AlthoughUbisoft has stopped the annual releases for its flagship license, Assassin’s Creed has been part of the landscape for ages now. Without taking away its prestige or its qualities, the series has become over the years a chestnut in the same way as other prolific series like Call of Duty. And although the reunion with the brotherhood of killers is generally warm, Assassin’s Creed remains faithful to its principles as well as gameplay that is now 16 years old. It is in this state of mind that we began this preview dedicated to Assassin’s Creed Mirage. Ubisoft gave us four hours to give us a new opinion on the issue alongside Basim Ibn Ishaq.
Judging by the good time we had with him, his story has the potential to carry this title.
It must be admitted, Basim was a distinguished guest. Far from wanting rusher its intrigue and its qualities, our new hero from the Abbasid empire of the 9th century was revealed in a preview with a strong emphasis on narration. Before learning to play him we got to know him through several stages of his life ranging from his daily life as a beggar to his rise among the assassins. The format was rather convincing because Basim doesn’t seem like a generic character. Although his motivations seem to be those of many video game heroes, this character exudes a certain charisma that makes you want to follow his evolution. This is all the more true since Basim seems to be hiding a terrible secret which manifests itself despite itself in the form of a nightmare. There is no doubt that one of the challenges ofAssassin’s Creed Mirage will be to discover why this “jinn” haunts the thoughts of our vigilante killer.
These four hours in the company of Basim were also a great opportunity to see the country. The saga has accustomed us to traveling to some of the most beautiful places on the globe and this is once again the case here since we put down our luggage in Baghdad, at a time when the city was the pearl of the Middle East. Other areas can obviously be visited but during this first contact we spent most of our time in this sprawling and freely accessible megalopolis. our main activity was to pickpocket poor passers-by before recruiting Basim among the assassins, but also to track down prey throughout any city during small murderous treasure hunts.
We let ourselves be intrigued by whatAssassin’s Creed Mirage has to tell us but we have not lost sight of the question that all players are entitled to ask themselves: What has really changed with this new episode? Hearing the developers explain their desire to return to the roots of the series, we understood the title did not intend to shake things up as it did Assassin’s Creed: Origins in his days. Obviously, we did not expect thatUbisoft betrays the basis of its gameplay. Assassin’s Creed Mirage therefore remains this now classic mix of infiltration, action and mini-investigation. And then there is of course parkour, your essential dose of climbing allowing you to climb on any roof with beautiful views and some great assassination opportunities.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage clearly lacks originality even though it includes a handful of new features.
But besides the heart of gameplay that we all know by heart, Assassin’s Creed Mirage did not show any advantage during the entire session that would allow him to stand out from the crowd. Our experience should of course be taken with a grain of salt because we were ultimately only able to complete part of the main plot without being able to access the secondary quests which normally punctuate our journey. The fact remains that we continued throughout the takeover with assassinations and pirouettes on the roofs as we did 16 years ago. If this is the vision ofUbisoft as for a return to basics, that seems a bit retrograde to us. We’d be lying to say it’s lost its charm, though. It must also be admitted that the search for clues in certain areas gave rise to a small investigation. We are particularly thinking of one of the last parts of our presentation which took us to the Grand Bazaar of Baghdad where we were able to explore the places in semi-freedom.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage clearly lacks originality even though it includes a handful of new features. The most obvious is perhaps also the abused. It is now possible to target one or more people before a fight. Once these NPC unfortunate people locked, Basim embarks on a lightning assassination capable of teleporting him from one target to another. Fortunately the use of this cracked technique is limited by a gauge to be filled by fighting fairly. You will tell us, this is not the only very powerful card that Basim can come out of his sleeve. Flash grenades, for example, let us execute anyone caught in its explosion. Enough to play very aggressively and finally conclude with a chain slaughter. In a completely different genre, Assassin’s Creed Mirage introduces different types of tokens to obtain in many ways (pickpocket, secondary missions, etc.). These currencies can be used in many different ways depending on who our hero is talking to. In bulk, it is possible to recruit mercenaries to help you in combat, lower your notoriety gauge (which is making a comeback) or even obtain clues about a quest in progress. The field of possibilities remains very interesting but it must be admitted that the developments proposed Assassin’s Creed Mirage remains very shy. Too much in any case for this first glimpse to leave us with an indelible memory.
Our first impressions: Good!
Assassin’s Creed Mirage simply does Assassin’s Creed in what the formula has most basic to offer. It is a guarantee of quality without a doubt, but for now everything leads us to believe that this future episode will be devoid of surprises. From this point of view, the return to basics is real but not necessarily as relevant as we would have liked. It is now at Basim to shine. Judging by the good time we had with him, his story has the potential to carry this title which might otherwise be just a little end-of-year treat.
You can book Assassin’s Creed Mirage on Amazon for €49.99.