Stealth is back, but does it return to its roots? | Review - Assassin's Creed Mirage
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✨Overview
Assassin's Creed Mirage takes players on a journey to 9th-century Baghdad during the anarchy at Samarra, delivering a fresh installment in the long-running Assassin's Creed series. Developed and published by Ubisoft, this thirteenth major release in the series follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, Assassin's Creed Valhalla.
The game became available on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation on October 5, 2023, with a commendable support for previous-generation consoles. It's also set to release on iOS for iPhone 15 Pro and iPad M1+ models in early 2024.
🟩Pros
+Classic stealth oriented gameplay
+One-hit assassinations are back
+A more compact, shorter narrative experience that doesn't burnout players
+Captures the unique beauty and charm of 9th-century Baghdad
+Wide platform support (previous gens and older PCs)
🟥Cons
-Generic parkour system without much improvements
-Weak and monotonous combat, arguably the worst in the series
⭐️Score: 7/10
📖 Story and Premise
Mirage offers players a narrative that revolves around Basim Ibn Ishaq, a character familiar to those who have played Valhalla. This story follows Basim's transformation from a street thief to a veteran member of the Hidden Ones, a group that stands for peace and freedom. They are in opposition to the Order of the Ancients, who seek peace through control. Both are precursors to the Assassins and Templars the mainline series is known for.
The game unfolds as a "coming-of-age story", set two decades before the events of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Basim starts as a street thief and grows into a Hidden One under the guidance of his mentor, Roshan. True to the series' tradition, the game features historical figures from the 9th-century Baghdad, adding a layer of authenticity to the narrative. The game does away with mythologies and magic, and features a more grounded tone this time around. The story is now much shorted this time, around just 1/4 of the length of the previous game.
🎨 Graphics and Art Style
Mirage's graphics and art style are not that impressive, the Anvil engine is showing its age, and the characters look really plasticy. However, I still commend Ubisoft for attention to detail with the world brought to life, immersing players in the historical setting of 9th-century Baghdad. While the graphics have basically stagnated since Assassin's Creed Origins, there is still beauty in this game.
🎮 Gameplay Overview
Mirage aims to recapture the essence of earlier Assassin's Creed titles, placing a stronger emphasis on linear storytelling and stealth gameplay than recent RPG-focused entries. Parkour, close-quarter combat, and stealth remain at the core of the gameplay.
🌲Well, does it return to its roots?
Not exactly, its not a return to form just yet, more like 1/3 on the way there. While it doesn’t feature RPG elements anymore like XP leveling, numbered damages, and ridiculously high health points, it still doesn’t quite capture that classic Assassin’s Creed feel just yet, at least gameplay wise.
Since its using the same engine without much modifications, It inevitably still shares a lot of elements from the past three “RPG” games, but heavily stripped down to try and capture that old AC feel. The parkour system is almost the exact same as the last three games far as I’ve noticed. Which was to say, underwhelming compared to older titles like Unity and even Black Flag. It’s just there to let you climb buildings and travel vertically, nothing more, nothing less. As far as being graceful, fluid, or reliable, it’s not any of those things.
Assassin's Creed Mirage still features a skill tree system to unlocking new moves and abilities, but the skill points are now given upon mission competitions instead of accumulating experience points. Players can still upgrade their character’s gear, weapons, and cosmetics, but only to a limited degree that doesn’t entirely change how the game plays.
⚔️Combat
The combat is still a third person Souls-like style of combat, where parries and dodges are the main line of defense. Instead of AC: Origin’s Shield, or Odyssey’s and Valhalla’s dual wield or two handed weapons, Basim is limited to wielding a sword for combat and a dagger on the off hand for parrying. The classic Hidden Blade makes its return for swift assassinations. Finally, you can now do one-hit assassinations again without much trouble.
Despite its efforts to return to its roots, the combat still feels like Valhalla just without the spongy enemies and numbers. It still doesnt beat the good ol classic Assassin’s Creed combat with 2-3 enemy counters and the ability to pickup and use any weapon around. In Mirage, the combat can be somewhat underwhelming and arguably the worst in the series. Parrying is too easy and monotonous, and there is no depth to it, even when you’ve unlocked all skill points. Mirage features just three distinct enemy types: ranged, melee, and unparryable big guys.
🥷Stealth is back, front and center, at least
While it hasn't fully returned to its roots, Assassin's Creed Mirage is a pleasant nod to the series' roots. The game places a strong emphasis on stealthy gameplay, which is favored in most, if not all, of the missions. It is complemented by level design that caters to this gameplay direction. Classic mechanics like eavesdropping, blending in with crowds, and enlisting the aid of civilians to further your objectives are back.
In contrast to the RPG games in the series, where stealth opportunities were limited, Mirage offers a much more enjoyable stealth experience. In major assassination missions, the level design compels players to investigate the environment to uncover varies approaches for reaching and dispatching their targets.
Additionally, Mirage introduces a new ability called "Assassin Focus." This powerful ability allows players to dispatch multiple enemies simultaneously, and replenishes its use when executing stealth assassinations. When activated, time halts, enabling the player to designate up to five enemies who are subsequently eliminated by Basim in rapid succession. It’s similar to Dead Eye from Red Dead Redemption, or perhaps Mark and Execute from Splinter Cell: Blacklist. This ability is a bit out of place for a game returning to its roots, but its a nice feature nonetheless that encourages Stealth and Assassination gameplay above all.
📊Technical Performance
I played this game on my Xbox Series S, which ran with a surprisingly 60FPS performance mode, absolutely stable. It’s also highly commendable job well done for supporting older gen titles like the Xbox One and PS4. PC wise, the game supports a range of lower than expected hardware configs, which is a good thing. However, the game is suffering from slight stuttering and frame drop drops for PC as of now.
⚖️Conclusion
Assassin's Creed Mirage isn’t exactly a return to its roots yet with its poor combat and existing baggage left by the “RPG” games. However, it’s a good step in the right direction with its focus on stealth, assassination, and gameplay mechanics to support this direction. To truly succeed, the next two games should continue down this path, shedding more remnants of the "RPG era" while reintroducing classic elements. Maybe start by actually coming up with a next gen engine or a substantial overhaul of the existing one to better cater to the classic style of play.
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