This review contains spoilers
A very good Assassin's Creed game. No more. No less...
As a fan of the franchise, I really enjoyed my time with AC Origins. It is a very good Assassin's Creed game. One of the best Assassin's Creed games, in fact. But that's sort of all it is - a very good Assassin's Creed game that follows the same formula as past games through-and-through. It is a very by-the-books open world checklist Ubisoft game. Which wouldn't be an issue if it didn't come out the same year as games like Breath of the Wild and Horizon Zero Dawn which are a lot more than just run-of-the-mill open world games.
Firstly, credit where credit is due, the world designers of this game did a phenomenal job of bringing Egypt to life. The world is gorgeous. Every single time I did a sync point, I stopped to enjoy the view. Once again, the Ubisoft team has done a tremendous job with another historical setting.
That said, it's weird to have a world this large, beautifully designed, and full of stuff feel this empty and lifeless. The collectibles to find, the boring side quests to do, the locations to complete - none of these add any actual depth to the world or make me want to explore it.
In contrast, games like Witcher 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2 do a tremendous job of making their worlds feel lived in.They're worlds you want to explore, find every little thing, and interact with every NPC. Even Breath of the Wild, a game in which the story very much took the back seat, created a world that made me want to explore it.
I was excited to hear they had done away with collectibles as it meant less to grind, but that's not really the case. In place of collectibles like flags, feathers, or animus fragments, we have locations. So many locations. Some of them are as simple as killing a single creature. Others require you to spend a good 10 minutes clearing out an entire military base (and there are a TON of those).
STORY:
When it comes to story in Assassin's Creed games, I'm pretty biased. I was one of those guys who actually cared about the modern-day stuff, and was bummed when they basically took it out after AC3. I cared about the lore. I cared about more than just the historical setting. So, for me, learning about the origins of the Brotherhood in this game was very cool.
SPOILER WARNING
That said, boy did they really drop the ball on telling the story that actually mattered - Aya's. From the very beginning when you meet Aya in Alexandria and see the base she has created there, it creates intrigue for her. I kept hoping I'd get to do a mission as her. So when I finally got to do one, I was actually angry that it was a naval mission. They then spend the entire game teasing you with Aya only to let you play her for a single mission at the end of the game and then one more as the epilogue.
And then, as the final icing on the cake, you learn that Aya is actually the founder of the Hidden Ones. She is the mentor. She is the legendary Amunet. Don't get me wrong, I really liked Bayek, but why in the world did we play the entire game as the husband to the legendary assassin Amunet??? What an absolute joke. What a missed opportunity.
NOTE: I wrote all of the above thoughts after finishing the base game before any of the Ubisoft news hit.
DLC:
The Hidden Ones DLC was short and sweet. It gave more background into how they expanded the brotherhood and how they further defined the creed. Plus we get more of Amunet which is simultaneously cool and frustrating.
The Curse of the Pharaohs was cool but really overstayed its welcome. After spending as much time as I did with the base game, I really didn't need that much more to explore and things to do. The story was forgettable and uninteresting.
As a fan of the franchise, I really enjoyed my time with AC Origins. It is a very good Assassin's Creed game. One of the best Assassin's Creed games, in fact. But that's sort of all it is - a very good Assassin's Creed game that follows the same formula as past games through-and-through. It is a very by-the-books open world checklist Ubisoft game. Which wouldn't be an issue if it didn't come out the same year as games like Breath of the Wild and Horizon Zero Dawn which are a lot more than just run-of-the-mill open world games.
Firstly, credit where credit is due, the world designers of this game did a phenomenal job of bringing Egypt to life. The world is gorgeous. Every single time I did a sync point, I stopped to enjoy the view. Once again, the Ubisoft team has done a tremendous job with another historical setting.
That said, it's weird to have a world this large, beautifully designed, and full of stuff feel this empty and lifeless. The collectibles to find, the boring side quests to do, the locations to complete - none of these add any actual depth to the world or make me want to explore it.
In contrast, games like Witcher 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2 do a tremendous job of making their worlds feel lived in.They're worlds you want to explore, find every little thing, and interact with every NPC. Even Breath of the Wild, a game in which the story very much took the back seat, created a world that made me want to explore it.
I was excited to hear they had done away with collectibles as it meant less to grind, but that's not really the case. In place of collectibles like flags, feathers, or animus fragments, we have locations. So many locations. Some of them are as simple as killing a single creature. Others require you to spend a good 10 minutes clearing out an entire military base (and there are a TON of those).
STORY:
When it comes to story in Assassin's Creed games, I'm pretty biased. I was one of those guys who actually cared about the modern-day stuff, and was bummed when they basically took it out after AC3. I cared about the lore. I cared about more than just the historical setting. So, for me, learning about the origins of the Brotherhood in this game was very cool.
SPOILER WARNING
That said, boy did they really drop the ball on telling the story that actually mattered - Aya's. From the very beginning when you meet Aya in Alexandria and see the base she has created there, it creates intrigue for her. I kept hoping I'd get to do a mission as her. So when I finally got to do one, I was actually angry that it was a naval mission. They then spend the entire game teasing you with Aya only to let you play her for a single mission at the end of the game and then one more as the epilogue.
And then, as the final icing on the cake, you learn that Aya is actually the founder of the Hidden Ones. She is the mentor. She is the legendary Amunet. Don't get me wrong, I really liked Bayek, but why in the world did we play the entire game as the husband to the legendary assassin Amunet??? What an absolute joke. What a missed opportunity.
NOTE: I wrote all of the above thoughts after finishing the base game before any of the Ubisoft news hit.
DLC:
The Hidden Ones DLC was short and sweet. It gave more background into how they expanded the brotherhood and how they further defined the creed. Plus we get more of Amunet which is simultaneously cool and frustrating.
The Curse of the Pharaohs was cool but really overstayed its welcome. After spending as much time as I did with the base game, I really didn't need that much more to explore and things to do. The story was forgettable and uninteresting.