“Assassin’s Creed: Mirage”: Back to basics paying off for Ubisoft’s saga

2023-10-10 23:30:00

With Mirage, the saga Assassin’s Creed returns to basics with a more concise chapter – but just as effective – which will delight early fans.

Since its creation in 2007, Assassin’s Creed has continued to grow in step with its successes and ambitions. The franchise indeed offered us, three years ago, the grandiose epic Valhalla which took us almost 100 hours to explore from top to bottom. This time, it is a more modest and restricted playing field that we are deploying Miragean adventure that can be completed in around 25 hours.

But what this new offering loses in surface area, it gains in detail, here rendered in breathtaking fashion.

Impeccable historical reconstruction

Because we know, the franchise Assassin’s Creed has built its reputation on its meticulous work of historical reconstructions, offering its fans varied backdrops such as the Renaissance, the American Revolution and the Peloponnesian War. But the care taken Mirage surpasses the previous ones with the meticulous and almost surgical work put in place to immerse us in the heart of Baghdad, in the 9th century.

It’s fluid, it’s rich in details, in short it’s frankly impressive. Whether you walk in the dunes or near the bazaars, walk the ledges of historic monuments or simply stroll through the alleys of Baghdad, the experience is more immersive than ever.

It is therefore in the guise of Basim Ibn Ishaq, a young street thief, that we explore the city and its many secrets. Throughout the adventure – punctuated, obviously, by parkour, furtive eliminations and various quests – we will follow his rise among “those we do not see”, a society destined to become the legion of assassins to which the franchise tells us. got used to it.

Photo provided by Ubisoft

Refreshing

And if the handling suggests a carbon copy of the usual mechanics, Mirage comes to breathe a good dose of renewal into its controls and strategies. We are abandoning the influence of role-playing games (the good old RPGs) to concentrate more on action scenes and frantic combat. A change that injects dynamism and freshness that will delight long-time fans.

In short, the observation is clear: the franchise Assassin’s Creed finds here its purest essence and will thus allow the new generation of fans to discover the solid foundations on which it founded its undeniable success.