One would think that people are at least partially interested in history when they say they enjoy Assassin’s Creed games. Of course, that does not necessarily have to be the case. Some might have joined the series because of their love of history, others love history only after they have allowed Ubisoft to take them to this wonderful world, and some are here just for fun and have no interest in history in real life. In any case, most of these players return year after year to the Assassin’s Creed series and stay with it in good and bad. On one hand, Assassin’s Creed Origins is very proud of its origin and will not give you room to not see it as a member of Assassin’s Creed family, but on the other hand, it is trying to cripple its own identity. Such a balance is absolutely acceptable because it is high time that the series moves from the dead point while at the same time keeping what many fans come back to from year to year.
This year Ubisoft‘s time machine takes us back almost two millennia in the past, when ancient Egypt was ruled by the XXXIII. dynasty of the Ptolemies. The first rulers succeeded in elevating Egypt to the position of the most important kingdom in the eastern Mediterranean, but the Ptolemaic state began to weaken only a century after its founding, so the last rulers, Cleopatra VII included, sought to preserve at least the shadow of the former glorious kingdom by developing strong ties with Rome.
Assassin’s Creed Origins gives us a chance to witness the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty because Ubisoft certainly could not allow the return of the ancient Egyptian civilization without introducing significant historical figures such as Pompey, Cleopatra VII. and Julius Caesar. So, we return to the 40s of the 1st century BC, where we will be forced to fight Ptolemy XIII. in favor of his sister Cleopatra VII. Philopator.
However, this period has a much greater meaning for the Assassin’s Order than just the ordinary struggle for the throne and the choice between the two evils. It’s about setting up a company that works in the shade to serve the light, and its conceptual author is Bayek of Siwa. The first man of the Assassin’s Order carries a sun-kissed eye, a symbol of protection, representing Medjaya, the protector of ancient Egypt, Pharaoh and his subjects. Although this elite unit of soldiers went out of style when the Ptolemies came into power, Bayek continues to enjoy the respect of many members of the old-age society, especially craftsmen and peasants, because of the mark he carries.
The most interesting adventures I experienced with Bayek and his eagle Senu when we helped other Egyptians in various jobs. Ubisoft may not have made the greatest effort to give us a tense story that would make us bite into the craze and dive into the beautiful world of the Assassin’s Creed Origins, but instead it gave us a chance to experience the history and culture of the ancient Egyptian civilization through numerous side-missions.
Each NPC you help will serve as a piece of a big picture puzzle that tells you more about the life the ancient Egyptians had been running two thousand years before us. Some of them will give you a brief lecture on embalming and religious traditions, others will talk about adapting to Greek lifestyle and the Roman oppressors, and the third will help you get to know Medjaya from Siwa better. However, no matter how some of the stories are more unique than others, all of them are reduced to the same goal: save the prisoner, take or follow someone to the designated location, pick up certain items, defeat the enemies, play Sherlock Holmes.
Bearing in mind that the Assassin’s Creed turned to the RPG genre, Origins will require of you to spend many hours solving all of your tasks to polish Bayek’s skills for a fight with his real enemy, but also other opponents who would stand in the way.
Each new level will give you the option of choosing a new Bayek’s skill from a three-branch tree, the Warrior, the Hunter and the Seer, with the exception of a small bonus on health and attack. By the name you can tell that the Warrior will focus on the fight, the Hunter on stealth and quiet elimination, and the Seer on the skillful use of various aids, including the domestication of wild beasts.
Each mission requires a certain level of experience from you, but it is not necessary to access them only when you are notified that you have met the challenge before you. However, one level may mean a lot if you allow soldiers to surround you. They it will not wait for their turn to swing their weapon at you, and you will not get any warning to perform an anti-attack.
The combat system is far better than just pressing a single button or the left mouse button as it was in the earlier games, primarily because such a way of dealing with conflicts can only take you to the mummification table. Since Bayek does not carry the title of an unbeatable protagonist, the best approach to more worthy opponents is the game of chase, especially if they are hunters like the phylakitai soldiers. Therefore, the fight is much more complex and demanding than in any Assassin’s Creed title so far and is basically pretty well done.
The eagle Senu works as a second pair of eyes when purchasing materials such as leather, iron, bronze and cedar. Some raw materials will be obtained by disassembling old and unnecessary equipment, most of which are hidden in royal pyramids and other special places. It should be stressed that for better bow, shield, and melee weapons you will not need to be overly inclined, but there is always the option for a blacksmith to increase the quality of your attack or defense for a certain amount of money. Senu will also scan every enemy, regardless of whether she is hiding behind the stone wall, and will keep track of their movements. This works as a replacement for the eagle vision in previous AC games, and to what extent it will endanger your gaming experience depends on you.
From time to time the beauty of ancient Egypt is disturbed by technical problems such as performance decline and delayed text loading, sometimes even during the cut scenes. Given that this is a huge world, it is understandable that we will run into a few glitches, but when you are missing a significant part of the picture – that is another pair of shoes. Similarly, dialogues and voice acting are well done; however, the latter can have strange moments, especially with children, but nothing that would hurt your ears.
As a whole, Assassin’s Creed Origins was a unique and completely different experience for me than the previous games, but at the same time I felt that this was still a series that turned my life upside down. Regardless of this franchise having a special sentimental value for me, I’m not overreacting when I say this is one of the most interesting parts of the series we’ve been following for ten years, and it would be a shame if the fans of the Assassin’s Creed missed it just because it had decided to evolve.
