Rated M (17+) for Blood and Gore, Drug References, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language and Use of Alcohol

Assassins Creed Origins is the newest installment in an ongoing series of historical action-stealth games developed by Ubisoft. For the uninitiated, the series has focused on a fictional conflict between two groups, the Assassins (generally embodying freedom and equality) and the Templars (generally embodying order and security), whose ideologies clash in various historical periods revisited under the context of this conflict carrying on into the modern-day, with descendants of major figures from both groups (usually the Assassins, hence the title) reliving the lives of their ancestors through technologies originally developed by or reverse-engineered from the products of the Templar’s modern-day iteration, Abstergo Industries. The recent release of Assassins Creed Origins is notable for its setting being Ancient Egypt, a time period long requested by fans of the series, and that this game was developed in twice the time Ubisoft has usually taken to develop and release its games – normally a yearly affair, the added time to develop Origins sees the series return under a massively reworked system. As a longtime fan of the series, this is written to offer some first impressions of the game with a full review planned to release before the holidays.

As mentioned before, the game is both old and new – new in that the foundations of Origins are built on an open-world role-playing game (RPG) system and old in that Origins is intended to depict the ‘origins’ of the Assassin Brotherhood, an heretofore uncovered subject now playing out in a highly requested era of history. It’s clear that the new system works incredibly well to redefine the series’ gameplay – Origins introduces RPG elements such as a levelling system and gear system to better embody a sense of progression, pacing it out over a vast and sprawling landscape. Quests within Origins are thoughtfully designed, with each that I’ve completed at the time of this writing feeling engaging and distinct. They often use traversal methods that are a staple of the Assassins Creed series, scaling large structures and navigating spaces in a style reminiscent of parkour, to better sell the idea that you can approach scenarios you find yourself from varied angles – which is better fleshed out by the gear you acquire, your animal companion who can soar above and scout out these locations and that Origins vastly widens the scope of what is traversable in-game to include almost any surface – whereas methods to scale a building or structure were once clearly defined, Origins contextualizes it within common logic – structures with texture are climbable, whereas a completely smooth fortress wall isn’t. As a game, Origins has an impressive set of lungs, allowing Egypt to be depicted as a living space that is a joy to explore.

Yet as an Assassins Creed game, Origins seems to falter – or at least, it isn’t inclined in the slightest to allude to the beginnings of the meta-conflict present within the series like you’d think it would. While this is only a first impressions piece and I won’t fault the game completely for this as I’ve not completed the story, it seems a bit odd to only receive the iconic item of the Assassins, the Hidden Blade (a wrist-mounted blade that springs forward from your wrist as an assassination tool), about 6 hours into the game with no real explanation of what it is or why it exists as of yet, leaving certain questions about its design that an Assassins Creed fan would want to have answered still lingering.

For the moment I can only give Origins the benefit of a doubt that all will be answered in due time and enjoy what I can get out of it now in its engrossing open-world gameplay. Expect a full review out in time for the holidays.