They just act as vehicles to push you into a 2D platformer that takes on a few infinite-runner qualities, if you feel like charging in full steam and destroying every barely competent guard you meet. Assassin's Creed 2: Discovery won’t do much to dispel that notion you play as Ezio, conducting assassination missions for a series of clients, all of which are nondescript and ultimately unimportant. If you only played the Assassin's Creed mobile games, you might get the idea that the series' trademark is side-scrolling your way through corridors of oblivious guards/corpses-to-be.

Unlike Chronicles China or India, both fun stealth side scrollers in their own right, this one is for fans of the Brotherhood only. Add in some frustrating timed levels and the interesting Assassin's lore and new characters become bogged down by an experience that just feels like it hasn't been thought through quite hard enough. There's plenty of satisfying Assassin-ing to do here but Chronicles Russia manages to be the worst of the arty trilogy with some seriously infuriating difficulty spikes if you choose to do anything other that, well, spike your enemies silently. Orelov is, of course, still an Assassin, complete with hidden blade but just to shake things up he's armed with a rifle for picking off enemies from afar and a winch for yanking doors off grates to sneak through. The sneaky quest of Nikolai Orelov in 1918 Russia, this is actually the most modern Creed adventure to date. The final side-scrolling stealthy spin-off (say that three times) from Ubi and Climax Studios, Chronicles Russia is gorgeously drawn in the hues of 20th century propaganda, but fiendishly difficult. Spotty controls result in a lot of running into walls rather than up them, but at least you won’t have to avoid the usual swarm of civilians - there’s barely anyone in the streets, meaning that it’s up to the flat textures and boxy buildings to build the atmosphere.

It’s a free-to-play affair, sending you to and fro to eliminate some guy / collect this artifact / escort this person in exchange for skill points you can spend on outfits, equipment, and move-sets.

Sadly, you’ll probably spend more time messing around with that than you will the actual game. Ezio’s been swept aside for custom-created characters, each brought to life using a marvellous Italian name generator. Set in the Italian Renaissance, Identity attempts to recreate the series’ signature sneaking-and-stabbing gameplay, shrunken down for shorter sessions. Assassin’s Creed Identity launched on iOS with the intent to be more like the full-blooded console releases, albeit with an RPG spin.

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