High Profile, Low Profile
Social Status Indicator |
As mentioned above, the icon to the upper left basically indicates the soldier's awareness levels. When it turns yellow, it means they are on the prowl for Altair. A red color denotes more dire circumstances, in which the soldiers are pushed into combat. Any wandering soldiers in line of sight will also join the fight. In order to alleviate the alarm levels, you either need to kill all the soldiers in sight, or quickly run away and hide either in a haystack or in the little curtain structures. Of course, you would need to hide without the guards seeing. Once the coast is clear, the dramatic music dies out and the icon reverts to its usual, white color of anonymity. |
Part of being an expert assassin is keeping a low profile. However, that can be difficult when people near you mysteriously keel over and die without a known cause. This, then, could arouse suspicion of guards nearby. The icon in the upper left corner reflects Altair's degree of anonymity to his enemies. Whenever something catches a guard's attention, such as sprinting or other out-of-the-ordinary behavior, an eye appears over the icon and emits a beeping noise. This means you are being closely monitored and cautions you to keep a lower profile before the warning erupts into a full-fledged conflict. Some high profile moves include sprinting, grabbing, and bumping into soldiers. The last one usually incites the offended soldier to engage Altair.
In order to keep a low profile, either jog or blend. Blending is actually quite useful and keeps guards out of Altair's hair. Blending also allows him to get closer to his enemies for a very devastating stealth kill.
Combat
There's not a whole lot of depth to the combat system in Bloodlines, but Altair has access to four types of weapons: a long sword, throwing daggers (that can also be used in close combat), a hidden blade, and his fists. The hidden blade is used for stealth kills. Never ever try to assassinate a target whose weapons are drawn; you will only reveal yourself and invite more trouble. Block by pressing the right shoulder button. Blocking is your best friend, but when surrounded Altair becomes vulnerable to enemies who attack from the side or behind. While blocking, he can perform an effective counterattack move on his enemy. This works only if you hold down the block button and attack only as the enemy starts swinging.
Press the Cross button to dodge, which comes in real handy when blocking is not an option. Finally, Altair can perform up to four attacks, strung together in a combo. The timing for the combo can be tricky at first—each attack must be connected as the previous swing contacts its target. Often times, Altair will be able to break the target's guard and deliver a finishing blow that makes him invulnerable to other attacks during this animation. Most enemies will be dealt with in this fashion, anyway.
Map |
The map serves as a major crutch for the player going through the game. The map provides the locations of all the side missions, objectives, High Points, and area entrances. It also picks up on enemies within the vicinity and displays them as yellow dots. During a mission, the next target, objective or destination is highlighted in red. The primary icons to memorize are a bird-like icon, which represents the High Point of the area, and the gate icon, which points to entrances to other areas. Very often the walkthrough will use these gates as a landmark for describing the location of a Templar Coin. Since the game is free-roam, and the camera rotates 360-degrees, it would be difficult otherwise without the use of the map. |
Synchronization/High Points |
High Points are denoted by the bird-like icon on the map and are usually the highest point in the whole area, giving Altair a clear view of his surroundings. This action provides Altair with the knowledge of everything going on in the area, including the location of Safe Houses and all the side mission-giving citizens. |
Side Missions |
Aside from the primary objectives and missions, Cypriot citizens littered throughout each city requires assistance from Altair. These people can be found on the map under differing icons, depending on the type of task they will request you to do. You'll have several kinds of missions: assassinations, deliveries, interrogations, thefts, interceptions, and rescues. An assassin doesn't discriminate and will take any odd job! As a reward for helping out these poor citizens, Altair will often be rewarded with Bronze Templar Coins. |
Accomplishments |
Accomplishments are just that—feats that you can be proud of. You won't gain anything special from unlocking every one. The list of Accomplishments can be viewed in the Memory Block select screen. |
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