Assassin’s Creed: Altaïr’s Chronicles is a Nintendo DS prequel set in the Middle East before the events of the first game, centred on a quest for the Chalice. The game opens well before veering into a decline, and the overall impression is average rather than bad.
Combat is exceptionally basic, with weak enemies that barely attack and high-health Templars and elites providing the only real resistance. The combat would have been better if it mattered less, since it is serviceable but shallow.
Traversal is the biggest frustration, awkward enough that jumps commit the character to a landing whether or not it is safe. The control scheme struggles at points, and checkpoints make little sense, often sitting before a cut scene and forcing it to be rewatched.
The story is practically non-existent, revealing little about Altaïr and introducing a character with almost no depth, and it ends abruptly. The touch-screen elements, including pickpocketing, interrogation and throwing daggers, are creative, though the mandatory touch prompts are a nuisance.
The presentation is not the prettiest, though the game looks surprisingly good for the hardware, and rooftop hazards such as random snakes feel out of place. The game plays like a lighter Prince of Persia, with traps and wall-running.
The touch prompts become easier to manage with a mouse than on the DS itself. The game is not a recommendation on its own merits nor a condemnation, holding to an average standard with real flaws.
Overall, traversal and the basic combat make Assassin’s Creed: Altaïr’s Chronicles an average game with a lot wrong with it. The creative touch elements and the prequel setting keep it from being a total loss.