The Assassin's Creed Series: Assassin's Creed Origins

 

Context

I divested myself out of buying any further Assassin's Creed games after Unity. Eventually I was pulled back in by the further games all being released to positive reviews and intriguing gameplay footage of the revamped Origins and Odyssey. I re-entered the series where I left off and played Syndicate, wondering what I was letting myself in for.

Well, as you will know if you have read my review of Syndicate (thank you) it was a very rewarding experience. Syndicate is probably the closest the gameplay has felt to being as enjoyable as the heights of the series, the Ezio trilogy. Syndicate had classic Assassin's Creed gameplay in the stealth, parkour and mission structure. I had epic fun stealthing my way through enemy strongholds and taking out guards one by one, until the target is left on his on her own then "surprise, you're dead!"

However, I knew even before I played Syndicate that the series saw a massive revamp with Origins and Odyssey, and really this is why I re-entered the series. Syndicate could have been a turd like Unity and I still would have played Origins. Luckily Syndicate was great, but I knew it would bear little relation on how much I like Origins.

And so I'd been looking to this moment since buying back into the series. With Odyssey being released, the vast majority of online reviews and discussions was about that, so I felt like I was entering the world of Origins only knowing as much about the game as if it was just released.

The Setting

Origins is set in Ancient Egypt at the end of the Ptolomaic period, "the longest and final dynasty in ancient Egyptian history" according to Wikipedia. I must admit, out of all Assassin's Creed backdrops, this one for Origins is probably the one I had the least interest in so far. I'll hold my hands up and say that some of this is probably down to it not being a "western world" location. I hold a more natural intrigue with locations like Rome, Paris, London and colonial America because it just has more familiarity. Even the location of Constantinople in Revelations stood out for me as being less appealing than Rome, and I loved Revelations.

Origins has an incredibly detailed and accurate portayal of Ancient Egypt

An additional part of it is likely due to the time in history the game is set. 45-40 BC is over a thousands years earlier then the next oldest setting, which was actually in the very first Assassin's Creed game, set in the late 12th century.

But also, anything following London was going to be a hard act to follow, considering I live a train ride away and for me, London in Syndicate felt very familiar and close to my heart.

I am very pleased to say that the setting in Origins is portrayed excellently. In terms of land area, Origins is by far the largest map of any Assassin's Creed game so far. I suppose it is not dissimilar to Black Flag and Rogue in how major towns and settlements are spread far apart, but it's quite different sailing from one location to another over blank sea that all looks the same, than travelling between towns in Ancient Egypt, across sand dunes, through small settlements and alongside the Nile, with the pyramids an ever-present backdrop.

A huge addition to the basic Ancient Egypt setting is that the location discovery system in Origins works differently. Syncing with a viewpoint will show you up some locations nearby, but it's not going to flag up the cave in the desert mountains. You'll only find the remote locations by either travelling close by, or being led there by some missions.

Part of the charm of Ancient Egypt in Origins is that you are truly rewarded for exploration.

But aside from the gameplay, Ubisoft have to be applauded for the amount of effort that has gone into portraying Ancient Egypt as realistically as possible. There is a "Discovery Tour" mode that lets you explore Egypt without combat and missions. You can choose to go on "museum tours" of some locations, where the game will lead you on a path and you get a tour-style narrative of the interesting highlights of what you are looking at. Did you know that temples in Ancient Egypt were more than just religious centres, but also operated as financial centres and food banks, as well as places of politics? I didn't, until I went on the tour last time I played Origins.

Ubisoft's depiction of Ancient Egypt has been described as one of the most authentic recreations of Ancient Egypt ever made. It is, of course, not 100% accurate, this is an Assassin's Creed game after all, which is all about using history as a backdrop from making a game. However, there is such attention to detail in so many things that are accurate, there can be no denying that you'll come away from playing this game knowing more than when you started.

This image is from a Guardian article about the accuracy of Ubisoft's portayal of Ancient Egypt

If you want to read more about the work done on recreating Ancient Egypt, I highly recommend this Guardian article: Assassin's Creed Origins: how Ubisoft painstakingly recreated ancient Egypt.

The Protagonist

You are deliberately introduced to Bayek without any previous knowledge about who he is, being launched straight into a fight and then having to work your way through a set of ruins. As you play the early missions, you'll find out more about his past and what drives him, understanding that he has spent some time away from the world and has only recently returned. Bayek starts off as feeling like quite a dry and soulless character, but as you play through the main missions, you start to understand that he has an impressive righteousness about him. It's impressive because he isn't a goody two-shoes (like the naïve Connor) but instead essentially tries to reconcile being true and just, whilst recognising that he is out murdering people himself, even if he thinks it is for a good reason. There is recognition that he is on a dark path that he has to be careful he doesn't get lost on. Also, he seems to truly relish his job and his title as protector of the people.

