Assassin's Creed Mirage
| Assassin's Creed Mirage | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Ubisoft Bordeaux[a] |
| Publisher(s) | Ubisoft |
| Director(s) | Stéphane Boudon |
| Artist(s) | Jean-Luc Sala |
| Writer(s) | Sarah Beaulieu |
| Composer(s) | Brendan Angelides |
| Series | Assassin's Creed |
| Engine | Ubisoft Anvil |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Assassin's Creed Mirage is an action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Bordeaux and published by Ubisoft. The game is the thirteenth major installment in the Assassin's Creed series and the successor to 2020's Assassin's Creed Valhalla. It was released on October 5, 2023, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It is also scheduled for release for iOS on iPhone 15 Pro models in early 2024.
Mirage is principally set in 9th-century Baghdad during the anarchy at Samarra, and follows Basim Ibn Ishaq (a character first introduced in Valhalla) and his transition from street thief to fully-fledged member of the Assassin Brotherhood, who fight for peace and liberty, against the Templar Order,[b] who desire peace through control. The game has been described as a return to the series' roots, with a bigger focus on linear storytelling and stealth gameplay than more recent installments, which primarily focused on role-playing elements.
Upon release, Mirage received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the simplistic approach as a return to form for the series.
Gameplay[edit]
Assassin's Creed Mirage is an action-adventure stealth game intended to be reminiscent of older Assassin's Creed titles, being more linear and story-focused and reducing the number of role-playing elements present in recent installments of the series. Parkour, close-quarter combat, and stealth are core elements of the gameplay. For assassination missions, Mirage adopts the "Black Box" design previously seen in Assassin's Creed Unity and Assassin's Creed Syndicate, where players have to explore the environment to find different ways to reach and eliminate their targets.[2]
The game is set principally in the city of Baghdad, which is divided into four districts including the Round City, Karkh, Abassiyah with its House of Wisdom, and Harbiyah,[3] but also features Alamut, the fortress headquarters of the Hidden Ones. Baghdad is much smaller than the worlds of recent Assassin's Creed titles, being closer in size to Unity's and Revelations' depictions of Paris and Constantinople, respectively.[4]
Similarly to previous Assassin protagonists, the main character, Basim, has a large arsenal of weapons and tools at his disposal, including the signature Assassin Hidden Blade, smoke bombs, throwing knives, and poison darts. Both weapons and tools can be upgraded through a skill tree which allows different effects to be applied to them.[5] Basim also has access to both Eagle Vision and an avian companion named Enkidu (after the character from the Epic of Gilgamesh), an eastern imperial eagle that can be used to scout nearby areas.[6] Unlike previous Assassin's Creed games which featured avian companions, enemy archers can detect and shoot at Enkidu.[2]
Mirage introduces a new ability called "Assassin Focus," which allows the player to eliminate multiple enemies simultaneously and is recharged by performing stealth assassinations. When the ability is activated, time stops and the player can mark up to five enemies who will then be automatically killed by Basim in quick succession.[5] Another new feature are various poles located around Baghdad, which can be used to cross wide gaps.[7] Furthermore, moving and running animations have been refined to improve mobility and fluidity, with the development team taking inspiration from "samurai, ninja, and even Jedi to a certain point."[8]
Synopsis[edit]
Setting[edit]
Set decades before the events of Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Mirage is a "coming-of-age story" following Basim Ibn Ishaq (Lee Majdoub), a street thief who will learn to fight for a cause larger than himself by becoming a Hidden One under the tutelage of his mentor Roshan (Shohreh Aghdashloo).[9]
Plot[edit]
In the age of the Abbasid Caliphate, Basim Ibn Ishaq is a young street thief living in the city of Anbar with his friend Nehal. For all of his life, Basim has been haunted by visions of a monstrous jinni, which Nehal had been helping him cope with. While just a simple thief, Basim has greater aspirations and attempts to join the Hidden Ones, but is flatly rejected by the senior Hidden One stationed in Anbar, Roshan. In an effort to prove himself, Basim sneaks into the Caliph's palace to steal a chest that both the Hidden Ones and the Order of the Ancients are seeking. He manages to open the chest to find a disk-like artifact, which activates upon his touch and gives him a brief vision before being interrupted by the Caliph. Nehal kills the Caliph to save Basim and they both flee the palace. The palace guards then begin slaughtering all of the known thieves in Anbar, many of which were Basim's friends, and he blames Nehal before parting ways. Now on the run, Basim manages to escape the city with Roshan's help, and she takes him to the Hidden Ones' mountain fortress at Alamut.
