A few days ago I got Assassin’s Creed: Origins with high expectations as I have recently got the Xbox One X and I wanted to see this game in beautiful 4K, but not only because of that but also because all the predecessors in the franchise were amazing. So let’s take a Leap of Faith and jump into ancient Egypt in the Ptolemaic period.
Origins is the tenth instalment of the Assassin’s Creed franchise that is see’s itself set in 49 BCE (Before Common Era) ancient Egypt and we follow the story of Bayek and his wife Aya who are seeking to avenge their family by any means necessary. Bayek is a Medjay who is a protector of Siwa Oasis which is his home town but he has been exiled because he was chasing somebody that he feels like he needs to kill, but little did he know that person was a pawn in a much bigger game. In this journey you will find out how The Creed was born and this is because the lead character in the story was the first Assassin.
Bayek has many tools in his arsenal from being very skilled at free running to being a master of all different types of weapons. So let’s touch on the free running a little; almost everything is climbable even the mountains, but you have to move across the mountains to climb so it’s not very easy. This brings a sense of realism to it and also it feels a lot smoother in this game which is great to see because in some of the past games you would end up having your character suddenly stop whilst trying to climb a wall and players would all universally get annoyed. As all Assassin’s Creed games you’ll have ‘eagle vision‘ but, this time you will notice something very different, yet very enjoyable now that you can actually use Senu, Bayek’s trusty pet Eagle. The Eagle helps you throughout the game by helping you find your targets and even find animals to kill so that you’re able to craft items. I personally love Senu and I think ithink the ability to use him to further the storyline and gameplay is a great addition to the game. The wildlife in the game is amazing and you have everything from Flamingos to Lions, you have to hunt certain animals to get more crafting materials but you also get parts of the animal that you’ve just hunted, which means you can sell them to the local merchant and keep yourself in the money, because we always need more weapons and upgrades.
Just like previous Assassin’s Creed games you will encounter a few historical figures in you journey such as Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator, Cleopatra VII Philopator and even Julius Caesar just to name a few.
As the player you will also get to play in the present day as a woman named Layla Hassan, her and her co-worker Deanna Geary were assigned with the task of retrieving an artifact in Egypt but accidentally stumbled across a tomb which kept the Assassin mummies of Bayek and Aya inside. So what does one do when they find remains of people in the Assassin’s Creed world? …You guessed it! They take some DNA and hop into the Animus without her superiors knowing, when Deanna wanted to let them know our modern day protagonist Layla refused to tell them. While playing in the modern day you get to use a laptop and you might see some very recognisable names such as Abstergo and the man we came to love from the original three games known as Desmond Miles, but why are those names on the laptop? Well you will have to play the game and find out!
A little side note; in the future part of this game there will be a feature called ‘Discovery Tour’ which will allow players to take a guided tour that will highlight different aspects of Egyptian history without having any combat nor objectives. So it’s not just a game as it can be a history lesson, because you’re never too old to learn more about the world.
I have to say after playing Origins on the Xbox One X and on the Xbox One S I can safely say that you can notice the difference which is evident from just how stunning the game is in true 4K Ubisoft have done an amazing job with this game and they have used the full power of the Xbox One X. So, take a bow Ubisoft …you deserve it!
After seeing how far the franchise has come I am definitely looking forward to it’s eleventh instalment. If I had to give it a rating then it would be a solid:
9/10
Tweet me your thoughts on the game at @CliveGaming and also be sure to check out the streams I do on Twitch as i’ll be playing Assassins Creed Origins amongst other games.