Bayek of Siwa, Medjay and protector of the people

In Origins, a Medjay (pronounced med-ji) is depicted as a servant of a pharoah, tasked with keeping law and order. A Medjay is somewhat like a policeman, but keeping people to the general law of order and justice as well as specific laws like don't steal, don't kill, etc..

Bayek is a Medjay, but one of the last, and somewhat of a relic of a past era. However, he remains as true to his calling as he always has, and this serves as a great backdrop mechanic for the game. Assassin's Creed has always seen you helping out random people with their problems. For Bayek, it's actually part of his job, and he loves doing it.

The Gameplay

In my previous reviews, I tend to be brief about how the current game is similar to previous installments of the series, and focus at length on the differences. Because Origins is so different to its precursors, this is my lengthiest review yet. As a result, I'll further break down my usual section of "Gameplay" into sub sections.

Gameplay Basics

The very first gameplay action in Origins is a fight. Having played through all the previous games in sequence, and literally finishing Syndicate the day before I started Origins, the opening minutes of Origins are a very abrupt message from Ubisoft, "Playing this game is completely different from all previous games." In fact, I remember from the first time I played Origins, I was so confused by the new controls that I died twice in the very opening fight, despite how the game handholds you. Luckily, second time around, I didn't have so much trouble.

However, before we go into depth about the combat, be aware that even the basic controls are all very different.

• In the default control scheme, there's no parkour button, your character always runs. Ascending and descending works the same as in previous games though.
• Combat buttons are now all mapped to the top controller buttons: Defend, light attack, heavy attack, aim and shoot are all up there.
• There is an alternate control scheme, which looks like it is designed to help players of the previous games feel more at home, but even this scheme is not exactly the same as the previous games, and my recommendation would be to adjust to the new controls.
• Another useful hint about the controls for those, like me, who use a Dualshock when playing on the PC. The game has an option to show Dualshock control buttons on screen rather than the usual X-Box buttons. I only realised this when going through the control options on the different control scheme.
  
• Eagle vision is now mapping to a long press up on the directional pad and sends out a pulse that highlights interactable static objects. It no longer does anything with enemies.
  
• There are now long press buttons, where you have to hold the button down to perform an action. Actually this works brilliantly and is probably long overdue. Example: to pick up a body you have to long press Y or Triangle. To assassinate you quick press the same button. Now, if you are hiding in brush next to a body and try to assassinate, your character won't pick up the body instead.
• The menu system is now all cursor driven. You move a cursor around the various menus with your controller rather than directly move between menu items.

As well as the above, the other most significant gameplay change is that you now have a pet eagle, Senu, you can directly control. A quick press up on the directional pad puts you in control of Senu and you use her for a multitide of purposes.

• Senu is how you tag enemies, which you can do in a range up to 100 metres.
• Senu will indicate major points of interest for you to triangulate and mark, such as location captains, key collectibles, underground entrances and signal beacons. You can then directly tag these like you can locations on your map, to mark them when running around in the game world.
  
• Senu will also highlight key resources. Guard convoys or animals that are high in resources can be seen and tagged, to be hunted down by Bayek.

The iconic eagle of the AC series is now a controllable companion.

Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of Senu is that you can use him in combination with putting Bayek's horse/camel on autopilot. When Bayek is on his steed, you can command it to follow the main road in front of it, but also command it to go to the location you have tagged. If your next target is more than a few hundred metres away, you can set Bayek off and then control Senu. Bayek and steed will make their way on land whilst you scout ahead with Senu. It's a great way of seeing the scenery go by as you move between locations, but also tremendously useful to be opportunistic about gathering resources. If you see an animal pack or convoy just off where you are going to travel anyway, it's a very short detour to take the enemies out, grab the resources, and then be on your way.

Fast travel via sync points and major locations exists in Origins, but I use it very little because it's so much fun (and useful) to travel on horseback everywhere, even if you have to travel km. It's a great way of seeing the sights and I love it!

Combat

Okay, back to the combat. As I said, it is very apparent from the opening minutes of gameplay that combat is very different to all previous AC games. To be honest, even in the best of the prior games, open combat was largely a process of waiting to be attacked and then countering. In the earlier games a counter would be an insta-kill, in the later games it might "only" serve to let you strip off half of your enemy's health, but still it was a safe way of chewing through your opponents. In Origins, that tactic is not going to work for you. Countering is there as a combat mechanic, but many opponents can attack you with non-blockable moves.

