Ubisoft’s recent showcase included a sneak peek into the gameplay of their upcoming games. Among those was Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which caught the attention of many fans. The game takes place in 9th-century Baghdad and features a charming protagonist named Basim with the ability to teleport. The game is a throwback to the classic Assassin’s Creed games, and fans are excited about it.
Assassin’s Creed has come a long way since the first game’s release in 2007. The recent releases in the series featured RPG elements like gear scores, loot, and floating damage numbers. However, for fans of the classic games, these elements didn’t sit well. The inability to assassinate a higher-level enemy took away the essence of Assassin’s Creed. The RPG future of the series was appreciated by many fans, but it left some behind.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is Ubisoft’s “love letter” to the first Assassin’s Creed game. The game does away with the RPG baggage of the past three games and focuses on classic Assassin’s Creed gameplay – stabby, stealthy, and sometimes clunky. The game’s demo showcased the same path as Ubisoft’s official gameplay video. The demo followed Basim, who just completed his first contract, and was on his way back to the bureau. Basim talks to his new friends, and they discuss opening more bureaus across the city.
The demo showcased six tools available to Basim at this time, including a torch, throwing knives, blowdarts, smoke bombs, traps, and noisemakers. The meat of the demo was a larger assassination contract on a man surrounded by high walls and lots of guards. The demo driver gets spotted by a guard and scrambles to hide in a bush, leading to a fight in the same garden where the demo video shows off the blowdart. The fight ends with Basim and the driver barely escaping alive and quickly scaling the tower to kill the marksman.
The Intended Fantasy of Assassin’s Creed
Assassin’s Creed is not meant to be a game where players are one-man-armies. Open combat is supposed to be a last resort, and players are meant to feel like they’re in danger when facing a handful of guards. The combat in Assassin’s Creed Mirage is quick and lethal, unlike the spongy enemies in the recent releases of the series. Basim counter-kills guards instantly like Altair and Ezio, but Ubisoft notes that Basim is a “glass cannon” character.
The demo dev was disappointed that the mission didn’t go as choreographed, but it demonstrated what Assassin’s Creed is all about. The early games of the series were frustrating when players were fighting clumsy controls trying to evade detection. The snappy movement of the recent Assassin’s Creed RPGs has rubbed off on Mirage, and combat is quicker and more satisfying. Players can enjoy more combat, but it’s still meant to be a last resort.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is not a proper remake of the first game, but it’s a modern reimagining of what the first game could have been on a much grander scale. The demo gave fans all the warm fuzzy feelings of what it was like in the run-up to the first game’s release. Looking back at the E3 2007 gameplay demo for Assassin’s Creed 1 was a reminder of the little things that felt so novel at the time, like a dedicated button to push crowds away, the freedom to climb the side of any building, and hidden blade kills that are still cool 16 years later.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is a return to classic Assassin’s Creed gameplay, and fans are excited about it. Ubisoft has done away with the RPG elements of the past three games and focused on the classic gameplay of the series. The game features a charming protagonist named Basim with the ability to teleport. Combat in the game is quick and lethal, and players are meant to feel like they’re in danger when facing a handful of guards, unlike the recent releases in the series. Assassin’s Creed Mirage is a modern reimagining of what the first game could have been on a much grander scale.
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