http://ds.ign.com/articles/845/845344p1.html
January 14, 2008 - Though the game was a hit or miss depending on who you talk to, there's no denying that Assassin's Creed for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 was Ubisoft's big title of 2007. Throughout that game's development and even after its release in November, there were hints about the possibility of a Nintendo DS rendition hitting the system close to the shipdate of the console game. It's out of the possibility and into reality: Ubisoft has been cooking up an exclusive continuation of the Assassin's Creed storyline for handheld gamers: Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles is shipping this February for the dual screen handheld.
Altair's Chronicles is actually a prequel to the plot established on last year's PS3 and 360 games, exploring more of Altair's history in the Crusade's Middle East. In this game, players will unfold more of the storyline as they guide Altair through (and over) four cities to find "the chalice," an object of power that may have the ability to end the Crusades.
Gameloft, Ubisoft's mobile focused development studio is the group working on the DS rendition. Judging from the screenshots that Ubisoft sent over, it's clear that Gameloft's DS game is not based upon the existing mobile phone version. What's not clear is if the same team that produced last year's impressive and fun Brothers in Arms DS. What Gameloft has cooked up is a DS-centric rendition of the same acrobatic gameplay and up-close combat action that Ubisoft Montreal established in last year's console original. It all takes place in a 3D environment that utilizes the handheld's hardware strengths to get the job done.
According to Ubisoft, there will be nearly a dozen different weapons, such as daggers, explosives, and swords. There will also be an ever-important grappling hook to get up to normally out of reach areas. Of course, it really wouldn't be a Nintendo DS game if the development team didn't manage to sandwich in a few touch-screen gimmicks – in this case, you'll be able to pick-pocket victims and make informants speak by taking part in stylus-controlled mini-games.
Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles hits shelves in a few short weeks. We'll have more on the game, including hands-on play, as we get closer to its February 2008 release date.