So you're going to be forced to work with new tactics, which is a good thing. However, I have found that I have discovered a new tactic which is quite effective as still rendering most combat to a basic process: Dodge and strong attack. You can hold down the strong attack button to build up a charge, with a fully charged strong attack able to stagger opponents with shields, and knock down opponents without one or staggered. Most combat can be managed by dodging away, building up a charged strong attack, then closing back in to unleash it, piling in quick attacks whilst they are incapacitated. Combine this with a Gold weapon ability of having instantly charged strong attack, and you can punch your way through even the big bruising guards with shields and massive battle axes fairly easily. This tactic even generally works with the bosses you have to take on in open combat (which isn't that many).

XP and Levelling

In relation to combat, the levelling system in Origins is the most extensive and RPG-like of any AC game. Syndicate had a levelling system of one to ten (eleven with the Ripper DLC) but as long as you didn't start the game and instantly go into the hardest London districts, the levelling system was more about how well your allies would fight then having much of an impact upon your character. In Origins, if you try and take on an enemy more than 2 levels above you then you can basically prepare to have your arse handed to you. Again, this is generally manageable by not venturing into the harder areas too soon, but the game will throw the occasional curveball at you with one garrison in an area being much higher then the rest, or if a Philakes (pronounced fill-ah-keez) finds you and you don't check their level before taking them on.

A red skull icon. The enemy will one or two hit kill you and you'll likely tickle him back.

 

The Philakes are a band of very tough mercenaries that start hunting you down once you kill one of their buddies fairly early on in the game. If one gets within 100m of you then the game alerts you with the sound of a blaring horn, telling you to watch out. However, the nearest Philakes does also tend to show up on your map, even in an unexplored area. In the end, the Philakes are made out to be this massive threat but easily manageable with even the most basic common sense approach. If you get one on their own, you can even cheese killing one a few levels above you by stealth attacking them, running away so they become docile again, and then repeating. I easily managed one Philakes near a bridge that you could run over and under by stabbing the guy, running under the bridge and then climbing on top. The dumb guy just wondered around the underneath of the bridge until he came off high alert, then I air assassinated him again. It took me 7 stealth attacks, and he hit me once which nearly wiped me out, but other than that it was easy.

Stealth

Stealth is a wonderfully full-strength affair in Origins. With Egypt being such a vast open space, there is plenty of farmland crops, reeds and brush for you to creep around in. Double assassinations are absent, but there is a skill that enables you to make a second ranged stealth kill after an initial regular kill, which is tremendously useful. The forgiveness of enemies spotting you has been reduced as well. Although you do have a chance to evade if spotted by an unexpected enemy, it is quite a small window. However, enemies generally tend to be quite spaced out in Origins with only small clusters grouped together. As long as you don't really mess up your stealth, triggering one guard usually only ends up in a small isolated fight and then you can clean up the bodies and go back to being stealthy again. However, if you do alert multiple enemies at once and you are in an enemy stronghold, there is a high risk that one of them will try to run off and light the warning beacon, which will bring reinforcements to the area.

Another additional feature with stealth is that although you can disable the enemy beacons (which act the same as alarm bells in previous games), in Origins you actually set a trap, which will blow up the first enemy that tries to send a signal. It's quite delicious to alarm your mark so that they run off to light the beacon, only to blow themselves up in the process.

Instead of disabling enemy alarms, now you booby trap them.

 

One last minor change with stealth is that it is not a 100% automatic insta-kill any more. If you pay any attention to upgrading your hidden blade then it's still an insta-kill 99% of the time, but uber-healthed enemies such as the Philakes and the very strongest fort bosses will only lose a portion of their health, a Philakes may not even lose half!

So, although the combat system is full revamped, stealth is as strong as the best of the previous games. Origins brings us high alert areas that are much larger than previous games, with some forts and compounds over 200m long and wide. It's a joy to stealth and assassinate your way through these areas.

Parkour

With the parkour, there is not a lot to say. Basically this is a good thing, because the more I have talked about the parkour in previous games, the more it's been about the bad points. In Origins, parkour just works. However, because Egypt is such a vast open space, you won't be climbing up buildings all that much. As well as the usual buildings with handholds, there is terrain that you'll need to climb over as well. It seems that Bayek can climb up any rough natural surface like rocks and cliff faces at will, no specific handholds are needed. For some this will be a dilution of the parkour system, but you'll spend minimal time actually doing this in Origins so it doesn't really make any difference.

