altaïr manages to escape back to Tyre as the Temple collapses.

In Tyre, Hamid tells him that in order to infiltrate the local Templar stronghold, he needs to free two captured men. After finding and freeing the captive brothers (who pinpoint the entrance for him), Altaïr infiltrates the hold (encountering another brute on the way), where he fights and badly wounds Basilisk. Proposing to Basilisk the exchange of the Templar's life for information, Altaïr listens as Basilisk reveals that the Chalice is in fact, in Jerusalem and that the Templars are besieging Acre, planning to poison the water to speed up their assault. Before leaving for Acre, Altaïr sets fire to Basilisk's ships so the Templar Master cannot reach the Chalice before him.

Journeying then to the besieged Acre, Altaïr helps the city by fighting off attacking Templar soldiers, infiltrating the siege camp first in the guise of a soldier, then as a scholar, and finally killing the Templar commander. Altaïr manages to escape the camp using a catapult He then goes to Jerusalem, where he successfully rescues the Chalice from a group of Templars. Altaïr identifies the Chalice as Adha, a woman he knew before the events of game. From her, he learns that the Templars have paid off Harash, the second-in-command of the Assassins.

Altaïr's plan was to attack Alep, the assassin fortress, kill Harash and run away with Adha, but after making his way through Harash's Assassin Guards and killing him, Adha is kidnapped by Basilisk and taken to their port in Tyre. Altaïr then fights through the Templar forces and kills Basilisk in one final confrontation on his ship. However, he is disheartened to find out that Adha is on a different ship, which escapes before Altaïr can catch it. He swims to shore and, seeing the Templar ship far off in the distance, yells "I will find you, Adha!" just before the game ends.

Memories

Altaïr's Chronicles contains a feature in the main menu called Memories (much like the DNA Sequence's from Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood). This lets the player select a mission that they have already completed, and continue the game from there. The Memories are categorized into 13 chapters, with up to 5 sub-chapters within them (e.g 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4).

Reception

The Nintendo DS version of the game has been received with mixed opinions. IGN gave it a 7/10, Gamespot gave it 6/10, Nintendo Power gave it a 7.5/10, X-Play gave it a 2/5, and Game Informer magazine gave it a 6.5 out of 10. The iPhone version was well received overall with a 4.5 stars overall from customers reviews on the App Store.

References

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