Assassin's Creed - Altair's Chronicles

Assassin’s Creed: Altaïr’s Chronicles for Nintendo DS is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Gameloft and published by Ubisoft. Released shortly after the first Assassin’s Creed, it is a prequel centered on Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad and set in 1190 during the Third Crusade. Rather than trying to duplicate the original console game’s open-world structure on Nintendo’s handheld, this entry builds a self-contained mission-driven adventure around climbing, combat, covert movement, and a new chapter in Altaïr’s early story.

Altaïr’s assignment begins with the search for the Chalice, a prize said to be capable of changing the balance of power in the Holy Land. The pursuit carries him through Crusades-era cities and strongholds, where the Assassin Brotherhood’s struggle against the Templars shapes the journey. Familiar series locations such as Damascus, Jerusalem, and Acre appear alongside places such as Aleppo and Tyre, giving the game a route and story that precede the events of the 2007 Assassin’s Creed.

The Nintendo DS game is played from a third-person view in 3D environments. Players guide Altaïr across rooftops, ledges, walls, markets, and interiors by running, jumping, climbing, and negotiating platforming hazards. Stages are more directed than the console original, but exploration still serves the action: routes can lead toward objectives, evade danger, or uncover collectible orbs that improve Altaïr’s health and attack strength.

Combat combines swordplay and acrobatic attacks with the series’ stealth-minded premise. Altaïr can chain attacks, defend against opponents, and use the weapons acquired during the adventure, including blades, daggers, explosives, throwing knives, and a crossbow. The game also makes use of the DS hardware beyond its buttons and directional controls. Its Touch Screen keeps a map and important locations available, while dedicated mini-games ask players to extract information from informants or steal items in crowded areas.

Assassin’s Creed: Altaïr’s Chronicles was Ubisoft’s first Assassin’s Creed spin-off and the franchise’s first Nintendo DS release. Gameloft adapted the series’ key ideas—an assassin moving through historical spaces, close-quarters encounters, and information gathering—to a portable format while telling an Altaïr-focused tale separate from the main console campaign. Later adaptations reached several mobile platforms, but this Nintendo DS version is the original handheld release and is distinguished by its dual-screen interface and stylus-based tasks.