Assassin\u2019s Creed Mirage takes the series back to its stealthy roots UbisoftAssassin\u2019s Creed Mirage will be with us in October, but how does the latest entry compare to previous games in the series? Here are our thoughts after spending a few hours playing it. After spending some time with Assassin\u2019s Creed Mirage, we were immediately struck by how similar the game feels to the original Assassin\u2019s Creed in terms of setting and style \u2013 if we were to look back at that first 2007 entry with rose-tinted glasses, that is. In truth, while Assassin\u2019s Creed 1 started this epic journey, that original game was lackluster by modern standards, featuring repetitive gameplay, broken stealth, and janky combat, at least compared to what players are accustomed to now. Of course, AC2 fixed these issues and launched the series into the stratosphere, but Assassin\u2019s Creed Mirage finally delivers on the promise of the original and feels like the Assassin\u2019s Creed game Ubisoft has always wanted to make. Set roughly a decade before Assassin\u2019s Creed Valhalla, Mirage brings back the popular character Basim and depicts his origin story as he grows from street thief to master assassin. Back to basics The game is also set several centuries before Assassin\u2019s Creed 1 and moves the action to Baghdad rather than the Holy Land. However, it brings back some classic locations such as the Alamut, the Persian fortress where Alta\u00efr was trained, and Ezio visited in Assassin\u2019s Creed Revelations. The game continues to use the Hidden Ones plotline that started in Assassin\u2019s Creed Origins, so it\u2019s fun to see the prequel series begin to intersect with the more classic elements of the early games. Of course, the Hidden Ones haven\u2019t become the Assassins yet, and the Order has yet to \u2018rebrand\u2019 as the Templars, but it\u2019s fun to see the beginnings of this transition, especially for those who\u2019ve followed the series since the beginning. Strike from the shadows One thing we really enjoyed about our time with Assassin\u2019s Creed Mirage is that stealth is truly back. While the game is reminiscent of Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla in many other ways, there is a clearer emphasis on sneaking around to complete objectives, rather than running in and slashing everything that moves. If we were ever spotted and tried to fight our way out of a situation, we were soon cut down, even being outmatched by just two enemies. Stealthy gameplay was always one of the things that drew players to AC games in the early years, and combat has often felt rather hit-and-miss throughout the series. It actually felt strange to be stealthy as a Spartan soldier or a Viking warrior, but when playing as Basim, embracing the shadows feels natural and rewarding. We believe this is the correct path for the Assassin\u2019s Creed series to take, but players may still need more incentive to be stealthy, or need to feel more empowered as they silently pick off enemies one by one. Quality over quantity Unlike the vast open worlds of previous games, Mirage offers a tighter experience that\u2019s more akin to Assassin\u2019s Creed 1, 2, Unity, and Syndicate than more recent entries. Don\u2019t get us wrong, Baghdad is vast, and the game is still very much a sandbox, but the focus is on urban exploration again rather than sailing or galloping all over the landscape. We didn\u2019t get to see any naval gameplay or horses in our time with the game, but we had lots of fun jumping between buildings and exploring the city. We\u2019re also happy to report that swimming returns, as do many other features we\u2019ve become accustomed to. Even older features return, such as the ability to bribe a group of thugs to go and pick a fight with the guards. Soft reboot 2017\u2019s Assassin\u2019s Creed Origins felt like a soft reboot of the series in many ways, whereas Odyssey refined the formula before things began stagnating again by the time Valhalla emerged. This is a cycle that seems to play out every few games with the Assassin\u2019s Creed series, so it\u2019s refreshing to see Mirage tweak the formula once again. We don\u2019t get the same soft reboot vibes that Origins gave us, but it will be interesting to see if Assassin\u2019s Creed Mirage breathes some new life into the franchise. Ubisoft has had to go backwards to go forwards again, but we\u2019re optimistic that Mirage will be a fun change of pace for Assassin\u2019s Creed fans. It may also finally live up to the promise of the original Assassin\u2019s Creed game all those years ago. For more gaming guides and lists, check out more gaming content below: Games like Stardew Valley | Best Xbox Game Pass games | Best Souls games | Best Oddworld games | Best OLED Switch games | Best survival games |10 Best MMOs in 2022 | Best scary Roblox horror games in 2022 | Best survival games | Best Apple Arcade games | Best mobile games | Best MMO games | Best LGBTQ+ video games | 9 best Final Fantasy games ranked | Best Assassin\u2019s Creed games ranked<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Assassin\u2019s Creed Mirage takes the series back to its stealthy roots UbisoftAssassin\u2019s Creed Mirage will be with us in October, but how does the latest entry compare to previous games in the series? Here are our thoughts after spending a few hours playing it. After spending some time with Assassin\u2019s Creed Mirage, we were immediately […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19410\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}