Review: Origins is the Assassin's Creed game you've been waiting for

NZ Herald

15 Nov, 2017 07:00 PM2 mins to read

Assassin's Creed Origins is set in Ancient Egypt.

Assassin's Creed Origins is set in the fan community's most-requested time and place in history: Ancient Egypt.

It's a time of Cleopatra, of mummification, of political intrigue and brutal violence.

The story follows Bayek, a medjay, and his wife Aya. (The medjay were an elite parliamentary police force in Egypt.) Over the course of the game, Bayek and Aya protect and help civilians, and become the first Assassins.

The locations are stunning in Origins, on every scale. You'll go from great pyramids and vast deserts to squalid markets and dingy caves. You'll sail boats across lakes and ride camels to huge military encampments.

As always in Assassin's Creed games, it's most impressive when you find a viewpoint where you can stop to drink it all in.

Assassin's Creed Origins is less focused on stealth than previous entries in the series, and it shows in Bayek's style. You'll find yourself getting into more scraps, and using more traditional weapons than in other Assassin's Creed games.

You'll still try to be stealthy, of course, but once spotted by an enemy it can be very hard to get away and hide. Often the best course of action is to go all in and fight.

That said, there are some tools at your disposal if you're keen to stealth your way through the game. Your feathered companion, an eagle named Senu, can be summoned to fly over risky areas, marking soldiers on your behalf. Marking a soldier shows you not only their location, but their level.

If the enemy is higher level than you, chances are you're not going to be able to assassinate them quietly. It's a lot harder work to be stealthy in Origins, and I appreciated the challenge.

A scene from Assassin's Creed Origins, which is set in ancient Egypt.

I did have a couple of frustrations with the game. In particular, occasionally powerful enemies show up and essentially chase you away from whatever mission you were working on.

Some of the side quests also just felt like busywork designed to get me to a higher level so I could complete better missions.

Overall, though, Origins is the best game in the series since the Ezio trilogy finished in 2011. And that's exactly the refresh Assassin's Creed needed.