Ubisoft’s last big hit of 2007, Assassin’s Creed, received a lot of hype. And ever since they announced Altair’s Chronicles for the DS, out of all platforms, speculation levels have rose to a new high. The cover art has been leaked for some time, but there was no concrete evidence of screenshots or gameplay examples as of yet, until now. And man, does it sure look nice. Although IGN only has a handful of screenshots available, they are filled with detail. The acrobatics famous in the console games appear intact for the DS, in full 3D.

As you can see, the levels in them are already packed with nice textures and lighting effects (some appear cleverly “faked” to get around the limitations of DS hardware). Jumping across castle towers and over marketplaces should also be as immersive as the scenery itself. Most of the action appears to take place in a top-down view- perfect for calculating and timing jumps, so hopefully it will allow you to control Altair with flawless execution. A map at the bottom screen outlines the current situation on a 2D map, which should be very useful in planning your next route.

Personally, this is a game that I feel would work better on the PSP, and this is from somebody that has owned both a DS and a PSP. However, it’s also good to give DS players some more worthwhile 3D action games. A prequel to the PS3 and Xbox 360 games, Altair’s Chronicles takes you back to the earlier years of the titular character. Ubisoft promises to include around a dozen different weapons to perform your deeds, including a grappling hook which should be quite handy in places like this.