Assassin’s Creed Mirage offers a mix of old and new

For Ubisoft, the Assassin’s Creed franchise has become one of its most important titles. And with almost 16 years of history, spanning not only video games but also comics, movies, and books, it is worth recognizing the popularity it has had despite its ups and downs. For its 16 years, Assassin’s Creed Mirage comes to rescue part of what we knew with the first title, but at the same time shows the years of experience they have had over several console generations. After several hours of play with the next installment of Ubisoft Bordeaux, these are our first impressions.

Back to where we started

Our hours of gameplay led us to three key points in the story of protagonist Basim Ibn Ishaq, a character we met in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. We take this character from the very first minutes when his nightmares begin to torment him, but his dreams to survive and become someone important force him to take on dubious and dangerous jobs, attracting the attention of the Hidden Ones.

In this first phase, we have a tutorial that lets us take control and feel that everything remains the same: parkour, jumps and basic movements are still intact. If you’ve played an Assassin’s Creed title, it’s like riding a bike again, you know exactly what to do, where to climb, jump and hide. There are a few minor changes when it comes to climbing certain walls, but everything remains very similar.

As a street rat, one of the first activities we have with Basim is to “borrow” from the people we meet along the streets, a mechanic that, beyond pressing a button, integrates a mini-game to take what is not ours without getting caught. Of course, this start was not just about stealing and running through the streets of Baghdad, we had a first infiltration mission where it was important to avoid guards, hide and enter undetected, being completely unarmed.

If you want to be an Assassin

Later in the game, we get a chance to play as Basim begins his training as an Assassin in the Fortress of Alamut. Here we not only learn the Leap of Faith - one of the most important moves for the Hidden Ones - but also more about combat and getting our first weapons, taking the mechanics from the last trilogy, with the triggers being part of the attacks, also having a dodge button and another for parrying and counterattacking. Combat tends to be fluid, and once you understand the mechanics, you can get into fights more easily. Otherwise, there is always the option to run.

And while fighting can be tricky, escaping becomes a slightly more convoluted and chaotic process. Smoke bombs, sound bombs, and throwing knives are all tools that make escape easier, but Basim’s notoriety is something that can complicate things. In one of the missions in the middle of our session, we infiltrated a barracks to get information on our next target. Although the infiltration method had its problems, the escape had us traversing part of Baghdad to eventually lose the soldiers. Although there are several soldiers throughout the city, citizens who recognize us also become a problem to be avoided.

Recreating Baghdad

While Assassin’s Creed’s last trilogy featured huge maps, Mirage brings back a city that is contained, but large enough to be traversed. Ninth-century Baghdad is a very detailed city full of life, with its own well-defined districts, an impressive task considering that, unlike many previous titles where Ubisoft was able to faithfully recreate many cities, here they have recreated a cosmopolitan city that has completely disappeared using descriptions, books and archaeological finds.

It was in the last part of our demo, with Basim already transformed into an Assassin, that we were able to enjoy more of this city. Although we were not able to walk through all of it, we did see some impressive areas. This last part led us to our first assassination, but first, we had to infiltrate a port area to later enter one of the large markets to discover the identity of our target. Here we mixed all the lessons learned so far, with stealth, parkour, and assassination as the pillars.

Although we had a long time to explore some of the features of Assassin’s Creed Mirage, we were left with the need to delve into the new progression point system, and see the different skill trees and weapons to use.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage takes everything Ubisoft has learned over 15 years and brings us to a point where the past and present of the franchise converge into the future. It is a game that makes the old feel new without changing much of the formula from which it came. It will be until October 5th that we will have it in our hands to know the final result.