The 27th of October sees the highly anticipated return of one of Ubisoft’s most successful franchises. Assassin’s Creed Origins is the latest major title from Ubisoft, coming two years after its Victorian-themed predecessor ‘Syndicate’.
Set in Ancient Egypt, the story follows Bayek, member to an ancient guild of warriors sworn to protect the Pharaoh. The game takes place around 47bc during the reign of Cleopatra, a time of great instability within the Egyptian empire, fraught with danger, corruption and greed.
Bayek is set with the task to return Cleopatra to her throne, fighting against a secret organisation known as the Order of the Ancients, who it appears will take on the role of this game’s Templars.
So what’s new?
Well, actually, quite a lot. The whole combat system has been completely overhauled (again), this time adding a much more challenging battle dynamic. Enemies now attack at the same time, as opposed to the traditional one-at-a-time system by which the player could chain kill a whole barracks worth of guards. Fortunately, for those tight situations, Bayek’s scatter arrow ability means that if timed correctly, the player can nullify several guards at once.
“Much is still very much unknown about this title, which, judging by the size of the game world, will give players a wealth of environments to explore and discover.”
Stealth is, of course, the best plan of action and the most rewarding for those patient enough to plan out ‘sneaky strats’. Armed with your winged companion Senu, you can play as your own Eagle, using the modified eagle vision to scout out and highlight enemies from afar, before taking them out as Bayek.
Additionally, a loot pick-up system similar to that of Destiny has been implemented with foes dropping varying degrees of plunder, with common, uncommon and rare items and so on. Players can now also use in-game money to purchase randomised loot drops from merchants, which can be recommended for the luckier players among us.
The interactive environment has also been drastically improved, from gameplay footage it appears that Ubisoft have put their two years of work to good use. Wildlife, buildings, treasure locations and the general gameplay environment all look very well refined, faithfully representing Ancient Egypt in all it’s glorious beauty.
Much is still very much unknown about this title, which, judging by the size of the game world, will give players a wealth of environments to explore and discover. All the footage points to a welcome addition to the Assassin’s Creed franchise, bringing in new and old fans alike.