The Assassin’s Creed Chronicles trilogy includes games set in India, China, and Russia. While all of them are separate stories, a distinct 2.5D perspective and stylistic aesthetic unifies them. The games were relatively well received by fans of the franchise at launch, and those interested in the franchise should give them a go if the chance arises- as it has now.

The latest entry in the long-running franchise, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, has been a smash hit for Ubisoft, who have provided oodles of post-launch content for the game since its release, and will continue to add to it in 2022. Ubisoft aims to go the live-service route with the next entry, currently called Infinity, which will supposedly have multiple settings and semi-open world levels.

February is still several days out but Microsoft has announced its upcoming Games With Gold for Xbox Live Gold subscribers on Xbox One and Xbox 360. This is part of a promotion with the service that grants free games, no questions asked. Well, aside from someone asking “Why is THIS the free game this month?”

Games With Gold for February include Shadow Warrior, Flying Wild Hog’s remake of the FPS classic. This one focuses more on hack and slash action, kitschy violence and guns. It’s not quite as good as Shadow Warrior 2 which adds a loot grind aspect and randomly generated missions but it’ll suffice. You can download it for free on Xbox One for the entire month of February.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India is the other free Xbox One title which will be available from February 16th to March 15th. Xbox 360 gamers will get their hands on Split/Second from February 1st till February 15th. On February 16th, Crazy Taxi will replace it until February 28th. With Xbox 360 games being backwards compatible on the Xbox One, that means four free games next month. Thoughts on the selection? Let us know below.

"Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India immerses you in its world right out of the box and seems to present a fulfilling setting steeped in Indian history."

In this “chapter”, you play as Arbaaz Mir during the year 1841, India. As the Sikh Empire wars with the East India Company, Arbaaz is initially a rather rebellious character who prefers to spend time with the princess. The first mission, also serving as an introduction to the controls and mechanics, sees Arbaaz sneaking into the royal palace to spend time with princess Pyara. Of course, as they usually do, events take a turn and Arbaaz must recover the Kohinoor diamond and save Pyara from the bad guys.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India immerses you in its world right out of the box and seems to present a fulfilling setting steeped in Indian history. Guards speak to each other in Punjabi, henna patterns emerge as a predominant aesthetic and there’s an overall warm vibe to appreciate. If you’ve had experience with games like Ronin or even Mark of the Ninja, then you’ll be somewhat disappointed to hear that Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India is pretty much the same. Maybe not as punishing as the former but definitely not as rewarding or exhilarating as the latter.

You’ll spend the majority of your time sneaking through levels, avoiding guards based on their vision cones and either pick pocketing them or putting them to sleep (for how long depends on your lethality). Mechanically, it’s not too hard to navigate through the environments though it can be a bit awkward at first to sprint holding Right Trigger. Give it some time and you’ll be vaulting over obstacles, deploying grappling hooks and shimmying across ledges in no time. However, the clunkiness of the controls can result in you being spotted when you’re stuck in front of a pillar but actually intended to jump away. Similarly, pulling off non-lethal kills by waiting for the icon prompts to appear can be very iffy.

"At the very least the assassination missions feel on point and the instances where combat has to be properly planned and executed can be fun. Neither really holds a handle to the escape sequences which see you utilizing nothing but your movement to get away."

The combat isn’t much better and highlights the sluggishness of Arbaaz’s attacks in general when you’re spotted and forced to react. Some elements like dumping bodies inside shadowy doorways were all well and good but they’re pretty rudimentary in a game like this.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India does emphasize stealth above all though and even throws in some gadgets like smoke bombs to help you along the way. The problem is the amount of frustration you’ll have to endure when you’re wrestling with taking down a guard, navigating past them and then being spotted before you’re clear to the next section. It’s cool to be graded depending on how sneaky I was but for the most part you should be prepared to reload from your previous starting position quite regularly.

