Review // Assassin’s Creed Mirage Is What I Wanted It To Be
Video transcript:
Hey gamers, let’s talk about Assassin’s Creed Mirage, the latest entry in the long-running series and this time it’s actually about, you know, assassins! I’ve seen some reviews and conversations online, and I get the feeling I’m not supposed to like this game, but spoiler alert: I really like this game. So let’s dig into it so you can judge for yourself.
First, a little background. I loved the first couple of Assassin’s Creed games, skipped a couple, and then fell completely off the train after Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag. That game was so incredible, I just couldn’t really stomach the idea of playing another one without a pirate ship. I’ve spent a little time with Origins, but I really didn’t have any interest in the huge, sprawling entries of recent years. Not only do I prefer shorter games, I’m also a stealth junkie, and it really seems like the series got away from sneaking around and burying a hidden blade into someone’s spine as they let out their final breath. Maybe I need therapy? So when Ubisoft announced that Mirage was gonna focus on the stealth and the assassinating, and it was gonna be a shorter campaign, I was immediately on board.
Back to Basics
I’m here to tell ya Ubisoft delivered on their promise. (I still want to call them Ubisoft. I know it’s OOObisoft but it still bugs me.) Anyway, the gameplay is stripped down and feels very similar to the early titles, right down to the movement and free running. Leaping from building to building is super smooth and oddly satisfying, kinda like the Insomniac Spider-Man games. Shameless plug: I’ll be reviewing Spider-Man 2 so if you’d like to check that out and talk about that game, be sure to subscribe and stuff.
As for Mirage, another thing I like about the traversal is that I spend way less time accidentally jumping in the wrong direction or into the middle of a pack of enemies the way I remember doing a lot in the older games.
There is a system for open combat, and it involves parrying, dodging, heavy attacks, and light attacks, and I know a lot of you may prefer to just barge into an area and take everyone out by brute force like you’re playing Demon’s Souls or something. But that’s not me, I’m the sneaky sneaky type who likes to take everyone out one by one as no one else notices. And I think that’s the way the game wants you to play. I’m happy to say there were very few moments in the game where the open combat was required—in most cases I could just dash away and hide until things settled down, and then get back to the dishonorable, yet highly effective way disposing my foes.
In true Ubisoft fashion, there is a map littered with icons and activities, but it’s not as overwhelming as it was in the recent, more bloated games. One of the staples of the franchise is here: finding viewpoints to synchronize with. This gives you detailed information about the area as well allowing you to fast travel to the viewpoints you’ve synced with. And of course you can take a leap of faith… and I don’t think I could ever get tired of doing that. Maybe if I had played through all, what, a dozen or so games in this series? I’d be tired of it by now, but I didn’t and I’m not.
There are side missions, such as Contracts, that are completely optional and give you some nice little rewards, but for the most part I stuck to the main story missions. These are spread out and I believe they can be done in whatever order you choose, so the game never felt too linear. I think some people felt like this was too constricting or the game felt too small, but I thought it was a nice balance between open-ended and story-driven gameplay. Because you know I like a good story…
What’s the Story?
…and as far as the story goes? It’s ‘eh’. I mean it’s pretty good but I didn’t really feel connected to any of the characters and it’s pretty standard stuff. The Assassins Creed, called The Hidden Ones in this time period, are fighting against The Order of the Ancients in their eternal and hidden battle over major civilizations and cultures. And, I dunno, at some point I sorta let go of the rope and started skipping dialogue scenes. Point me in the direction of somebody I need to take out, and I’ll figure it out from there.
The main character is someone from Valhalla, but I didn’t play that one and I never felt like I was missing out on anything. There was a scene where I met a kid who wanted to become a Hidden One, and the trophy associated with it makes it clear the boy is an important character in another game, but other than that everything felt like a self-contained game.
There were hints at the Animus, the technology that drives a narrative split between modern day and historical storylines in Assassin’s Creed games, but I didn’t see any current-day stuff in this. And I didn’t miss it, either. I was perfectly happy to stay in ancient times.
There was a nice variety of activities to do, and I think the Investigation system is pretty cool. You’ll be given an area and a plot point to explore and you’ll find evidence, eavesdrop on conversations, and talk to people to piece together what’s going on and who’s pulling the strings. There’s also a codex with a ton of information about the characters and locations, and the thing that I didn’t even know I wanted: historical facts and background info about the region. This game takes place in ninth century Baghdad, and I actually learned a lot about the region, the history of the Silk Road, the spread of religion in that era, you name it. That’s not for everyone, but if you’re interested it’s there.
