Game Review - Assassin's Creed: Origins

Assassin's Creed is a stellar game and possibly the best in the AC series. If you've been abducted by aliens for the last 10 years, being probed for the secret mysteries of Steemit, and completely missed the AC series until now, it is a third person adventure game by Ubisoft focusing on stealth and climbing mechanics as you play various fictional characters throughout points in history . I have played a few Assassin's Creed games from the first one in 2007, Assassin's Creed 2, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood and Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag. While I'm no massive Assassin's Creed mega fan and haven’t played every game in the series, I do know enough about them to understand the basic mechanics of the series and was very intrigued to see how they fair with creating a game interesting enough for the modern gamer in an obviously stark and barren desert landscape.

Set in Ancient Egypt, this installment in the AC franchise is based around a fictional character, Bayek, fighting for revenge of the death of his son and has pledged to protect the ruler of Egypt. I got a bit lost with the storyline (that happens with Christmas madness) but fighting for revenge is as good a reason as any to create a game, yeah? Your main man Bayek has very human qualities in which he shows when he interacts with civilians and animals and generally only fights when you wish to do so, or if the enemies see you and don't like the look of your face. The ability to scale walls is the smoothest I’ve seen in the AC games and I also particularly loved Bayek’s trusty eagle which he can send up to scout the lands from a bird’s eye perspective to spot any dangers ahead or materials which you may require for crafting.

The graphics are where AC Origins really shines. From the minute you start the game and walk around your first temple to the first time you see the Great Pyramids looming in the distance like man-made mountains (with help from ALIENS MAN!!), you’ll be stunned. The grand scale of this game is awe inspiring but it's also the little details that really capture your attention, like walking through a field of grass and seeing Bayek’s hand reach out to touch the tips of the flowers or when you see a pack of hyenas in the distance attack and kill a man and as you get close to loot his dead body a flock of vultures swoop in to claim their meal... then attack you! Without spoiling too much you will encounter many ‘wow’ moments which add to the realism and make you glad you took a chance on purchasing this game just for the sheer amount of passion and effort that has gone into it.

As expected the sound is very well done with the clanging of swords on shields to the stomping hooves of the horses. Many life-like citizens bustle around the towns with various phrases and remarks. I can't recall any phrases in particular since I'm a guy and have selected hearing. Food, fight and kill is all I really pay attention to. The many different varieties of animal also have great sound effects as you're running away like a chicken with its head cut off from a beast that you know will easily make you it's lunch. On an opposite note, the quiet calm you often find yourself traversing through underground tombs is also a welcome break from the noisey townspeople and rabid animals.

With greatness also often comes with room for improvement. The pointless loot items, often empty and boring tombs and slightly clunky combat bring this game down a few notches from being epic. Discovering the tombs for the first time gives you a rush of anticipation only to find they are visually full of treasures however the vast majority are untouchable and there are only certain objects you can actually take, which for me really took away the excitement of feeling like the first person to discover each sealed ancient tomb and being able to bask in my new-found riches. I also found that after about 20 hours I was starting to feel just a little bored as I'd already encountered the Great Pyramids and many various animals and enemies. I would imagine there is still much more to find as the map is unbelievably huge, though I felt the game often lacked the ‘spark’ that some games possess which keep you wanting to play to the very end.

While the combat is very good and has varied levels of difficulty, sometimes locking onto an enemy can be awkward when you never really know which enemy is going to strike you and it sometimes feels at times a touch confusing. Also if you head into lands where your level is not high enough you will really get your ass handed to you very quickly with one or two strikes from a weapon or an attack from an animal, despite your deadly skills at blocking, parrying and unleashing many strikes of your own on the foe. This to me felt very unrealistic that I could hit an enemy 10 or more times yet they hit me just twice and I’m dead. I feel maybe instead of near-invincibility they could have made higher level enemies harder to hit, such as being quicker to block and parry or simply attacking in greater numbers.

Overall I would say Assassin's Creed Origins is a very good game with over 100 hours worth of main storyline and sidequest content, a massive landscape to explore, many varied enemies to fight and a vast amount of animal and unique encounters with the environment itself. I’d recommend if you’re a fan of the series already, go out and get it today. If not, I’d wait and get it on sale. Either way I’d say the majority of people will really enjoy this installment of the Assassin’s Creed series and it could potentially be the best of them all.

Available now on: PC, PS4 and XboxOne

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Space Ginger is by no means a professional game reviewer. This review is brought to you for fun and not to be taken seriously. Having played video games for 30 years I have experience to share, lots of laughs and a massive amount of love for the video game industry and community. My mission here is just to share my thoughts and maybe introduce you to some amazing virtual experiences while helping you steer clear of steaming piles of shit. GAME ON!