Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China

(Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Windows)

IN a roundabout way, Assassin's Creed Chronicles takes the hugely popular series back to its roots.

The historical action adventure games started as a spiritual successor to Prince of Persia which in turn started as a 2D platformer in a palace dungeon.

So it is like Assassin's Creed has come full circle with this nod to the past.

Chronicles: China, the first of an intended trilogy, sees you play as female assassin Shao Jun in the 16th century during the downfall of the Ming Dynasty.

It is a '2.5D' experience which basically means it plays like an old platformer from the 16-bit era but you can also jump between areas in the background and foreground at certain times.

This allows for some clever game design and a more fleshed out world.

As for the story, it is not very well told. In the usual assassins versus Templars format, Shao Jun has vowed to eliminate the 'Eight Tigers'...for some reason.

But the game's vivid art style more than makes up for that. It is like playing a living painting – albeit a very violent one – as you sneak around and dispatch enemies from the shadows as you go.

It is very reminiscent of the excellent Mark of the Ninja but does not quite reach that standard.

In fact, unlike previous open world Assassin's Creed titles, Chronicles almost completely relies on stealth tactics.

With patience and practice, it is a very satisfying game but more focus should be on direct combat in the sequel.

DAVID MORGAN