The voice acting is good and I love that characters will speak in Arabic from time to time and sometimes it’s translated and sometimes it’s not. You really do feel like you’re at home in a foreign land, if that make sense. This is gonna sound incredibly Eurocentric, but for 20 hours this felt like my home and these were my people, and I don’t get to experience many stories like that for this region of the world. I can’t tell you how many times I saw buildings or rugs or furniture and it made me think of specific levels in Call of Duty or Battlefield. (Discerning) That’s not a good thing. This region is the cradle of civilization I think? and it was nice to play in that sandbox for a bit as a local. And it’s literally a sandbox. A highly detailed, high resolution sandbox.
How’s It Look?
The game doesn’t look flashy, it’s grounded in the dry, gritty reality of ancient Baghdad. There’s beauty in the architecture and in the nature on the outskirts of town, but it’s mostly drab and sun soaked. But what’s there is rendered beautifully. I’m sure they reused a ton of assets, but it never really felt like it. Each street and rooftop felt like a real place, complete with realistic lighting and shadows. I didn’t have any problems with pop in or clunky shading. This is a graphics engine that doesn’t get in it’s own way, and the game’s art direction presents the world matter-of-factly, and it’s easy to believe this is what it actually looked like.
The size of the world, the stuff you’re doing, none of it is pushing any technical boundaries. It’s hard to put my finger on it, but it feels to me like a last-gen game that just runs that much prettier and smoother on current gen consoles. So it’s no surprise that this game is available on PS4 and Xbox One, as well as current gen consoles and PC through Steam, Epic and even Amazon Luna. It retails for a refreshing $49.99 in the US, and it’s also worth nothing this game will be coming to iOS natively in early 2024, which really blows my mind. I’ll be really interested to see if they can get away with the $49 price point in the Apple app store, since most games there are super cheap and littered with predatory monetization schemes. I could gripe about mobile gaming for hours, don’t even get me started. For Mirage? My gripes are much shorter.
Bones To Pick
In fact, my gripes are minor: there were times when enemies would snap into place to match their death animation, and sometimes this would be several feet from where they were. It’s not a big thing, but it was definitely noticeable. Another thing I wasn’t a fan of was with the casting of Shohreh Aghdashloo. She an amazing actor! But I dunno, her voice just didn’t match the character on screen very well and it pulled me out of the experience every time. [example]. [footage of in pain] I know! I’m sorry, it pains me to be the one to say it, but I said it.
So that’s been the chatter I’ve heard about why this game is supposed to suck. It’s a step back from Valhalla and Odyssey, it’s not doing anything new or advancing the series… but that sounds great to me. If you wanted another Valhalla, then let me apologize because I think they made this game to get people like me back in the fold.
Final Thoughts
So I’m sorry if you wanted this game to be innovative or to take the series in an exciting new direction, because Ubisoft decided to chase fans of the originals like me instead. For the next evolution, you should be looking forward to Assassin’s Creed Red, which is set in feudal Japan and Ubisoft has already described it as ‘the future of our open world RPGs’. That’s pretty ambitious stuff.
Mirage, on the other hand, was never supposed to be ambitious. It was meant to be nostalgic. In fact, I wanna give credit where credit’s due: they could’ve just cashed in on some sort of remaster or remake of the first game or the second game. We’re flooded with those, and Ubisoft deserves credit for managing to still be nostalgic, but doing it with a brand new experience. Advance Wars, Metroid Prime, I’m looking at you.
This game was meant to be comfort food, and that’s what it was for me. This is how I remember the early Assassin’s Creed games. It has me interested in checking out some of the games in the series I missed, but more importantly, I’m all in on Red. Ok, let’s be honest, that game has samurai and shinobi and ancient Japan and I was super excited about it with or without Mirage. But my point is Mirage is exactly what I wanted it to be. It’s a step back from the bloated games like Valhalla and a focused return to its roots. That’s a bummer for some, but for anyone with less time to play than they’d like, Mirage was perfectly executed. (Footage of a kill). I give it a hidden thumbs up. 👍
