- Oct 4, 2023
- 6 min read
Updated: Jan 9
A Blade in the Crowd - AC Mirage Impressions
overview
Let me start this by just thanking Ubisoft for inviting me along to the Red Carpet event and giving me an early copy of the game. It was an amazing experience and I feel truly blessed.
This isn't really a review but more of an analysis from the past few days of playing.
After about 30 mins of playing Assassin’s Creed Mirage I started to feel what Ubisoft were aiming for, to try to bring the series back the roots of Assassin’s Creed while not alienating the newer fans from the RPG trilogy. What you have here is a great blend of the two styles.
I can happily say it has managed to do exactly that and I said to myself in the first hour, this game was made with love! That isn't to say it's without issues, but they are so small and far between. I feel like Ubisoft really tried hard this time to give everyone something they wanted. By the end of the story I was really happy with how Mirage turned out. Although not a complete return to form, it really is the Assassin’s Creed formula mixed with the RPG series, with influences from many AC titles including 1, 2 and Unity.
I think the older fans will have fun while the newcomers might find it a little difficult at first with the emphasis on stealth. Take your time, learn the systems and be patient like a true Assassin and you should have a great time.
Combat and stealth
Being someone who has been playing Assassin’s Creed since 2007, I’ve been waiting for this moment for a while. That isn't to say I didn't like the last 3 games, I actually really like them all, but Mirage takes inspiration from the entire series and in return gives players a proper stealth game, where straight up combat is not advised!
Saying that you can still fight your way through a group of guards, it isn't easy though, especially at the beginning of the game where you don't have any upgrades for your weapons. I found the combat really frustrating at first, which is unusual for me as I am someone who really enjoys the Dark Souls series and my favourite game ever is Sekiro.
Then I had a thought, “Maybe I should play this like Sekiro” and by that I mean stealth kill as many of the guards as possible so that if you do get caught, you have a better chance of not being overwhelmed.
Your setup is a sword in your main hand with a dagger in your off-hand and your hidden blade always equipped. There is no bow this time so you need to make use of your throwing knives to open certain things, like a barred door that can only be broken from a projectile on the other side of the building.
Tools are much more important now. Obviously you have the usual suspects like throwing knives and smoke bombs, but making a return from Black Flag, we have a blowpipe to put people to sleep or make them go crazy. Also we have the noisemaker for distractions and luring but also can be upgraded to be essentially an incendiary grenade. Lastly there is a non lethal trap that can be upgraded with some handy stuff. I found it funny you could just throw the traps at guards face to instantly set it off!
Stealth is the name of the game and it is back in full swing. With multiple ways to take on missions it really does feel like I’m playing one of the older games. Blackbox missions especially are fun to really sit back and take it slow. I actually enjoyed these blackbox missions over Unity’s. As said above, you really need to make use of all your tools as well as the environment like benches, blending with crowds, and even hiring factions will all help in your quest to stay silent. Then sometimes it's better to just run and make your escape using your speed and parkour.
Speed and Parkour
So this is the topic that has been on everybody's lips lately. Let me just say this, I like the parkour system! It's not 1:1 with something like Unity or the original Assassin’s Creed but it was never going to be that. Big props to the developers for taking what they had in Valhalla and creating this. It isn't perfect as I fell multiple times and jumped off of viewpoints in the middle of climbing them, but really that IS the Assassin’s Creed we all know and love.
The one thing I advise everyone do at the start is to change your sprint button to your right trigger or R2 and that will give you the old parkour feeling as well as moving a few other buttons around for convenience.
I must say I thought Basim was going to feel slightly faster than he is. He’s definitely no Eivor but I feel he's not as fast as Kassandra which is a shame but by no means a problem. Basim is still faster than most guards and you will be using the parkour to outrun them. The city is your escape plan!
The World
Baghdad is gorgeous! From the surrounding deserts to the city itself, Baghdad is quickly becoming one of my favourite cities in the AC games. The city must be the most dense in the series offering a plethora of routes to take you wherever you need to go. Gamers are going to have a lot of fun capturing their favourite parkour routes and I’m here for it!
Walking the streets of Baghdad I was truly immersed and could almost feel it. The details in absolutely everything is something to behold. The House of Wisdom is particularly beautiful and really gives off an atmosphere of mystery. From running a group called Scholars of the Creed I really enjoyed the House of Wisdom and the Scholar achievement, I even unlocked a scholar's outfit!
There is plenty to explore as well. The map, although smaller than previous titles, is still a good size with the main city in the middle surrounded by desert, a few towns and oasis. The game starts in a small town called Anbar and when I first played, I came across this small market with a few cats hanging about. The first cat I picked up just so happened to have the Assassin’s symbol on its face, I've never seen it since. So everybody, look out for the Assassin cat.
The world is complemented beautifully with the sound design. Not only is the soundtrack exceptional but the ambient music and fight music all adds to the atmosphere. My personal favourite is when the guards catch you, The music kicks it up a notch and Basim pulls out his sword and dagger, fight or flight? You decide.
PhotoMode
The last thing I’m going to talk about is the photomode. Being a big fan of virtual photography this was one of the first things I tried out. The photomode is basically the same as before which is a good and bad thing in my opinion. Good because it's a solid PM that works and has a good amount of settings but bad because it doesn't have any new fancy features. Other games have surpassed Ubisoft when it comes to Photomode so I know there will be some of you that are annoyed by this. Fortunately the world is so detailed and beautiful, you will spend far too much time taking pictures anyway.
Conclusion
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is definitely a step in the right direction, It brings back enough elements from the older games while still feeling like one of the newer games. The developers listened to fans and even though they couldn't give them 100% what they wanted due to technical limitations, they listened and built us a fun Assassin’s Creed game. If Red and Hexe continue on this path then we are all in for a treat.
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