Update: IGN has recently had a more in-depth look at Assassin's Creed Origins and revealed that this game will challenge series tropes and push it in a new direction with a greater focus on exploration and mystery.
Rather than relying on maps and icons, players will have to actively explore in Origins as the mini map has been replaced by a compass. Points of interest are marked by question marks which in some ways forces players to approach them in order to discover what's there.
According to producer Julien Laferriere, the team "want players to see those in the world and want to go take a look.”
As well as making the world more open, the game's quest system is going to be more open too. Now when you start a quest, you won't be locked into it until you complete it. In Origins players will be able to pick up quests and start and stop them as they please. Now if you're on a mission and you spot something that looks more interesting you can just go and do it.
Encouraging mystery and exploration is also, apparently, the reason behind the decision to set the game in the Ptolemaic era. At this point in time Egypt was a 3000 year old civilization and beginning to cross over with Greek culture. Many iconic Egyptian structures were falling into ruin and locations had already been lost, making it the perfect setting to encourage exploration.
Keep reading for more information on Assassin's Creed Origins as well as our hands on impressions of the game.
Assassin’s Creed has become a familiar gaming franchise, with a new mainline installment appearing just about every year since Assassin’s Creed 2 was released all the way back in 2009.
Just as Assassin’s Creed was becoming one of the old faithfuls of the gaming world, though, Ubisoft surprised us in 2016 by taking a year out. There was still a film and two Assassin’s Creed Chronicles titles in the meantime but no sprawling mainline game.
You don’t realize what you have until it’s gone and after just one year of being away people are clamoring to hear about what the next game will bring. After this break, though, expectations are raised.
In 2015 Assassin’s Creed Syndicate barely managed to pull the series back from the precipice Assassin’s Creed Unity had pushed it towards. Ubisoft wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders.
With an extra year to refocus and get things right, though, fans are expecting the series to return bigger and better than ever.
With Assassin's Creed Origins now confirmed to be on its way and seeking to bring new RPG elements as well as take the series back to its roots it'll be interesting to see whether Ubisoft achieves its goals
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The next and highly-anticipated installment in the historical adventure franchise
- What can I play it on? Most likely PS4, Xbox One and PC
- When can I play it? October 27 2017
Trailers
So far we've seen two trailers of the game shown off at this year's E3, both of which heavily focussed on gameplay over cinematics.
You can watch both trailers below.
Release date
Assassin's Creed Origins has been confirmed to be coming to consoles on October 27 this year.
New and features
Story
The game will star an assassin called Bayek and will take players back to before the formation of the assassin's order. As a Medjay, it's Bayek's responsibility to protect the people of Egypt and the game will revolve around his fight against the dark corrupting forces trying to take over the country and use the people for their own gains.
We know the game will also have a modern day storyline but details on this are much less clear. The game's director told Game Informer that the reason for this is that he wants players to be surprised when they play. He did, however, say "I think people will be happy."
Many methods of travel
After seeing the game's trailer and trying it out for out for ourselves we know that there will be a few ways to travel across the game world. As well as the usual running on foot, it'll be possible to cover ground more quickly on horseback (or camelback) and commandeer ships and boats to travel across bodies of water.
Being from the developers of Assassin's Creed Black Flag, the sailing mechanics in Origins are very satisfying and extremely well constructed.
Huge open map
It's essential that there be faster means of travel in Origins as this is the largest Assassin's Creed map we've seen yet. Even more significantly, it's open to the player from the very beginning to explore. Though certain areas will be dedicated to certain parts of the story, after a short introductory sequence players will be able to head off in any direction they like, rather than find themselves blocked off from certain areas because they've not reached a particular part of the story.
The map is made even larger by the fact that underwater is now an explorable area. Players can dive under the surface of the water to explore, finding shipwrecks and loot all around.
