Review: Assassin Creed Origins

Rating: 10/10

Synopsis:

ASSASSIN’S CREED® ORIGINS IS A NEW BEGINNING

*The Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed®: Ancient Egypt is available now as a free update!*

Ancient Egypt, a land of majesty and intrigue, is disappearing in a ruthless fight for power. Unveil dark secrets and forgotten myths as you go back to the one founding moment: The Origins of the Assassin’s Brotherhood.

A COUNTRY TO DISCOVER
Sail down the Nile, uncover the mysteries of the pyramids or fight your way against dangerous ancient factions and wild beasts as you explore this gigantic and unpredictable land.

A NEW STORY EVERY TIME YOU PLAY
Engage into multiple quests and gripping stories as you cross paths with strong and memorable characters, from the wealthiest high-born to the most desperate outcasts.

EMBRACE ACTION-RPG
Experience a completely new way to fight. Loot and use dozens of weapons with different characteristics and rarities. Explore deep progression mechanics and challenge your skills against unique and powerful bosses.

Review:

Assassin Creed Origins was the game that, for the first time, revolutionised the Franchise after Unity’s dismal launch back in 2014. It was a new setting, a new time where the Assassin Creed franchise had never gone before. Now, instead of a linear storyline and a dedicated set of missions, that was all gone. What you had instead been new quests, new side-content, mythical creatures, the Egyptian Afterlife, lite-RPG elements, raiding bandits and forts which could get a little repetitive and plenty of side quests. It featured a 1 to 1 reconstruction of Ancient Ptolemaic Egypt, its cities, towns and lakes. It even featured a Discovery Tour separate from the game’s story. Allowing you to navigate Ancient Egypt as a virtual museum. Ubisoft consulted universities, professors and experts to create this vast and humongous game. Assassin Creed Origins put the franchise back on its knees and set the course for Odyssey and now, the upcoming game set in the Viking Period, Valhalla.

Gameplay:

Assassin Creed Origins is built in a time where a declining culture is slowly being eradicated from its time. This is no longer the Egypt you’re familiar with. This is the time of new leaders: Augustus, Mark Antony and Cleopatra. This is the time of Bayek of Siwa, a Medjay from Fayium. Who aims to destroy the Order of the Ancients for a terrible crime that they committed on him. He and his wife Aya fight against this oppressive order. Aya’s role in this game should have been big. Recent reports said that her character played a bigger role, but they scrapped it for developmental reasons which can be found here. Our focus is, of course, reviewing the masterpiece that is this game. I should mention it that Aya’s role expanded would have added a lot more depth to an already well-written story.

You can sense the world of the Egyptian culture dying. New Roman Temples and Greek Temples are being constructed. The landscape is changing from time to time. Sandy dunes blow away the cobwebs of Egypt’s forgotten glory, half buried statues of the Pharoahs of Egypt are forgetton. The Egyptians lament on their culture being replaced from new foreign influence. They dislike their Greek rulers or the Romans who are very much the new kids on the block. Remember that over 3000 years ago, Egypt was once the powerhouse of the Bronze Age. Its empire rivalled that of the Mycenans, the Hitties, the Assyrians and the Babylonians. Unders its powerful rulers, Egypt once dominated all the Levant.

Now in the era of 32BCE which they set the game in, Egypt’s glory is all but gone. Consistent invasions from the Assyrians to the Persians damaged Egypt’s glory. Egypt was at a point that after the Persian invasion, the Greeks under Alexander arrived and took control. There were rebellions against Ptolemaic rule, but they were crushed. You will feel the diminishing power of the Egyptian Priesthood. You will find the wealthy Egyptians living in segmented quarters, not even that close from where wealthy Greeks and Romans are living. You’ll find propaganda being spread from all sides. You’ll find some xenophobic speech, which is mostly just an interpretation of how people in the Ancient World could hate each other.

Remember that over 3000 years ago, Egypt was once the powerhouse of the Bronze Age. Its empire rivalled that of the Mycenans, the Hitties, the Assyrians and the Babylonians. Unders its powerful rulers, Egypt once dominated all the Levant. Now in the era of 32BCE which they set the game in, Egypt’s glory is all but gone. Consistent invasions from the Assyrians to the Persians damaged Egypt’s glory. Egypt was at a point that after the Persian invasion, the Greeks under Alexander arrived and took control. There were rebellions against Ptolemaic rule, but they were crushed. You will feel the diminishing power of the Egyptian Priesthood. You will find the wealthy Egyptians living in segmented quarters, not even that close from where wealthy Greeks and Romans are living. You’ll find propaganda being spread from all sides. You’ll find some xenophobic speech, which is mostly just an interpretation of how people in the Ancient World could hate each other.