At the very least the assassination missions feel on point and the instances where combat has to be properly planned and executed can be fun. Neither really holds a handle to the escape sequences which see you utilizing nothing but your movement to get away. It’s a welcome departure from all the trailing missions we’ve seen in past Assassin’s Creed titles even if it can be ruined by the odd jumping puzzle or two. It’s a shame that at the end of the day, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India doesn’t do much with its setting or conflict to really attract players. The same issue arose with Assassin’s Creed: Unity – during one of the most important revolutions in human history, Ubisoft was busy trying to present a love story that felt way too awkward.

"Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India is an interesting step forward to the trilogy of chapters and it’s worth repeating that the aesthetic and overall set-up feel fresh."

In Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India, Arbaaz is a likeable character with a strong motivation to rescue his lady love. What about the East India Company? What about events that would eventually lead to the Uprising of 1857? Couldn’t the Brotherhood have been involved much more deeply than this? Again, it feels like the setting wasn’t exploited to its full potential to allow players some truly extraordinary moments.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India is an interesting step forward to the trilogy of chapters and it’s worth repeating that the aesthetic and overall set-up feel fresh. What Ubisoft does with that setting doesn’t, sadly, and you’ll quickly find yourself roaming around like it’s business as usual, sneaking past guards, parkouring through environments and just progressing to the next checkpoint for the sake of it. Some clunkiness aside, there are some interesting things to do in the game but like the week-old mehndi nearly faded away, it ends up imminently forgettable.

This game was reviewed on Xbox One.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India is not a large game. Getting 100% in the game is not a long term prospect- just completing the story takes an even lesser amount of time. It’s an easy enough proposition, and it’s not going to get you lost or unmoored like some of the bigger games last year might have. Still, though, if you need any help with the process, we’re here for you- in this guide, we will show you how you can unlock some of the Achievements/Trophies, and fixes to any errors or bugs you may encounter along the way (it wouldn’t be an Assassin’s Creed game if it did not have those, would it?).

ACHIEVEMENTS AND TROPHY GUIDE:

Of course, there are Achievements and Trophies in Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India, and any playthrough of the game would need to get all of them to be considered a 100% completion run. Don’t worry, though, we’ve got you covered- here’s a full Achievement guide for you. Mostly, we’ve just listed what you need to do to get the Achievements in question, though in the case of some really difficult ones, we’ve also included a video for you.

Infiltrator (25G) — Complete Memory Sequence 1. [refer walkthrough here to unlock this trophy]

The End? (100G) — Complete Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India. [refer walkthrough here to unlock this trophy]

Not Your Usual Assassin (100G) — Complete Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India without killing anyone. – This is quite a difficult trophy but one that is not impossible.

Invisible Master (150G) — Complete Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India in Plus Hard mode without being seen once.

Thief (50G) — Pickpocket or Loot 100 enemies without being seen.

Smoke Gets In Their Eyes (50G) — Use the Smoke to pass by 100 enemies.

Two For One (50G) — Multi kill 200 enemies.

Take Me Down (50G) — Take down 100 enemies.

Gone In A Flash (50G) — Have 100 enemies pass by you whilst using Helix Blend.

Leave No Trace (50G) — Dispose of 100 enemies using Helix Blade.

Like A Shadow (50G) — Achieve Shadow Gold Style rating 30 times.

Like An Assassin (25G) — Achieve Assassin Gold Style rating 30 times.

Like A Silencer (25G) — Achieve Silencer Gold Style rating 30 times.

Consistent Combo (25G) — Reach the maximum score multiplier in any memory sequence and maintain it for two more sections.

A Speedy Rescue (50G) — In Memory Sequence 3, rescue Hamid in under 5 minutes.

Faster Than Light (50G) — Complete Memory Sequence 4 in under 9 minutes.

Sharp Shooter (50G) — Clear the Mortar Guards in Memory Sequence 8 without taking any damage.

Faster Than An Elephant (50G) — Complete Memory Sequence 9 in under 7 minutes.

