Checking out Assassin's Creed Mirage - Preview
For years I would eagerly await for the next Assassin’s Creed title, but after Unity and Syndicate, things started to feel a little much. Then the series took some time off to reboot itself, ensuring that the core aspects of the series were retained, but after one very streamlined entry, the following two games became some bloated with content, most players never finished them. Enter Assassin’s Creed Mirage, a new game that is set before Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, but one that pulls from the early games in the series, while including a few modern touches. Ahead of Ubisoft Forward 2023, I was invited to check the game out and to learn more about this refreshed take on a series I really adore.
One of the key aspects that the presenters called out was the size of Baghdad, with it matching that of Paris and Constantinople from Unity and Revelations respectively. One of the biggest differences however is that the city itself is not vertically that tall, there are a few key landmarks that will have you reaching some height, but most dwellings are only a few stories, so it feels very much like Origins in that respect. The city itself, in fact the time that the game takes place is towards the end of the 9th century when Baghdad was at its peak, before people with grand ideas started to make poor decisions, leading to its decline. Basim has grown up on the streets and while those around him have flourished, he has not, so when he is given an offer to become one of the Hidden-Ones, he takes it.
While serving the Hidden-Ones seems like a noble goal, Basim has people he grew up with that he still keeps in contact with, who do not take to his new life as much as he does. But there is more to Basim than meets the eye, he suffers from visions that seem to torment him. While Basim has a little more going on, the game is still an Assassin’s Creed title, which means there are a few key functions that need to be included. Parkour is one such element and while the there are some modern touches, like being able to rapidly ascend some buildings, the team have gone out of their way to ensure that Basim does what you want him to. Stealth is another core aspect, blending into the background when tracking a target or using people as cover when guards are drawing close. The team have created new AI for the NPCs so that they will react more naturally to events around them, that includes the guards, so while they are going to be more challenging at times, beating them will be so much more satisfying because of it.
With all that sorted, it was time to see the game in action, with the presentation starting right as Basim was taking down his target. Once that was done, it was time to vanish and one of the new moves was shown off, as Basim pulled down some stacked building supplies, which caused a cloud of dust to kick up. While a few of the pursuing guards were stopped, the new AI had one of the guards run away from the cloud and around the building to continue the chase. After many hop, skips and jumps, Basim did get away and was able to make it to the local headquarters. While plans were made about where to set up more safe locations, Basim was left to his own devices and as such undertook a mission. From the outset things were very much some normal Assassin’s Creed, surveying from up high, sneaking in the tall grass and taking out guards, but once Basim got close to the target things changed.
While surveying the guards in the immediate area, Basim was able to mark the ones up on the balcony, then he teleported to them, in the order he marked them and took them down. Due to the ability, no one else saw anything and three guards were removed from the situation. The best example I can use to describe it, is like the mark and execute feature from Splinter Cell Conviction, which would let Sam tag enemies for tracking and then when ready, take down instantly. Of course, there is no word on just how exactly Basim obtained this skill, but perhaps his visions may have something to do with it. Once Basim had some more space to work, he set up a few traps and then made executed the plan and by which, I mean killed the target. As this is an Assassin’s Creed game, there is a lot of running to be done once you make your kill and there was nothing different here.
With the successful evading of the guards, the walkthrough was done and as was my time checking out the game. As someone who loves the older Assassin’s Creed games, the Ezio trilogy especially, going back to a more streamlined experience is very appealing. There are some more modern elements that I saw in the footage and with the overhauled AI and animations, everything should play smoother. There are still a number of questions I have, but just knowing that the team are taking the time to make a ‘classic’ Assassin’s Creed experience, but while still embracing some of the more modern games, is enough to tide me over.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage will be available on October 12th for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. The game will also be included in Ubisoft+ for those PC players who have a subscription to that.