Worldbuilding:

You will see Egyptians, Romans and Greeks inter-mingling with each other. You’ll raid bandit forts, there is so much you can do in this game. So much. The Greek rulers are not noble soldiers, for they consistently raid the countryside. This is where you, Bayek of Siwa, come in. You’re practically breathing the last glorious days of Egypt, even if it is in Greek rule. You know that the Romans are an inviting factor: They want control over this region of Egypt because of its vital importance as a breadbasket. The amount of research that Ubisoft created this immersive world is beyond anything I have ever seen. I am astounded that they have packed this much historical detail into a game that really should and must open the potential for more Ancient Egyptian RPG open world games set in different eras of its history. The potential for a mythological world set in the Egyptian period on the scale and scope of AC Origins would be such a good thing. The story is great, though I felt Aya was often under-used in this story, including Cleopatra. A separate story expansion on her would have been nice and we would get to see more of her motivations. I felt that Bayek’s story is unfinished, and if Ubisoft did ever go back to this game, it would be nice if we got something from there. But I also wished they had introduced a story mode for this game. I ask Ubisoft that they create a game around Ramesses and the Hittites. Egypt’s power was slowly beginning to decline. That would be epic, and you could see the Battle of Kadesh itself. They craft the landscapes of this game in beautiful detail. Beautiful landscapes and marvellous architecture makes you awe in wonder at the breath-taking scale of this world. You can travel into deserts and experience mirages, you can witness the stars in the night, you can hunt, you can mediate and climb mountains. My criticism somewhat lies that in this game, they could have spent less time on the countryside, and more on the cities and villages. There were more cities that could have been added. The mythological DLC such as Curse of the Pharoahs allowed you to explore the four realms of the Egyptian afterlife. Bear in mind that this is a simulation, not a real representation. However, you could consider it a love letter to the legacy that was Ancient Egypt and still continues to inspire us even today.

Immersion:

However you could consider it a love letter to the legacy that was Ancient Egypt and still continues to inspire us even today. Play Curse of the Pharoahs. This is where Bayek’s story truly shines the most. You can fight the warriors of Anubis, you can explore the realm of Ramesses, you can fight giant scorpions, you can go into fields of golden wheat. There is so much in this game you can do that you never feel a moment is wasted. There are many story quests within the Curse of the Pharoahs DLC that you have to find out. It leads to a very nice conclusion. And I appreciate that it would not have been easy to make when you actually go in-depth into Egyptian Mythology. That said, I would have had Akhenaten’s map in place of Aaru’s map because Aaru contained a lot of palaces and temples as well and I would have wanted the maps to be a lot bigger.

You can also carry out contracts, do side missions and get rid of evil Roman/Greek generals. The side content is generally well written and I believe that there’re around a hundred side quests? The major story is very good, and it has some really good moments of dialogue and some cinematic brilliance with cut scenes. You can travel lakes. There is so much in this game that it feels like I’m rambling off a list. The soundtrack is one of the best bits about this game and really immerses you into this natural world of Ancient Egypt.

Oh, and the best part. You can explore the Pyramids, the tombs of the Pharoahs, and I have barely touched the DLCs. There is so much content that you don’t need to worry. You can carry out quests for a boy and his camel, which is basically the version off: Gather a million gold coins, and then you can spend it all on opening heka chests to get the special weapons.

Overall, you will witness history come alive wonderfully. A game that really puts you, the player, into Ancient Egypt. If you like good storytelling, wonderful cinematics and a world which you can sink ours into, this game is for you and it looks wonderful regardless of any platform you play it on. This truly made Ubisoft think outside of the box for a game like this. The temples in this game are so beautifully constructed, that it’s like living through history. You’ll see people offering food and prayers to the Gods. Asking for a divine intervention. Plus, Ubisoft went all the way to rebuild the Ancient Egyptian language. It’s that immersive.

Conclusion:

Overall, you will witness history come alive wonderfully. A game that really puts you, the player, into Ancient Egypt. If you like good storytelling, wonderful cinematics and a world which you can sink ours into, this game is for you and it looks wonderful regardless of any platform you play it on. This truly made Ubisoft think outside of the box for a game like this. The temples in this game are so beautifully constructed that it’s like living through history. You’ll see people offering food and prayers to the Gods. Asking for a divine intervention. Plus, Ubisoft went all the way to rebuild the Ancient Egyptian language. It’s that immersive.

This game was a treat in every single way. It changed the franchise in such a way that Scientists in 2017 discovered a hidden chamber in the Pyramids. Guess what? Assassin Creed Origins was already ahead of them! You can find more about it here. This was an interactive movie combined with a vast open world. That’s what I call this game. Get this game during discounted sales via Steam and Uplay if you play on PC, or any other platform regardless. It comes cheap during discounted sales, and the bang for your buck that you get, is simply awesome.

This game, gets a 10/10 from me!