Equipment and Loot

Having covered the usual suspect of the parkour, combat and stealth, the other major aspect of Origins' gameplay is the loot and equipment system. Origins expands the object system so much it is unrecognisable from previous games. There are 4 different types of bow, around 7 different types of melee weapon and shields. All of these have levels which provide different damage ratings and they also all have additional tributes.

• Blue weapons are the lowest level, and have one additional attribute over basic damage, like reducing your melee or range damage. This basic attribute is the same across all weapons in the same class.
  
• Purple "rare" weapons will be a bit stronger then the same level blue weapon and have two attributes. The first attribute is fixed to the weapon class the same as blue weapons, but the second attribute can be from a pool of possible abilities.
  
• Gold "legendary" weapons will be stronger again and have three attributes, but the third attribute will be from a unique set that doesn't apply to first and second tributes. Examples of the third attributes are "on fire" e.g. flaming arrows, gain health on kill, instantaneous charge for strong attacks, and there are more.

Generally you find weapons around your character level, which of course means that as you level up, your old weapons become obsolete. This would limit the usefulness of the gold weapons, which obviously are the rarest kind, but you can pay a blacksmith to upgrade your favourite weapons to your current level. It's fairly pricey to upgrade, but as long as you restrict yourself to upgrading your absolute favourite weapons, it's easily affordable.

The class RPG system of coloured rarity loot makes it way into Assassin's Creed

To be honest, the loot system does feel somewhat superficial. Most of the time when you come across new weapons you'll just be looking at how much damage it does. If you find a gold weapon you really like and that tailors your combat, you'll just upgrade this every 3 or 4 levels, which limits the impact of finding new loot.

You can also upgrade your fixed "equipment" which consists of things like your hidden blade, quiver, consumables bag and the like. To upgrade these you need resources like different types of leather and metal. You can find these resources in various places, such as regular lootable objects (in small amounts), convoys and hunting wildlife. It strikes me as being similar as the resource and upgrade system in Far Cry 3, except in Far Cry 3 it was just stuff you could get from hunting. The last upgrades for each piece of fixed equipment predictably requires you to find rare resources, which does add a sense of satisfaction to finding these. You don't need to get all of them, just a lot of them, which means you don't need to specifically hunt them down but when you find one (or a few), it will quite often be the missing ingredient that lets you upgrade a piece of gear to the next level. Finding the rare resources is probably the most satisfying part of the loot system in Origins.

Overall

Origins is a drastically new direction for the Assassin's Creed series and its not difficult to see why a lot of fans of the series from day one struggle to like the revamped system of Origins quite as much. For me, however, having got utterly fed up with how Ubisoft dragged the series down churning out release upon release, I agree that much staleness had set in. Although I tremendously enjoyed Syndicate as a huge improvement in the series over many of the previous installments, I think the new direction is a huge improvement to the series. It was the reviews and videos of the revamped gameplay that pulled me back into the series after the absolute rot of Unity, and having finally played Origins through, I absolutely loved it

The DLCs

As with previous installments, I will review the DLCs of Origins. However, as Origins is so much larger than previous games in the series. I decided to review them separately, as I did with the larger Black Flag DLC, Freedom Cry.

Summary

Origins is brilliant. The revamped gameplay is a huge success with a new sense of fun to the gameplay, and very very few new problems introduced as by-products. The story of Bayek is excellent, as is Bayek himself as a character we come to love. Ancient Egypt as a setting is very accurate and great to run around in, even travelling between major towns and settlements is fun using Senu as a scout.

The only criticism I can suggest feels quite unfair, which is that perhaps the game is almost too big. All regions in the game have their own interesting facets to them whether it is a bunch of new side missions, or new terrain, or an arena you can enter. There are a huge amount of side missions and very few of them feel like background noise.

It's ironic, but having accused Ubisoft of fleshing out previous AC games with contentless filler, and having absolutely not done that with Origins, it feels like there is too much good stuff to do in Origins, to the extent that you can get serious bogged down between main missions when you have to travel to a new part of the map, there's just so much to do, you either feel like it's a long time to play the next main mission, or you are missing out on all this stuff if you let them pass by and it will be a lot to catch up on later.

Origins is a tremendous success. It's definitely 5 out of 5 score-wise and completely up for debate as to whether this tops AC2 and Brotherhood for the title of Best Game of the Series. I actually think Origins is better, if only for its more modern gameplay style, and that I believe that if you go back to play AC2 after Origins, you'll struggle with the limitations of the much older game.