BUGS AND ERRORS FIXES:

While Chronicles: India is not as famously buggy as Unity was, it still has its own fair share of bugs and glitches. PC players are probably going to be on the receiving end of this- but never fear, we’re here to help you out with any problems you may run into.

First, make sure your computer can actually run the game, and that it can run it properly (spoiler alert: it almost certainly can). As always, remember that these are just suggestions to help you to get your game running- we cannot guarantee that these suggestions will work, and we certainly recommend some common sense and judgement in doing anything to your computer. If you are not comfortable with a suggested tip or hint, it may be best to not try it. A $15 game not running is probably better than you wrecking your PC. Please be advised that the following methods are to be used at the sole discretion of the platform owner. GamingBolt or its staff members take no responsibility for problems that may arise or issues that may occur from trying the below. Always remember that official support is always the best support. 

Minimum System Requirements:

• OS: Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 (32/64bit versions)
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 @ 2.6 GHz or AMD Athlon II X2 240 @ 2.8 GHz
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Graphics: Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 @ 2.6 GHz or AMD Athlon II X2 240 @ 2.8 GHz
• DirectX: Version 10
• Storage: 4 GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Sound Card with latest drivers

Recommended System Requirements:

• OS: Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 (32/64bit versions)
• Processor: Intel Core i3 2105 @ 3.1 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 @ 3.2 GHz
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Graphics: nVidia GeForce GTX 470 or AMD Radeon HD5870 or better (1024MB VRAM with Shader Model 5.0)
• DirectX: Version 10
• Storage: 4 GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Sound Card with latest drivers

Error 1: The game has stopped working

• Check that all your drivers are up to date; if they are not, please update all drivers. If they are, proceed to the next step.
• Open up the Control Panel, and go to ‘System’ under ‘System Maintenance.’
• Select Advanced System Settings.
• In the System Properties window, select the Preferences tab.
• Select Data Execution Program, and and then Turn On DEP For All Programs And Services Except Those I select.
• Use Browse to locate any programs that may have stopped working, and add it to the Exceptions list. Click Apply.
• The game should now run without issues.

Error 2: Changing Keyboard Controls

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India‘s keyboard controls are, frankly, a joke. The game practically forces you to play with a controller because of how bad the keyboard controls are. That said, if you don’t have a controller, or don’t want to plug it in to play Chronicles: India with, it is in fact possible to change the keyboard controls.

• Go to C:Files>Steam>Steamapps>common” and find “BaseInput.ini.” Make any and all changes here.

Error 3: Low Framerate and Lag

A fix for this problem has been discovered, but so far, it’s only for Nvidia users.

• If you are a laptop user, first make sure you are running the game off of the discrete graphics card, not the integrated one. If you are not a laptop user/if you have a proper gaming desktop, proceed to the next step.
• Right click desktop->Nvidia control panel->Manage 3d settings->Program settings-> and select Switch power management mode. You should change the option to “Prefer maximum performance”.

Error 4: Can’t Connect To Uplay

This is really a blessing and a boon, because Uplay sucks. But hey, if connecting to it is what you want, who are we to judge you? Whatever gets your motor running, man.

• Uninstall and re-install the game- this will replace the game’s files with the latest version from the Ubisoft servers, which theoretically should help.
• If it didn’t help, go to to C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc and delete the files named as “hosts.” Make sure your game is backed up before you do something like this.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India is set in the Indian city of Amritsar in 1841, with the Indian struggle for independence against the British Empire serving as our backdrop. The actual story in the game is fairly intriguing, exploring some of the political, social, and historical contexts of the era and of the place, while also serving to tie into the Assassin’s Creed lore fairly well.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India is an entirely stealth focused game- unlike the mainline games in the series, being seen, hightailing it, and trying to take your pursuers on is not an effective option.