In an interview with Game Informer, the game's director said that though it's hard to compare as each game is very different, he thinks that the Assassin's Creed Origins map is larger than the map of Black Flag, though he's not certain of exact numbers. "I would say that it's at least twice the size of Havana from Black Flag,“ he said. ”At least.“
After this, he added that he thinks its the content of the map rather than its size that matters, something which will please players who feel that sometimes large maps aren't filled with enough interesting quests to justify their scope.
According to Ismail each location on the map will be filled with quests and these quests have been developed with the aim of "making each city feel unique to itself, why was it important to Egypt.“
Crafting and upgrading
Assassin’s Creed Origins is introducing many RPG elements this time around and of course that means crafting. You’ll be able to improve your armor, weapons and tools through your crafting ability and to collect the items you need you’ll have to explore the game world for loot and hunt the diverse range of wildlife that now populate Assassin’s Creed world, from hippos to crocodiles.
Crafting and upgrading will be essential in the new Assassin’s Creed games as leveling up will be key to surviving. You won’t be able to instant kill an enemy of a much higher level, for example, if your weapons aren’t up to scratch.
Animal-enabled scouting
Rather than Eagle Vision, players will now have access to an actual eagle in Assassins Creed Origins called Senu. Calling on Senu, players will be able to scout ahead of where they are in a top-down view to identify where enemies are in order to plan the best route of attack and find hidden items for quests. Senu can even be used to attack and distract enemies.
Shields and bows in close combat
This time around, the combat in Assassin's Creed is slightly different. Rather than being based mostly on parrying and well-time attacks it forces players to move and dodge more, building up adrenaline to score big hits.
As well as this bows and shields have been added to combat. Players can parry attacks from enemies using their shield and even pull out their bow and arrow in close combat. Naturally, the bow and arrow will also be useful for ranged attacks and it'll be possible for players to fire it from horseback.
RPG elements
More RPG elements will feature in Assassin's Creed Origins. In the E3 gameplay trailer we spied a leveling system based on experience points. Weapons will also be more like RPG-like, with different characteristics, rarities and points attached.
The new RPG elements also extend to a skill tree which has been added to help you tailor your play in a way that suits you. The skill tree is split into three sections: warrior, archer, and a rogue-type category called Seer that revolves around improving skills like crafting.
You won’t have to focus on just one area; in fact, they overlap in a way that almost encourages blending skills together. This means that you can develop a combat style that suits you, whether you prefer to take down enemies from afar, trick them with crafty traps, or charge straight in like a battlefield warrior.
Hands on impressions
At this year's E3 we managed to get hands on with Assassin's Creed Origins on the new Xbox One X for 30 minutes, during which time we were able to play in the game's open world and attempt to complete a mission.
Our first impression was that this is undoubtedly a beautiful game world, particularly when viewed in 4K.
The demo started off with Bayek travelling into a city on horseback, which you're going to be doing a lot of since the map is by far one of the largest we've seen created by Ubisoft before. It's convenient, then, that there's a quick call button on the D-Pad which allows you to summon your horse at any time.
Free running
As soon as we were in the city, we dismounted our horse and got straight into trying out the game’s signature free running. Being set in ancient Egypt naturally means there are less high buildings for you to scale but as Origins has been created by the team behind Black Flag which has the same architectural limitations.
Instead there are scalable cliffs and interestingly laid out streets to roll around. You can still climb up high and see far around you but these points are less frequent and easy to come by than they are in city-set Assassin’s Creed games.
Free-running is fluid and easy in Assassin’s Creed Origins and jumping back from surfaces when you’re hanging from them has a more natural look to it where Bayek turns to see where he’s going rather than just dropping like his hands have stopped functioning.
The mission we found ourselves doing involved rescuing a slave from an abusive master by finding lost golden objects that would prove he wasn't lying.
A new take on Eagle Vision
To find the objects we got to use a new feature to Origins, a much more literal take on the series eagle vision. In the game you're able to summon your pet eagle using the d-pad. Once summoned you take full control of it in flight and you can direct its gaze to target enemies or find hidden objects.