Over the next few years, Basim trains under Roshan and is eventually initiated into the Hidden Ones. Mentor Rayhan then learns of the Order's rapidly expanding influence in Baghdad, and decides to send a contingent of Hidden Ones to the city to investigate, led by Basim and Roshan. Upon arriving in Baghdad, Basim learns that five members of the Order have infiltrated the Caliphate's highest levels of power, and are exploiting it in order to excavate or rebuild ancient First One artifacts. He proceeds to hunt down four of the Order members, assassinating them and foiling their respective plots. Meanwhile, Basim reunites with Nehal, who encourages him to investigate the artifacts the Order is looking for and their origin, as she is convinced she and Basim are linked to them somehow. Basim then corners the last remaining Order member and leader, Qahiba, who claims that the answers he seeks lie in a First One temple underneath Alamut. Roshan then assassinates Qahiba before she can reveal anything more, and warns Basim not to investigate any further otherwise she will treat him as an enemy for defying the Hidden Ones' tenets, as she fears he will succumb to the obsession for knowledge like the Order has.
Basim disobeys Roshan and heads for Alamut with Nehal. Upon reaching the fortress, he finds that it has already been attacked and conquered by the Order's forces. Basim rallies the surviving Hidden Ones and launches a counterattack, routing the enemy forces and gaining access to the temple entrance. Roshan then attacks Basim and he is forced to battle his mentor, resulting in Roshan being incapacitated. Basim and Nehal then proceed inside the temple, which opens in response to Basim's presence. Inside, he finds a First One stasis pod, and comes to the realization that Nehal never existed. Both she and the jinni that haunted him are in fact representations of his repressed memories as Loki. Basim decides to fuse with Nehal, regaining his memories.
Upon leaving the temple, Basim is welcomed back into the Hidden Ones, which causes Roshan to resign in protest. Now fully remembering that he is a reincarnation of Loki, Basim muses that he has been reborn, and looks forward to a "reunion" with those who were responsible for his imprisonment.
Development[edit]
Prior to its announcement at Ubisoft Forward on September 10, 2022, details about Mirage leaked–under the codename Rift–when it was revealed that the game started out as an expansion pack for Assassin's Creed Valhalla before being turned into a standalone release.[10]
Mirage has been described as a smaller Assassin's Creed title, with the main campaign lasting around 15–20 hours, similar to older games in the franchise. It was designed to celebrate the series' 15th anniversary, in which the developers used the technology built for Valhalla to create a game that pays tribute to the first Assassin's Creed.[11]
On June 4, 2023, it was announced that the game would have an Arabic dubbing.[12]
The game includes an educational database on the history of Baghdad, including articles that are gradually unlocked as the player progresses.[13] These illustrate 9th-century Abbasid culture with photographs of objects from the Khalili Collections; the David Collection; Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design and the Institut du Monde Arabe.[14] The creation of the database involved four academic experts in Islamic art,[15] and was supported with grants from the UK's Economic and Social Research Council and the charity Barakat Trust.[16]
Mirage features compatibility with a tie-in haptic vest designed by the gaming company Owo. This is a wireless skinsuit that registers movement from the upper body and arms.[17]
Release[edit]
Assassin's Creed Mirage was originally set to be released on October 12, 2023,[6] before having its release date brought forward to October 5.[18] It will be available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Amazon Luna, and iOS on iPhone 15 Pro models.[6][19] The game will be made available on Day 1 for all players subscribed to Ubisoft+.[20]
Shortly after the game's announcement, the title was reported as receiving an Adults Only rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board, which would have limited the number of outlets it could be distributed at in the United States. The reports came from a listing on the Xbox Store a week prior to the game's reveal, with one of the reasons being for containing "real gambling". Ubisoft later corrected both claims, stating the game had not been rated yet and "no real gambling or lootboxes [will be] present in the game".[21][22]
Additional content[edit]
Ubisoft announced that they would release an exclusive mission titled The Forty Thieves for players who pre-ordered the game. A Deluxe Edition of Mirage includes the base game, a Prince of Persia-inspired pack featuring additional weapons and cosmetic items, the game's soundtrack, and a digital artbook. The Prince of Persia pack is also available for purchase separately.[7]
In July 2023, it was confirmed by game director Stephane Boudon that Ubisoft had no plans to release post-launch downloadable content.[23]
In August 2023, Ubisoft confirmed that the game would have cosmetic microtransactions, in the form of "cosmetic bundles that will be purchasable directly on first-party stores at launch".[24]
Reception[edit]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | (PC) 77/100[25] (PS5) 77/100[26] (XSXS) 78/100[27] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Game Informer | 8/10 |
| GamesRadar+ | 4/5 |
| IGN | 8/10 |
Assassin's Creed Mirage received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[28]
GamesRadar+ complimented the dense nature of Baghdad in comparison to recent entires, saying: "Markets bustle with shoppers and traders speaking multiple languages, streets see people meander in clusterse".[29] While enjoying the focus on stealth and calling the game a "back-to-basics approach" a successful first step in returning to the stealthy style, IGN felt the character of Basim was dull, writing, "He's a pretty milquetoast, golden retriever of a man, largely agreeable and affable when it comes to his interpersonal relationships."[30] Game Informer praised the parkour system of Mirage, "The opportunity for engaging parkour traversal is always present, and moving along rooftops, sliding down zip lines, and diving into hiding spots is great fun."[31]
Notes[edit]
- ^ Additional work by Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Sofia, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Kyiv, Ubisoft Odesa, Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Philippines, and Ubisoft Bucharest
References[edit]
- ^ Juba, Joe. "Answers To Our Biggest Questions About Assassin's Creed Valhalla". Game Informer. Gameinformer. Archived from the original on August 14, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
- ^ a b Purslow, Matt (September 11, 2022). "Assassin's Creed Mirage Revealed at Ubisoft Forward". IGN. Archived from the original on September 23, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
- ^ "Assassin's Creed Mirage Behind-the-Scenes Video Focuses on the City of Baghdad". GamingBolt. August 18, 2023.
