Assassins’ Creed Chronicles: An Indian assassin?

Although Ubisoft is tightlipped about AC Chronicles: India, the early trailers revealed Arbaaz to be an assassin in the Sikh war of 1841. We are guessing it might be the Sino Sikh war, which was fought from May 1841 to August 1842, between the Qing Dynasty of China and the Sikh Empire. Looks like another one of AC’s signatory history lessons is on the way.

Ubisoft is looking at changing the gameplay completely with AC Chronicles. The series is designed as a 2D platform-runner. Although it might come as a dampener to hardcore AC fans, who swear by the freedom of gameplay choices offered by the sandbox series, Ubisoft will be making up for it with stunning visuals and sticking close to the elements that made the series popular.

So there will be lots of parkour, freestyle running, swift-yet-bloody assassinations, leap of faiths and eagle visions. From what is evident from the gameplay trailers, stealth will play an important role in the game. A smart player would rather choose to hide in the shadows and strike at the right moment, than rush in all guns blazing. The game will not be simply restricted to 2D, as the player can change parallel platforms, adding depth to the levels.

Arbaaz is as agile and adept with a blade as his iconic predecessors. The background and graphics pallete looks absolutely gorgeous. As Arbaaz jumps from one mausoleum to another, the scenery moves along with him, keeping up with his fast pace. When Arbaaz strikes an enemy with his sword, a slashing animation of beautiful mughal motifs adds to the Indian flavour of the game. Overall, the gameplay trailer reminds us of the first Prince Of Persia, in terms of animation and level design. Add to that a lush Ubi Art Box-style graphic design and you got yourself a treat for the eyes.

We still have to wait for Arbaaz for some time now, as the first chapter to be released will be AC Chronicles: China. It will follow the adventures of Shao Jun, a female assassin out to seek vengeance in the year 1526 in Ming Dynasty. AC Chronicles: Russia will be the third and final installment, where the gamers can play as the gun-toting Nikolai Orelov, an assassin fighting through the aftermath of Red October in Russia.

The Assassins Creed Chronicles will be available on next-gen consoles as well as on Windows PC. The China chapter will be available for download on April 22, followed by the other chapters, set to be released later.