Every Time a new Assassin’s Creed game releases I feel my age. The number of people I meet on a daily basis who weren’t even alive for the first title in the series always puts into perspective the depressing thought that… Damn… I am old. It makes me feel even older is the fact the latest game in the franchise, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, can toute itself as a return to the classic formula of the series circa 2007, with this being a big deal.
Based on the feedback of the fanbase I have heard in the buildup, this definitely is a big deal. It’s always fun to listen to people barely 18 explain why they can’t wait for Assassin’s Creed to pay homage to the one game in the series they never played since it never got a re-release. I digress.
I didn’t want to love Assassin’s Creed Mirage any more than I wanted to hate it. My time with the game felt on par with that, keeping me in a state of constant indifference. As it turned out, I liked many of the throwbacks but wished it went farther. The core issues at the heart of this game aren’t from trying to honor a 16-year-old game, it’s the mechanics that have been issues from day one, that continue to persist, and that had nowhere to hide in this package.
Basim & Baghdad
Interesting fun fact, Baghdad was founded in 762 CE which is roughly 100 years prior to the beginning of Mirage. That has always been a strength of Assassin’s Creed, and one they have played into in recent years. They give you a little bit of information about the place and time they have chosen to set their game and the next thing you know you are up till 2 in the morning trying to prove the developers wrong about information you ultimately find out they were right about.
In this story, you take the role of Basim, who was previously introduced in Valhalla, as you learn how he eventually became an assassin. He is also the blandest lead character the franchise has had in years. In the beginning, he plays an Aladdin-style thief with none of the charisma only for him to try to steal from the wrong person and in the confusion escape Baghdad with The Hidden Ones (eventually the Assassins). After being trained over several months he becomes a John Wick Style assassin with none of the charisma.
Like the original game, your goal is to take down corrupt leads, with much of the game divided between investigating them and finally taking them down. In this is a large amount of mundane follow quests and go here quests, with the occasional sneak into a for to get information. Of course, you can always go in heavy, but remember, unlike recent titles your character will be underpowered in fights. This being said the emphasis on combat feels like the developers knew trying to lure the 10 people standing around doing nothing one by one to kill them in secret would get boring, and I would agree with them.
In fairness, the story is everything you would ask of an Assassin’s Creed Game. The templars (or their precursor as the crusades have yet to happen) are doing very evil stuff, manipulating the people and victimizing the country and you at the Assassin have to stop them. It just… Lacks the depth many of the Assassin’s Creed games have managed to bring in later entries.
My obvious example is Valhalla which saw the fight get wrapped up in Norse Mythology, as well as the very real Viking expansion into England. There was more going on there, and while this would matter regardless, the very minimal that is going on in Mirage is also bland. Even though I knew why the bad guys needed to be stopped, I struggled to care. Villains rarely offered anything to the experience overlooking people like a ruler from up high, and the obligatory evil justification speech that when you kill them, which just continues to be pointless.
Sneak In, Fight Out
The biggest triumph of the game is its more intimate map. While the game doesn’t limit itself to Baghdad, the surrounding area remains small and explorable. This has been the biggest issue with the franchise as recent entries have had offensively large maps. The town has separate areas it that require some work to enter, an annoyance of finding the right place to climb over, but once inside exploration hasn’t felt this good in years.
Despite the fact that it feels good, the controls really do not, and the issue is they feel bad in the same way they have felt bad in almost every entry. Several times in exploration my character stops responding to my actions, or needs you to widdle your character to continue moving, which is at odds with what is supposed to be fast-paced movement. Furthermore, after getting annoyed with the button layout, I attempted to switch it up which led to half my buttons no longer working.
Making an extremely unwanted return for me is the use of a spirit animal you need to summon every ten minutes. Going to mission locations always turns into summoning your bird to find the thing you need to interact with, fighting with annoying controls just to highlight one thing. Outside of these moments, I can imagine you will ever use your bird as your eagle vision highlights enemies and objects you need much better without breaking action.
Entering areas usually gives you more than one way to go which diversifies your experience but I never much cared for the stealth aspect of the AC and that will not change here. Most areas have large groups of enemies hanging around with each other, and in some way pigeonhole you into engaging with that group through one of them having a key or being your target. You get tools to make the stealth easier, and ability upgrades too, but with the option of just murdering them all readily available it’s hard to want to go through with stealth.
The game also features a gear system that feels unneeded at best. On the one hand, the game’s cosmetics are cool, a have an added feature to change up their color. While there are fully cosmetic looks you will earn through missions, many you find have stats added to them that do very little other than force you to collect items to upgrade them. I get that people are annoyed with the constant bombardment of stat increase gear, I am too, but most of the gear comes with a 5 % stat buff stealth, or defense, which is barely noticeable in the moments they increase your stats it feels pointless. Would have preferred everything to be cosmetic, considering they all look really cool.
The game also puts a large emphasis on the mundane investigating portion of the assassination. In one case, trying to murder the head of the market, I did a lot of running around to learn she wanted a hairpin up for auction. At the said auction I outbid her in a plan to use the ‘gift’ of the hairpin to get close. Unfortunately, when I attempted to I was told by the doorman I needed a membership to enter, despite having the broach this woman wanted. This sent me running around the market to find that now. Most cases revolve around things like this and this one was less egregious than the one that sent me from town to the middle of the desert to sneak into a quarry to read one piece of paper.
Verdict
Caught between the modern mechanics of the series and the traditional, It’s hard not to say, if you are an Assassins Creed fan, then Assassins Creed Mirage should have enough to keep you engaged. The stealth returns to the emphasis it used to have but leaves you open to tackle tasks however you want to. The thing is, this game helps highlight almost every issue the series has ever had. Clunky controls, a bland character, and story, and mundane quests are all pretty glaring in the wake of the best aspect, its simple and intimate world design.
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Reviewed For PlayStation 5: Also Available For PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One, And Xbox Series X/S
Developer: Ubisoft Bordeaux
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: October 5th, 2023
The thirteenth entry in the Assassins Creed Franchise, in which you play an assassin fighting corruption in 800's Baghdad.
Pros:
+Intimate Map
+Emphasis On Stealth
+Shorter Than Mainline Entries
Cons:
-Boring Lead
-Bland Storyline
-Clunky Controls
-Soooooo Many Mundane Quests
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Assassin's Creed Mirage
