Theres an extended preview over at IGN:
http://psp.ign.com/articles/102/1024159p1.html
September 14, 2009 - I can't speak to how solid the storyline in
Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines is, I can't tell you how long a playthrough of the game is going to take you, and I can't tell you if
Ubisoft and Griptonite are going to be able to pull of the ambitious notion of taking the console experience folks know from the original game and putting it on the PSP. What can I tell you about Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines? I couldn't wipe the smile off my face when I saw Altair drive his blade into the foot of an enemy, the bad guy look down in pain, and Altair rip the blade up and knock the dude out with the handle of his sword.
Simply awesome.
Picking up where the original game left off, Bloodlines puts you back in the hood of Altair and empowers you with the Leap of Faith and all the other moves you'd expect from our trained assassin friend. The torturous and evil Templars are all fleeing to Cypress Island, and Altair's hot on their trail and ready to end them while working with the local resistance. According to the developers, Altair's going to be a lot less trusting this time around and more curios and inquisitive.
Sadly, my demo was just an eyes-on, but it did give me a chance to see a healthy sampling of what Griptonite has worked up. Picking up toward the end of Memory Block No. 3 (there are seven memory blocks this time around), Altair was infiltrating a castle playing bed and breakfast to a Templar commander. Perched on a pillar, the player could rotate the camera with Square and Circle, but the bigger news was that all of the moves from AC along with all of the moves from ACII have been brought over to Bloodlines.
Altair did his Leap of Faith into a pile of hay, free ran up a wall to the ledge of a window, and yanked a guard from the inside to his death a few stories below. When he came into a room filled with guards, Altair watched their patrol paths on his radar before quietly taking one out from behind, icing a couple with throwing knives, and killing the final opponent with his sword. While the action is happening, there's a button map on the screen that changes with the content of the action. Sometimes it displays blending and grabbing, other times it displays counters and dodges.
Counters and combos lead to some pretty cool kills in Bloodlines. There's the normal stuff like walking up behind a guy, covering his mouth, and stabbing him in the back, but there are also crazy moves like kicking a guy in the stomach before stabbing the doubled-over foe in the back of the head. All of these cool moves play into the game's sword fighting combat system.
During my demo, Altair got surrounded by a number of guards more than a few times. In these situations, everyone draws their blade and goes at it. Thing is, the guys only engage in a one-on-one way, so you'll have Altair versus one enemy while the bad guy's pals circle and watch. This system lets you stab them to death in a variety of ways with stuff that's as simple as a sword to the heart and as crazy as spinning around to a guy's back and using your wristblade to impale the baddie's neck.
As a counterpoint, the battles with bosses -- Templar commanders -- seem like they're going to be one-on-one battles because that's what I was treated to when Altair squared off with Moloch the Bull. A hulking, shirtless bald dude with a wicked scar over his right eye and a Fu Manchu, Moloch dwarfs Altair in size but is a fair bit slower when it comes to attacking. In a cutscene, Altair tried to get the drop on Moloch, but he caught wind of the attack and started choking our man.
Eventually, you get down to the one-on-one battle. Now, as you face off with this foe, you'll find that you can't block his attacks like a normal opponent. This is the same for every boss, although you can counter when you see a white flash around on the baddie. Dodge the attacks, stab like a madman, and you'll bring down the big man and get some info on where the lead Templar is.
In terms of the nine types of missions you'll be sent on, interrogation and tailing missions are back (although there's a variation on tailing where you have to intercept a guy before he reaches the end goal) and are joined by riots with the citizens and treasure seeking quests. You'll have to wait until we get closer to the game's release to find out what the rest are all about.
Of course, Bloodlines acts as the exclusive bridge between the events of the first game and the upcoming sequel with its brand new lead. When you collect the templar coins in Bloodlines, you can sync your PSP with your PS3 and exchange the trinkets for currency in Assassin's Creed II so that you can buy some upgrades. When you beat the commander I was just talking about, you'll get his swinging mace in ACII; this deal is good for any of the commanders you beat on the PSP. On the other side of the coin, the health upgrades you snag in the PS3 sequel can be brought over to Bloodlines.
Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines is set for a holiday release this year and packs no flags for you to run around collecting. Personally, I'm petty interested to sit down and actually play this thing. Griptonite is promising smaller objectives, spread out cutscenes, and a focus on the story throughout the game. Toss in the fact that this looks like they're shrinking all the cool stuff we know from the original and putting it in your pocket, and Bloodlines sounds pretty sweet.
Now, if only we could play it...
