Such a colossal task of cramming such a massive adventure in your pocket hasn’t really worked up to yet. We’ve had a poor DS translation and a sub-par iphone attempt. So it would be fair to say that Assassins Creed Bloodlines for PSP really does have it’s work cut out.
Picking up Altair’s story where the original Creed left off, we continue our hunt for the Templars, and face the twists we have come to expect from a free-form yet story-driven title. And that is the unspoken beauty of this game; most of what you expect from the console iteration remains intact for the portable venture.
The gameplay is based around various free-roaming areas and the tasks are near-identical. It truly is a tantalising prospect from this angle, as the opportunites are opened up exponentially compared to the previous attempts to make the Assassins Creed universe portable.
There are some things that are compromised, that do sometimes show the cracks of the games structure. Example, the assassinations themselves are translated into simple boss fights instead of being the intrinsic tasks built in the home-console iterations.
The visuals are crisp and deeply textured for a PSP game, and the audio is (musically) of a high quality, except for the sometimes robotic voice acting. Presentation-wise, this game feels competent in some areas and dated in others.
However, this does pose a problem of sorts, and it can be channelled into two questions. Do the limited controls of the PSP complement or hinder the experience? And does the game actually “work” in a portable context?
A simple answer to this is yes and no.
They’ve somehow managed to map everything (including some new moves over Assassins Creed 2) onto the control scheme, so all is there and safe. But, to activate certain moves, you have to hold down quite awkward combinations (even to pan the camera). This is where I’d have to complain about the PSP itself; it’s not ubisoft’s fault, technically. But if FPS games can work with the one analogue stick, some considerations could’ve been taken for the workings of the human hand.
You can tell that portability had been taken into mind while developing Bloodlines. Missions are a particular amount smaller to allow five-minute blitzes through levels on the morning commute; but dialogue-laden cutscenes really are still elongated for a portable game. I’m not saying it ruins the experience; but the reason why you have a portable game is to get straight to the point and enjoy it. Don’t waste our time with cutscenes! The story is secondary in a game you play on the bus.
That’s not to say this game doesn’t work. Considering what you’re getting for your money is a near-faithful representation of one of the most complete home videogame experiences of this generation…with some of the essential trimmings cut down. It’s nowhere near perfect; but it’s getting there. An admirable effort.
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