When trying to find hidden objects there's a sphere which becomes smaller or larger depending on how close you are to the object you're supposed to be looking for. Though this hot or cold mechanic was clever, it could be frustrating to use as it required a lot of accuracy and precision before it'll add the located object to your map.
The result was that it added extra complexity to what could have otherwise been a fairly easy process.
Underwater action
When we'd located the object we got to try out yet another new feature on Origins: underwater swimming. Though we've been able to swim in the series before we've not been able to explore an underwater world filled with shipwrecks and treasure before with this much freedom and the animations we got to see were genuinely beautiful.
A representative from Ubisoft confirmed that it will be also possible in the game to engage in underwater melee combat, which we'll be interested to see for ourselves.
We also got to try exploring on top of the water by stealing a ship carelessly left at the harbour. Ship travel looks like it's going to be fun in Origins, particularly as it's very easy to pick up speed almost laughably quickly. However in a game this large we imagine concessions have to be made, and it's nice that there's the option to go at a more leisurely pace if you have the time and inclination.
Combat and stealth
The second of the two objects we were seeking were on a restricted ship which gave us the chance to try out the game's stealth and combat. Stealth hasn't changed much at all here, as in previous games you'll spend your time pulling enemies over the edge with your hidden blade or taking them down from above. Of course you can engage them directly, which we inevitably did.
Direct combat is slightly different in Origins in that it feels more open than any other assassin's creed game. Whereas before it felt like enemies stood around you in a circle and you engaged in a repetitive cycle of parry and attack until they were all gone, here you're expected to be more quick on your feet and prepared to dodge.
Melee weapons can be used for a light attack or, alternatively, for a more charged heavy attack which is essential to break shields. You can parry attacks using your shield or even pull out your bow and arrow during close combat. Overall there's a greater feeling of variety and activity in the combat which is genuinely refreshing in a series that has remained similar in the area over the years.
RPG elements
There's also brand new RPG elements in the game to get used to. These include levelling up with skill points, selecting skills to advance in a new skill tree, and crafting items.
The new RPG elements extend to a skill tree which has been added to help you tailor your play in a way that suits you. The skill tree is split into three sections: warrior, archer, and a rogue-type category called Seer that revolves around improving skills like crafting.
You won’t have to focus on just one area; in fact, they overlap in a way that almost encourages blending skills together. This means that you can develop a combat style that suits you, whether you prefer to take down enemies from afar, trick them with crafty traps, or charge straight in like a battlefield warrior.
When it comes to crafting we were told it's possible to craft weapons and armor for yourself using items gathered from the world. Gathering these items is possible through hunting animals and collecting things you'll find strewn across the map.
Overall our first impression of Assassin's Creed Origins is that it has great potential. It's hard to know in a short playthrough whether things will grow to grate on you in longer play. However, in 4K the game world was beautiful, combat felt more open and varied and though we have an inkling it may eventually feel like a hindrance, the new eagle vision was an exciting experience.
Notably, not once did we witness any graphical gliches, and character animation and voice acting seemed well done in the section we watched (though those inevitable dead behind the eyes moments were far from absent).
Though Bayek doesn't have the swagger of Ezio he seems engaging and we have the feeling his story will be engaging and his desire to save those enslaved in Egypt will be rousing and enjoyable to be a part of.
The new RPG elements do give us pause. They're different for an Assassin's Creed game and it's almost odd to see the series go in that direction. Fortunately, it doesn't seem like the system goes too deep into crafting or stats but only time will tell if that first impression is accurate.
Animal taming
Though animals can be hunted in Assassin's Creed Origins to be used for crafting, they can also be tamed and fight alongside you in battle.
This is an ability that must be unlocked by progressing in the 'Seer' section of the skill tree but if players are so inclined, they'll be able to use a sleep dart on creatures that range from lions to hippos and tame them in order to turn them from enemies to allies.
This is a feature extremely reminiscent of Far Cry Primal but it's certainly an addition that works in this new more open Assassin's Creed world.
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