Bloodlines for the PSP manages to bring some of the experiences of ACII to the portable while also bringing some of ACI's hangups.
This game was created as a bridge from part I to part II with Altair now the head of the Assassins and his quest to hunt down the remaining Templars. Along with this bridge comes with the ability to transfer some of the unlockables found on the PSP to the PS3.
SOme of the pluses are like the PS3 version, you get a variety of missions to run thru as you complete your quest. Also, the climbing and combat controls handle similar to the PS3.
Some of the minuses are sometimes the AI can be overly aggressive and overly sensitive as you walk around and you can find yourself in a fight with 5 or 6 gaurds almost for no reason. Also, the colors look a bit more washed out and it makes it hard to see sometimes where to climb, on the flipside of that, for the processing power of the PSP, the game does look impressive. Lastly in quests where there is a time limit, some become almost impossible to finish with the controls and orienting yourself to your goal which seems so far away.
The voice acting is a mixed bag whereas after having a modern day accent on the first game, Altair has a middle eastern one here. Also it really helps that you have played the first one to understand that this is a simulation as the PSP version has so far made no mention of Desmond or his modern day issues as of yet.
On a scale of 1 to 5 I give it 3 stars Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines
Bloodlines is a good game. Not great, but not bad.
Graphics are stunning. One of the best looking games on the PSP.
Controls are meh. The climbing feels good, but jumping is horrible. "Jump" and "Drop" are tied to the same button, so you need to have perfect timing to pull off a jump, ruining rooftop runs. Also, moving the camera disables the action buttons(not a glitch, just the way the controls were set up). UPDATE: I realized that you can actually hold the x button to jump, but they never tell you that.
Anyone who has played AC1 knows it is crazy repetitive. Fortunately, Bloodlines (kind of) fixes this. Where you had to synchronize with maybe 10 towers in one city, now you need to do 1 in each level, every city being broken up into 3 or 4 levels.
However, there is a focus on action in this game. AC1 was about doing boring 20 pickpockets, synchronizations, eaves droppings, and interrogations to assassinate one person. Bloodlines is about hacking your way to your target. There is very little stealth, and you are forced to fight the same battles against the same enemies over and over. Even worse, nearby guards run to your fight, pitting you against many(I once had to fight 8) enemies at the same time. Counter kills are one hit kills, but require surgical precision and often make fight boring with the same exact kill done maybe 5 times in a row.
Bloodlines is like a steak that has been cooked well, but has no sauce or side orders to be eaten with. It is a basic action game, enjoyable but not worth 40 bucks.
This game is one of the best games for psp I have played. I am just talking about the game in whole. But you pick it apart and look at the details....and it becomes a different story. Everyone complains about this but the game length is probably 5-8 hours. It depends on how you play it.
I made the game last because I went out of my way for stealth. It doesn't get too boring doing the stealth because there is so many different ways to do it. Everyone says there is no element of stealth, but that is not true. You just have to look for it.
The AI in ACB are messed up in the head. There can be two guards standing watch over an opening and you can assassinate one of them without being noticed at all. Sometimes they even look at you when you do it.
The combat can get a little dull at times, but you just have to switch it up. Instead of using the sword all the time, try the throwing knife. Or if combat is just too easy and you think you are a complete master at it, then try fighting 6 guards with just your hidden blade. See how good you are then. Just switch it up and you will have fun again.
Running around the streets is not very effective unless you want every guard in the whole city after you. Well, at least at the beginning. 3/4 of the way through and you can actually run around the streets most of the time. Sometimes the guards get mad and chase you, but not often.
The graphics are stunning for a psp game. They look like a good ps2 game graphics. I am impressed by them.
This game is great. I would recommend it to anyone that likes these kind of games.
5 out of 5
I have played through AC: B finishing it for the second time most recently last night and have found that the game is decent but lacks some polish. Overall this game is worthy of a 3 or even 4 star rating given the fact that it is a new story that is coherent and interesting. The visuals may be lacking but the controls are good making this game worthy of your time if you enjoyed AC on the PS3, PC or 360. However, this is not a game I would buy a PSP just to play.
Pros:
Decent controls--once you become accustomed to adjusting the camera using the X, square, circle or triangle buttons while holding down the Left shoulder button (and tapping the Left shoulder button quickly to re-center behind the character) you can move through the world with ease.
Good story--decent cut scenes keep the pace and move the story along.
Game mechanics--a hallmark of the franchise is the climbing/roof top running and stealth abilities of the game. It is safe to say that this translates well onto the PSP. While not as refined as on the bigger consoles, it is still a satisfying experience given it is on a portable system. However, there are some cons to the mechanics as well which I will discuss shortly.
Cons:
Game feels rushed--I have a feeling that the game was rushed to get it out for the holidays and to coincide closely with the release of AC: II. Notable screen tearing appears throughout the game and audio glitches such as stuttering and skipping are also present.
The camera will kill you--the place where this comes to mind the most is about halfway through when you are on your way to fight two templar boss brothers. You move from an outdoor environment to an indoor one but the camera refused to adjust allowing me to see inside. I ended up luring the guys outside so I could clear that area and then just using trial and error to get the camera to reset and let me see inside so I could find the exit to get to the boss battle.
Not difficult at all--this portable version feels "dumbed down" with little to no AI present. I could surround myself with 6-8 regular enemies or even a boss and 3-4 regular enemies and make it through without much effort. Bosses wouldn't attack you if you were engaged with their minions (although minions attacked you if you were engaged with the boss) and if you were surrounded by a bunch of regular enemies outside boss battles, they would attack you until your health was low and block all your attacks during the process but once you only had 1-2 synch bars left you would magically kill them all in rapid succession and they could block nothing. The only times I died was from falls or jumping from too high a location.
Conclusion: Overall the game is OK and fun to play, I cannot deny it, but the time has come to move on. You will enjoy the new story but after that there is little replay value unless you are a diehard AC fan. - Action Game - Altair - Psp - Video Games'
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