It is easy to forget sometimes, just how long I have been doing this, how many years I have been playing games and writing about them. Before I started this though, there were a trilogy of games released in Assassin’s Creed 2, Brotherhood and Revelations and through them, my love of the series was solidified. Over the years, I have enjoyed almost every game released in the franchise, but the later games became too much, there was just never an end in sight for Odyssey or Valhalla. So, hearing that the next chapter in the saga, which is lucky number 13 in the main series, would be a more focused experience and harken back to the original entries, I was keen to see what was going on. Ubisoft were kind enough to invite me to come check out the first few hours of the game and I was more than happy to accept that invitation.

Everything old is new again!

It is important to note that I didn’t get a full 3 hours of everything that takes place at the start of the game, the team did jump me around the place, so there are still things that I don’t know. What I do know however is that there is a mix of old and new going on here. The old aspect comes from the scope of the city, Baghdad is a vibrant place, with multiple districts and plenty of things to discover. It feels very much like Constantinople did in Assassin’s Creed Revelations, with traders going about the place and people everywhere. My time exploring the city was finite, as there was only so much that I could see and do in the hours I had with the game, but the city felt like it had a lot more to offer and I can’t wait to see more of it.

Perhaps most excitingly is that I also spent time outside of the city in Alamut, home of the Assassins and where new members are trained in their ways. Strangely, this is not the first time that I have had to learn the ways of an assassin, but it is the first game to actually have you learn alongside other initiates. The original Assassin’s Creed had you play as Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, who was already an assassin and in every other game since, you are not one, until some tragic event takes place, and your character joins up. Being able to explore Alamut, or the part I had access to, was interesting as it showed a far grander dynamic than what we have ever seen in the past before. That is where the new comes in, yes there is no grand world like Valhalla offered, but taking a large city space and adding a few extra locations, whilst expanding the assassin lore, feels like the right way to welcome in new players, while embracing the past games.

Speaking of the past…

Of course, one of the more interesting aspects of the series are the characters, from the popular like Ezio Auditore da Firenze and Edward Conway, to the forgotten Shay Cormac and Aveline de Grandpré. Basim Ibn Ishaq is the first character that we have met previously, as they played the mentor character to Eivor in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Seeing Basim start as a street thief and then taking the first steps in his assassination journey, is a welcome change. While in other games, most of the characters either learn about the order after someone has died, be they friend or random person in Edwards case, Basim learns about them as he is one of the thief’s that is helping them out. In past games the main character has made use of thieves and folk of certain persuasions, see Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and their use there, but actually being on the other side of the coin, is a unique start.

It also plays into the dynamic between Basim and fellow thief and childhood friend Nehal, their banter early on is cute, but sadly I didn’t get to interact with her again once Basim was decked out in white.

Hunting down a target…

In past games, once you had your target, you would need to just head to the location, find them and then take them out, pretty simple stuff. In Valhalla, uncovering the targets was more about taking down all the foes that directly related to them, but in Mirage it is a little more interesting. When you pick up a mission, for me the attending a special auction was the goal, Basim needed to find a way in. Using a local contact from his time on the streets, Basim was able to get in there, but it was very much a scratch my back sort of arrangement. The goal at first was simple, recover a box of tea, that led to a conversation about imports being confiscated if they came from selected countries. Discovering who was in charge of that, lead to a store house and another conspirator and the information on what exactly they were looking for.

During all the steps of that quest line, there were items that could be found that expanded the information available to Basim and in turn myself. Sometimes it was a simple as a note that had instructions on where to take something, other times it was about a flaw in a fence. These notes changed up the approaches available to be and I assume that even without finding the notes, those same options would be available, but I couldn’t say. All the hard work was rewarded with my access to the auction guaranteed, once in though there was a bit more back scratching and then some tailing and chatting with targets, all to learn more information about the target. After a nice scene where the target revealed themselves, I ended my time with the game, as I wanted to keep the final stretch for my own save file.

The team haven’t gone ahead and made Assassin’s Creed 2.5 here, Mirage does feel like it’s a fresh game, embracing all the aspects of the games that have come over the years. While there are newer movement options, the games use of characters feels more modern as well, helping to engage players more. There is obviously a lot that I haven’t seen by my time with the game flew by, which is what I say is something that makes a great game. With there being only a few weeks to go, Assassin’s Creed Mirage is a game that you will have to see for yourself, as its basic approach keeps all the good about the series and streamlines the rest.

We also have roughly 20 minutes of gameplay footage to enjoy, without any story spoilers included.

The game is coming out on October 5th for PC, Xbox and PlayStation.