PLATFORM PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PC
PUBLISHER Ubisoft
DEVELOPER Ubisoft Montreal
RELEASE October 12, 2023
With Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Ubisoft’s venerable Assassin’s Creed brand is returning to its stealth-based, dense city roots after six years of expansive open-world RPGs. The more I see of it, the more eager I am for October. Over the years, I’ve loved the series’ forays into RPGs, but 2020’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, which I had to play for more than 100 hours before the credits rolled, left me feeling worn out and burned out with what Ubisoft had done to a franchise whose games had previously required 20 hours to complete.
I believe that Mirage will rekindle my passion for this series, which I have adored since I was twelve, following a recent preview event that showcased fresh gameplay and information about it. In it, we take control of Basim, who we previously encountered in Valhalla as the Assassin who introduced the game’s protagonist Eivor to the Hidden Ones, only to discover that at the game’s conclusion, he seems more like an adversary than a friend. This is due to Valhalla’s revelation that Basim is the Asgardian trickster Loki, which raises a lot of hopes for the future of the series.
Sarah Beaulieu, the director of story for Mirage, informs me that Mirage deals with the revelation in some way but declines to elaborate. She claims, however, that Mirage gives players an inside look at how Basim develops from a street criminal to an assassin to the position he’s in at the conclusion of Valhalla. In the ninth century, he learns his trade in the crowded streets of Baghdad, which according to Beaulieu is about the same size as Paris in Assassin’s Creed Unity or Constantinople in Assassin’s Creed Revelation. She also refers to Mirage’s story as a stand-alone coming-of-age tale. As a result, it doesn’t have any contemporary stories or portions.
The city of Midinat-Al-Salam appears to be more parkour-friendly than any other city in the last five years’ worth of Assassin’s Creed games, based on the gameplay I’ve seen of Mirage. Its narrow alleyways are crowded with NPCs who, as a result of the crowdblending mechanic’s comeback, can serve as your key to otherwise inaccessible places. But if that doesn’t work, you may always head for the rooftops, where there are routes made for swift movement. Basim’s range of parkour moves includes pass over, pass under, corner swings, and pole vaults, as well as the capacity to have neighbourhood street heralds lessen your renown.
That’s crucial for assisting Basim in keeping a low profile when sneaking into enemy strongholds and outposts. Enkidu, his eagle, assists in staking out these positions, but new marksman adversaries can stop that, so you must eliminate them first. Six basic instruments are available to you, each of which may be upgraded. These include smoke bombs, blow darts, throwing knives, noisemakers, and more. These weapons make rapid assassinations simple, especially when paired with Basim’s new Assassin’s Focus power, which slows down time so he can quickly target and eliminate several adversaries.
I really enjoy the role that Assassin Bureaus play in Mirage’s gameplay. In these numerous centres, Basim can pick up contracts to carry out killings, side quests, rescue missions, and more. In this game, the mission board that was present in earlier Assassin’s Creed games has been replaced by an investigation board that seems more in keeping with early games in the series.
Beyond that, Mirage truly does appear to look and play like an Assassin’s Creed of the early 2010s, and I mean that in the greatest sense. It draws certain UI graphics and mechanics from the series’ RPGs. My biggest concern is that it will further emphasise how draining Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed RPGs are, but that’s a problem for Assassin’s Creed Red, the following in that vein of feudal Japan-set games; for Mirage, going back to the series’ origins that made it so popular in the first place might have been the best choice Ubisoft could have made for this 2023 entry.
Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR
Ubisoft offered me a glimpse at Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR, a future Meta Quest game, and Assassin’s Creed Jade, a previously announced smartphone game set in ancient China, before unveiling Mirage.
A first for the Assassin’s Creed series, Nexus features three assassins throughout its narrative, and the three are returning figures from the series’ past: Kassandra from Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Connor from Assassin’s Creed 3, and Ezio Auditore of Assassin’s Creed 2, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, and Assassin’s Creed Revelations fame. Although there was no gameplay in this presentation, pre-rendered animations suggested that there may be some. Although everything seemed fantastic, I’m taking it with a grain of salt.
Nexus is the first Assassin’s Creed to be played in first person, which makes sense considering that it is a VR-exclusive game and has three playable assassins in one game’s narrative. For the returning assassins, each of the three stories in Nexus is brand-new, but they all come together to form a larger story in which players must infiltrate Abstergo Industries to prevent it from obtaining three hidden artefacts that the company intends to use to coerce Abstergo product users into adhering to Templar beliefs.
Ezio’s plot takes place in 15th-century Italy during the Italian Renaissance, as you might imagine, and according to creative director David Votypka, players will see characters from past Assassin’s Creed games, hopefully Leonardo DaVinci. While Connor’s narrative takes place during the American Revolution, Kassandra’s takes place in 400 BC. Votypka claims that the settings are open maps intended to serve as sandboxes for assassinations and other activities, stressing that there is no set way to carry out killings.
You utilise the Meta Quest controls to retrieve smoke bombs, knives, and arrows from your assassins’ backs, waist belts, and chests, as well as their swords, axes, and other weapons, off their sides.
While performing assassinations and performing leaps of faith in virtual reality may seem amazing, it might be a nightmare for anyone who have motion sickness when using a headset. According to Votypka, the game has built-in vignetting for peripheral vision blocking, teleport locomotion for navigating levels, and mechanisms for people who are afraid of heights.
Everything I’ve learnt about Nexus sounds fantastic on paper, but because I haven’t seen any gameplay, I’m still unclear of what to anticipate.
Assassin’s Creed Jade
The first Assassin’s Creed where players may design and customise their own assassin is Jade, the company’s entry into the open world, action RPG mobile sector. According to Ubisoft, Level Infinite, a game developer, completed its technical alpha phase last year and will hold beta tests later this summer. Pre-registration for these betas is currently open.
Between Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Assassin’s Creed Origins, in the third century BC, during the Warring States era of ancient China, lies Xianyou, the capital of the Qin Dynasty. Players can also explore the surrounding wilderness and other areas. The Great Wall of China’s construction started around this time, and players can parkour across what is currently there to see what is beyond the wall.
I’ve been an Assassin’s Creed fan for a very long time, but I’ve never really desired an open world game on my phone. Nevertheless, I find the idea intriguing and am eager to try it out this summer when a beta version is released.