Assassin’s Creed Origins review

Reviewed on: PS4

Assassin’s Creed is a series with no rest. It has been released so many times, with so many titles, that it has practically become “annualized”, like CoD or Battlefield. However, even a tired series can produce appealing items. Case in point: Assassin’s Creed: Origins.

The formula –

AC is somewhat looked down on as a work among fans for always carrying the same formula of combat, exploration, progression, stealth and assassinations throughout all the games in its franchise. In AC Origins, they finally took a chance on changing practically everything. Some changes are for the worse, but we’ll get there.

What changed? –

The first thing that the series’ pioneers who dropped off midway will notice: level. This is a good and a bad point of the changes already mentioned. What should happen is a gradual progression, according to the game’s challenges. It doesn’t quite happen like that. You are constantly underleveled, with sidequests that give little experience. An extremely negative factor of this design decision is that, depending on the difference, the Hidden Blade is no longer a lethal weapon when you catch someone by surprise, which kind of kills the whole dynamic of the game. You face a visibly irritated enemy, armed with the weakest weapon in the game in combat. That’s without counting the fact that he will alert the other guards.

Exploration also undergoes changes, since you now have your eagle to act as a literal eagle vision (that black screen with enemies and targets highlighted in front of you was replaced by the pleasant flight of an eagle). You still have to climb viewpoints to see all the points of the terrain, but that bothers you far less than the series’ other interactions. I couldn’t quite work out why. Maybe because of the glaring change of setting.

Weapons now, besides varying more, are much more disposable. With each level you increase the power of your random drops, and the enemy that used to give you trouble is now just another stone in the road. Once again, it’s worth remembering the big problem of the hidden blade being tied to your personal level. It would be a fantastic mechanic to be able to kill super-strong enemies with one blow, without alerting anyone. It would practically force you to play the whole game based on Stealth. It would spawn internet challenges for those who finish at the lowest level. Too bad that wasn’t the direction they decided to take.

The Story –

This is a quite complicated point. In a game with the subtitle “Origins”, you would expect to actually receive the origin of all the Assassins’ traditions and the invention of all their equipment. Yes, once again, I’m talking about the Hidden Blade. I don’t remember the exact words now, but at the moment you receive one of the most iconic weapons in the modern world of games, all that is said is that “it is a very ancient artifact”. That’s it. The other customs are hinted at here and there, it’s even nice how they fit into the narrative. But ignoring the origin of the series’ main weapon seemed to me a tremendous shot in the foot.

Footnotes –

Despite the narrative and progression slips, Assassin’s Creed: Origins manages to fulfill its mission of entertaining surprisingly well. The story is engaging, but predictable. The characters have a certain charisma, although they are not memorable. Combat has evolved in a sensational way, much better than the “block -> hit” of previous games. It is a really very good game, which brings incredible potential for the series’ return.

Let’s just hope they evolve everything that has to be evolved.

Narrative: 7

Audiovisual: 10

Mechanics: 9

 
PlayStation 4 version