The game is divided into ten memory sequences, each representing a ‘chapter,’ so to speak:

• Memory Sequence 1: The Assassin’s Heart
• Memory Sequence 2: The Absent Handler
• Memory Sequence 3: The Quest Begins
• Memory Sequence 4: The Secret Below
• Memory Sequence 5: The Enemy Revealed
• Memory Sequence 6: The Silent Assist
• Memory Sequence 7: What Lies Beneath
• Memory Sequence 8: The Thief Within
• Memory Sequence 9: The Escape
• Memory Sequence 10: The Rescue & Ending

Sequence 1: The Assassin’s Heart:

In this chapter, you are tasked with infiltrating the Amritsar Summer Palace.

Sequence 2: The Absent Handler:

This chapter takes place the next morning. The Templar presence in Amritsar is strong, and Hamid is concerned they may be trying to recover the Koh-i-Noor diamond.

Arbaaz needs to slowly weave his way through the bustling town without being seen, and rendezvous with Hamid before the Templars beat him to it and take the diamond back.

Sequence 3: The Quest Begins:

Arbaaz must infiltrate the Templar fortress to free Hamid.

Meanwhile, Hamid comes face to face with the Templar Major, William Sleeman, and his right-hand man, Captain Alexander Burnes, who are trying to extract valuable information from Hamid.

Sequence 4: The Secret Below:

Arbaaz finds himself at an ancient Precursor site; the entire place is rigged with traps, which Arbaaz needs to navigate carefully to make it out of there alive.

Sequence 5: The Enemy Revealed:

Arbaaz must make sure he stays on Sleeman’s tail; at the same time, it is vitally important that he not be discovered and captured himself, as he tries to learn what it is that the Templars are after.

Sequence 6: The Silent Assist:

The action moves to Afghanistan; Arbaaz decides to help the local Afghans in trying to liberate their locale from the British. He targets specific areas of the British castle, and he must hit them silently and undetected, so the Afghans can storm the castle successfully.

Sequence 7: What Lies Beneath:

Arbaaz must follow Sleeman inside the castle stealthily, and not be discovered

Sequence 8: The Thief Within:

After being captured by the Templars, Arbaaz awakens stripped of all his tools and equipment.

He must escape, undetected, and attempt to recover his things.

Once he has done so, Arbaaz can then steal the artifacts the Templars have acquired from within their own camp.

Sequence 9: The Escape: 

Discovered, Arbaaz must attempt to escape the Templars, who are now focused upon him with all their might.

Sequence 10: The Rescue and Ending:

The final chapter, which sees the resolution to the plot points in the story, and also sets up a future, grander game set in India in the Assassin’s Creed timeline.

You can check out the full walkthrough for the game below in video form:

You might remember how some time ago, Ubisoft announced a series of sidescrolling Assassin’s Creed spin off games- these games would take us to settings that the games have not yet gone to, including China and Russia and India. The first game in the series, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China, launched earlier this year to middling reviews, and things have been silent since, leading many to wonder if Ubisoft may not have silently dropped the idea entirely.

Don’t worry, the other two games are still coming- Ubisoft confirmed today that Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India and Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia will both be launching in early 2016.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India throws players into the tension between the Sikh Empire and the private armies of the British-owned East India Company in 1841. When a Master Templar arrives with a mysterious item that used to belong to the Assassin Order, Arbaaz Mir must discover why the Templar has come, steal back the item and protect his friends and his lover.

The final episode, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia, takes place in 1918 when Assassin Nikolaï Orelov must complete one last mission for the Assassin Order before he can leave with his family. His mission: infiltrate the house where the Tsar’s family is being held by the Bolsheviks and steal an artifact that has been fought over by Assassins and Templars for centuries. While too late to save the Tsar’s entire family, he manages to save the princess, Anastasia, whom he must protect as he escapes the Templars with her and the artifact in tow.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage and information on the games. The games will be launching on PS4, Xbox One, PS Vita, and PC.