Will you be picking up Assassin's Creed Mirage? Why or why not? Remember to watch other reviews and be as informed as possible before making a purchase!
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Intro: 0:00
Presentation: 1:36
Gameplay: 4:45
Story: 12:20
Conclusion: 13:34
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is the latest entry in a series that has long forgotten its roots, but Ubisoft has assured fans that this time, things will be different. Is that true? Has Assassin’s Creed gone back to what made it successful in the first place, or is this latest entry another Ubisoft marketing Mirage? Before I get into the review I need to stress that while I won’t be spoiling any major plot points, there will be some minor gameplay spoilers such as what menus look like, different enemies, and different abilities, but all of the footage will be from the first few hours of gameplay. For context, the preview build we saw a few weeks ago took place about a third into the game. While you don’t need to Play Assassin's Creed Valhalla to understand the story here, I highly recommend you do.
Visually, Mirage is up to the standards that Ubisoft has set in the past. Will it blow you away? No. Does it suffice? Yes. The environments are designed expertly as always and Baghdad from certain angles looks downright heavenly, but other aspects of the game take a nosedive into the nether. Back from Valhalla are the conversations that look stiff, unfitting for the characters, and the lip syncing is consistently dodgy. Not always noticeable, and when the game shoots for a full fledged cutscene things do look great, but it’s worth mentioning that the mini cutscenes that take place suffer from the same talking head syndrome that plagued the Arkham series. Where Assassin’s Creed and Arkham continue to parallel is in the soundtracks. The Arabic instrumentals that accompany your journey are played well, and I greatly appreciated this game opting to not overuse the hell out of Ezio’s Family. It’s a good song, an iconic song, but I’m sick of it.
Baghdad is an excellent looking city, with an overwhelming amount of people, flora, markets, buildings, boats, camels, and the works. It’s a busy city and it lends itself to the social stealth that has a greater focus here. No skyline is without a tall perch begging to be lept from or a post that connects buildings, and your paths across its roofs. There's a wide variety of colour here and the contrast of an oasis against the harsh grains of surrounding sand are as much of a sight as the detailed fortresses and towers that watch over the low rising buildings and awnings that glaze over the streets. It feels familiar, in a setting sense, to the series roots, but also in terms of iconography. There's multiple bureaus this time around and we spend a majority of the game cloaked in white.
Attacks and jumps have the proper impact or lack thereof if you are landing on soft surfaces, and Basim’s voice actor does a fantastic job here, as does the voice actor for Rashan who’s raspy near constant growl is just mesmerising. Rashan also has by far one of the best assassin designs in a while, easily clearing any of the outfits from the last 3 entries. Basim’s different outfits look great too and I appreciated the variety here in both heavy armour and nimble robes. I can’t show them all, but I think most will be satisfied with what is on display here. What is further on display is the animations, of which most are overhauled.
The Assassins Creed Mirage gameplay seen here is from the opening few hours of AC Mirage. The AC Mirage gameplay featured in this Assassins Creed Mirage Review may not match the specific praises or criticisms because the example I would show would be later in the game and I want to keep this Assassin's Creed Mirage review spoiler free. This AC Mirage review will build on my previous statements regarding the Assassin's Creed Mirage trailer, preview, and while the Assassins Creed Mirage trailers have been accurate, this review aims to provide further context to the game. If this new Assassins Creed game becomes the new Assassins Creed standard, I'd say we are in good hands for now. This review will not discuss any Assassins Creed Mirage leaks or spoilers, and instead only show early Assassin's Creed Mirage gameplay. If you want to hear more from me you can check out my Assassins Creed Mirage first impressions video, which was mentioned in this Mirage review. So, should you buy Assassins Creed Mirage? This review will let you know!
You can get videos early and support the channel by becoming a patron or a YouTube member!: https://www.patreon.com/thatboyaqua
Follow my Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThatBoyAqua
Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/VBJwTUa
Other Essays: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0hudNq_z8tDAoBj0iR1bO2f0U8TRQDu8
Intro: 0:00
Presentation: 1:36
Gameplay: 4:45
Story: 12:20
Conclusion: 13:34
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is the latest entry in a series that has long forgotten its roots, but Ubisoft has assured fans that this time, things will be different. Is that true? Has Assassin’s Creed gone back to what made it successful in the first place, or is this latest entry another Ubisoft marketing Mirage? Before I get into the review I need to stress that while I won’t be spoiling any major plot points, there will be some minor gameplay spoilers such as what menus look like, different enemies, and different abilities, but all of the footage will be from the first few hours of gameplay. For context, the preview build we saw a few weeks ago took place about a third into the game. While you don’t need to Play Assassin's Creed Valhalla to understand the story here, I highly recommend you do.
Visually, Mirage is up to the standards that Ubisoft has set in the past. Will it blow you away? No. Does it suffice? Yes. The environments are designed expertly as always and Baghdad from certain angles looks downright heavenly, but other aspects of the game take a nosedive into the nether. Back from Valhalla are the conversations that look stiff, unfitting for the characters, and the lip syncing is consistently dodgy. Not always noticeable, and when the game shoots for a full fledged cutscene things do look great, but it’s worth mentioning that the mini cutscenes that take place suffer from the same talking head syndrome that plagued the Arkham series. Where Assassin’s Creed and Arkham continue to parallel is in the soundtracks. The Arabic instrumentals that accompany your journey are played well, and I greatly appreciated this game opting to not overuse the hell out of Ezio’s Family. It’s a good song, an iconic song, but I’m sick of it.
Baghdad is an excellent looking city, with an overwhelming amount of people, flora, markets, buildings, boats, camels, and the works. It’s a busy city and it lends itself to the social stealth that has a greater focus here. No skyline is without a tall perch begging to be lept from or a post that connects buildings, and your paths across its roofs. There's a wide variety of colour here and the contrast of an oasis against the harsh grains of surrounding sand are as much of a sight as the detailed fortresses and towers that watch over the low rising buildings and awnings that glaze over the streets. It feels familiar, in a setting sense, to the series roots, but also in terms of iconography. There's multiple bureaus this time around and we spend a majority of the game cloaked in white.
Attacks and jumps have the proper impact or lack thereof if you are landing on soft surfaces, and Basim’s voice actor does a fantastic job here, as does the voice actor for Rashan who’s raspy near constant growl is just mesmerising. Rashan also has by far one of the best assassin designs in a while, easily clearing any of the outfits from the last 3 entries. Basim’s different outfits look great too and I appreciated the variety here in both heavy armour and nimble robes. I can’t show them all, but I think most will be satisfied with what is on display here. What is further on display is the animations, of which most are overhauled.
The Assassins Creed Mirage gameplay seen here is from the opening few hours of AC Mirage. The AC Mirage gameplay featured in this Assassins Creed Mirage Review may not match the specific praises or criticisms because the example I would show would be later in the game and I want to keep this Assassin's Creed Mirage review spoiler free. This AC Mirage review will build on my previous statements regarding the Assassin's Creed Mirage trailer, preview, and while the Assassins Creed Mirage trailers have been accurate, this review aims to provide further context to the game. If this new Assassins Creed game becomes the new Assassins Creed standard, I'd say we are in good hands for now. This review will not discuss any Assassins Creed Mirage leaks or spoilers, and instead only show early Assassin's Creed Mirage gameplay. If you want to hear more from me you can check out my Assassins Creed Mirage first impressions video, which was mentioned in this Mirage review. So, should you buy Assassins Creed Mirage? This review will let you know!