- ^ Wutz, Marco (June 19, 2023). "Assassin's Creed Mirage map size is comparable to Revelations and Unity". Video Games on Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
- ^ a b Su, Jake (September 10, 2022). "Assassin's Creed Mirage Goes Back To Basics With Stealth, Parkour & Assassinations Gameplay Pillars". GeekCulture. Archived from the original on September 10, 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
- ^ a b c LeBlanc, Wesley (September 10, 2022). "Assassin's Creed Mirage Reveal Trailer Released, Game Launching In 2023". Game Informer. Archived from the original on September 10, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
- ^ a b Tran, Edmond (May 25, 2023). "Assassin's Creed Mirage: Everything you need to know". GamesHub. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
- ^ Gould, Elie (June 20, 2023). "Assassin's Creed Mirage's movement is based on 'samurai, ninja, and even Jedi'". TechRadar. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
- ^ Carpenter, Nicole (September 10, 2022). "Assassin's Creed Mirage sets up Basim's origins in Baghdad, decades before Valhalla". Polygon. Archived from the original on September 10, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
- ^ Good, Owen S. (September 1, 2022). "Ubisoft confirms Assassin's Creed Mirage after multiple leaks". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on September 1, 2022. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
- ^ Purslow, Matt (September 11, 2022). "Future Assassin's Creed Games Will Not All Be 150-Hour RPGs". IGN. Archived from the original on September 14, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
- ^ ""Assassin's Creed: Mirage" gets Arabic dub". WIRED Middle East. June 4, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
- ^ Mainka, Inga (July 6, 2023). "Assassin's Creed Mirage Goes Back To Its Roots: Most Accurate AC In Years?". EarlyGame. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
- ^ Irorita, Franz Christian (July 6, 2023). "Assassin's Creed Mirage will have "History of Baghdad" Feature". ClutchPoints. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
- ^ Harley, Nicky (July 5, 2023). "Abbasid architecture to the fore in new Assassin's Creed Mirage video game". The National. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
- ^ "'My son showed me Assassin's Creed, now I've helped build the new one'". STV News. July 5, 2023. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
- ^ Wutz, Marco (July 13, 2023). "Assassin's Creed Mirage lets you feel punches with haptic vest compatibility". Video Games on Sports Illustrated.
- ^ "Assassin's Creed Mirage release date change announced by Ubisoft". GAMINGbible. August 14, 2023. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
- ^ Holt, Kris (September 12, 2023). "Assassin's Creed Mirage, Death Stranding and Resident Evil Village are coming to iPhone 15 Pro". Engadget. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
- ^ "Assassin's Creed Mirage". Ubisoft Store.
- ^ Goslen, Austen (September 12, 2022). "Assassin's Creed Mirage isn't actually rated Adults Only, won't have 'real gambling'". Polygon. Archived from the original on September 24, 2022. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
- ^ Dinsdale, Ryan (September 12, 2022). "Assassin's Creed Mirage: Ubisoft Says It Won't Have Gambling or Lootboxes After Rating Confusion". IGN. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
- ^ Verbrugge, Kieron (July 17, 2023). "Ubisoft Has No Plans For Assassin's Creed Mirage Post-Launch DLC". Press Start. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
- ^ Square, Push (August 10, 2023). "Assassin's Creed Mirage Returns to Series Roots, But Won't Ditch Cosmetic Microtransactions". Push Square. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
- ^ "Assassin's Creed Mirage for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
- ^ "Assassin's Creed Mirage for PlayStation 5 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
- ^ "Assassin's Creed Mirage for Xbox Series X Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
- ^ "Assassin's Creed Mirage". www.metacritic.com. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
- ^ published, Sam Loveridge (October 4, 2023). "Assassin's Creed Mirage review: "A murderous playground for the patient"". gamesradar. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
- ^ Green, Jarrett (October 4, 2023). "Assassin's Creed Mirage Review". IGN. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
- ^ Miller, Matt. "Assassin's Creed Mirage Review - Coming Home". Game Informer. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
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