XCOM 2 is failing, but Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India offers an adequate substitute.

By Jordan Ryder
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I was supposed to review XCOM 2 this week, but that game is such a mess at the moment that I, and everyone else, cannot even open it. The strategy game crashes back to desktop within 10 seconds of launch.

So instead, we’re going to go back a few weeks to Ubisoft’s side project, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India, a side-scrolling 2.5D adventure following the Assassin Abazzar Mir as he battles British Templars occupying India.

India is part two of the Chronicles trilogy. I reviewed part one, Assassin’s Creed: China, last year and quite liked it as a proof-of-concept title. Assassin’s Creed transferred to a lower-dimensional world surprisingly well. The movements were fluid to the point that running and climbing was a joy, and the stealth mechanics worked well enough.

All of that holds true for India: it works, it’s functional. My big problem is it feels like Ubisoft just picked up the first game, re-skinned it with fresh colors, and didn’t make any new additions. That is massively disappointing. At the very least, the combat could have been fixed so as to not be an exercise in annoyance. Or make it so if you get caught sneaking and have to fight, the last checkpoint is reloaded. It’s easier and less irritating than trying to battle with terrible controls.

Above all, I wish there was something new in this game. It didn’t need to be anything groundbreaking, merely something to make it stand out among the Chronicles game.

The plot offers nothing inspirational or new, either. Assassins and Templars fighting each other to find/steal the macguffen of the day, to use and/or hide away. It’s the usual affair from every Assassin’s Creed ever.

At its core, India is a serviceable game. It’s very pretty; I love the different art style and the vibrant colors. During cut-scenes, it looks as though they are being painted on the screen in front of you. It’s also short, only about five hours, seven or eight for a completionist. I hope the series revisits the India setting in a full title at some point in the future.

In end there’s nothing really objectionable about Assassin’s Creed: India, but nothing memorable, either. Get it if you love Assassin’s Creed or if you just need something different to play for a week.

6/10