Game Review: Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia

The past week I took on the final game of the Assassin's Creed Chronicles series, AC: Russia. Let me just say right off hand that this side-scrolling game was probably the hardest one I've played yet. Just like AC: India, it required speed and perfection without having the ability to fight your way out of things. The setting and backdrop however was very impressive, set during the Russian Revolution of 1917-1918. This is of course a historical topic that has always fascinated me and I have written various times about here in this blog. This game gave me yet another perspective on the fall of the Romanov dynasty, of which I will later do further research into.

The main assassin in this game is Nikolai Orelov who desires to leave Russia after the October Revolution of 1917. He is however tasked by the brotherhood with one final mission to steal an artifact from the templars. During Orelov's mission he witnesses the execution of Czar Nicholas II and his family which troubles him deeply. He does however manage to rescue the grand duchess Anastasia which further complicates his mission. In choosing to rescue her, he becomes an enemy of the Bolsheviks, the Templars, and even his own Assassin brotherhood. 

The gameplay is structured with the 2.5D side-scrolling format as with all AC Chronicle games. This provides mostly linear/up-and-down movement with a bit of depth. Just like Arbaaz from AC India, Orelov cannot fight his way out of situations (it seemed this was not the case for Shao Jun in AC China, who was very stealthy yet equally affective in combat). That makes AC Russia, all the more difficult when being detected by an enemy most often results in instant desynchronization. I found just about every stage in this game to be very challenging, especially the last couple sequences which eventually cost me a controller due to frustration (it was due for an upgrade anyway). 

Orelov has a unique arsenal of weaponry, and I would consider him more of a gunman than the typical blade yielding assassin. His weapons include a rifle, smoke bombs, and a mechanical winch he uses to pull things or deactivate electrical outlets. I suppose a part of this unique AC weaponry is due to the time period of this game, where guns and machinery have became the norm. This setting in 1918 Russia is the most modern setting of all AC games and concludes my chronological order of playing the games, which I embarked on about a year ago at this time.  

Another interesting aspect of this game is playing as the character of Anastasia in several of the later sequences. For some peculiar reason she has suddenly become possessed by the assassin skills of Shao Jun and in her escape she also becomes a deadly assassin. While she does not posses the weaponry that Orelov has, she later acquires magical "Helix" skills such as disappearing and making her enemies disappear. Most of her missions require escape and she is aided simultaneously by Orelov. The game brings back the sniper element introduced in AC India, where Orelov must do quick long range shooting to secure an area. This was most difficult at the final sequence fighting against the tank. 

While the game was extremely difficult and frustrating it succeeded in inspiring my historical appetite. The Russian Revolution has been one of my favorite historical topics since I first watched the film, Reds and Doctor Zhivago back in 2008. Those films pertained more to the Communist Bolshevik uprising and overlooked the cruelty of the Romanov execution. The animated movie Anastasia however is more on par with this game that turns the Bolsheviks into the enemies rather than the liberators. This is of course a political opinion however the execution of young children is most disturbing no matter the reasoning. As for the case of Anastasia presented in this game, I feel that her escape is mostly an urban legend. She was most likely executed with her parents and siblings, however I will dive further into this intriguing topic in my next post.