Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India drops Arbaaz Mir into 1841, with the Sikh Empire and the East India Company at war and a Master Templar carrying something that belongs to the Assassin Order. Ubisoft published it. Climax Studios developed it. It runs on PlayStation 4, PC, PlayStation Vita and Xbox One, in side view, for one player at a time.
Trailer, via IGDBcom.
Arbaaz Mir and the Stolen Item
The setup is a heist. Arbaaz Mir has to find out why the Master Templar came, take back the item, and keep his friends and his lover alive while two empires grind against each other around him. That is a strong frame for a stealth game: a single object, a single intruder, a city under occupation.
It is also a frame the game never fills. Chronicles: India is a side-scrolling platform adventure, and its themes — action, fantasy, historical, stealth — are listed as if a checklist could stand in for tension. Arbaaz Mir moves left to right. The war between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company becomes wallpaper behind him.
A Side View of 1841
Side view is the whole problem. Assassin’s Creed built its name on crowded streets and vertical cities, on the feeling that a crowd could hide you. Flatten that to two dimensions and the stealth thins out. You are not reading a bazaar. You are reading a corridor with a painted backdrop.
The historical setting deserves better. 1841, the Sikh Empire, the East India Company — that is a real conflict with real stakes, and the game treats it as set dressing for one man’s errand.
What the Platforms Deliver
| Version | Release | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| PlayStation 4 | 2016 | Single player |
| PC (Microsoft Windows) | 2016 | Single player |
| PlayStation Vita | 2016 | Single player |
| Xbox One | 2016 | Single player |
Four platforms, one player, no variation between them worth noting. The Vita version is the interesting one on paper — a handheld stealth game set in 1841 — but the design does not change to meet the smaller screen.
The Score
Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India is a competent side-scroller wearing a franchise it cannot carry. The premise — Arbaaz Mir, the Master Templar, the stolen item, the lover and friends at risk — is the best thing in it, and the game spends that premise on platforming.
Nine outlets aggregated to a 6.0. That number is fair. This is a game with a good hook and no follow-through, and the gap between the two is the whole review.
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