By Dean Moses
Game: Assassin’s Creed Mirage
Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, iOS, Microsoft Windows
Rating: M for Mature
Cost: $59.99
Since 2007, the Assassin’s Creed franchise has steadily built up a steady fanbase with over ten entries in its mainline releases through ever-evolving gameplay that has seen an action-adventure title transform into an action role playing game. However, developer Ubisoft is attempting to reel old-school fans back in by taking things back to basics with its latest iteration, Assassin’s Creed Mirage.
Familiar territory
Taking place in 9th century Baghdad, the player takes the role of protagonist Basim Ibn as he transitions from street thief to full-fledged assassin through a series of robbery attempts gone awry. In terms of narrative complexity and structure, the story does not exactly reinvent the wheel, in fact it does the exact opposite—retreading ground players have walked many times before in the intellectual property’s past. Yet this fits exactly into the game’s theme of taking gamers back to familiar territory.
Back to the basics
Throughout its marketing campaign, Assassin’s Creed Mirage was billed as having more liner gameplay than the massive open worlds of its predecessors, like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. While this may seem somewhat counterintuitive and a backstop for the franchise after having previously jam-packed so much content into its last few games, some fans have been growing for nostalgic vintage gameplay of its original releases.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage certainly achieves this goal by doing away with leveling up elements and detailed upgrades, along with its new fighting system by trading that all in for a more standard platforming, stealth heavy affair found in entries of old. While the control scheme is nowhere near as clunky as if gamers of 2023 ventured back to boot up Assassin’s Creed 2, the gameplay feels much more akin to that ilk than more recent versions.
Players can still pickpocket, stealth kill, sword fight, and perform a variety of acrobatics, yet they won’t be able to off hordes after hordes like the protagonist’s Viking counterpart in the 2020 outing.
Beauty in Baghdad
As you join Basim in becoming the ultimate assassin, you explore the sandy streets of Baghdad, featuring stunning sunset hues of orange and historical backdrops. Along the way players are able to see historical figures from the Golden Age of Baghdad, participate in epic sword fights and more. The scenic graphics and character appearances add another layer to help this narrative driven game standout, especially with a cast of talented actors. Actors Shohreh Aghdashloo, Lee Majdoub, Nezar Aldarazi, and other talents bring about a depth in the story that transport players to this historical time period in Baghdad.
Conclusion
Assassin’s Creed Mirage returns gamers back to the Assassin’s Creed roots, both in this new origin story and its style of game play. Gamers are sent back to the traditional parkour skills that sees Basim scaling buildings while non-playable characters react to his every move and the sneaky stealth that underscore how deadly these secret society of assassins are.
