Assassin’s Creed Mirage Review

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Fast Facts

No one can doubt that Assassin’s Creed is one of Ubisoft’s most profitable franchises. Popularly, we talk about this type of franchise as the “goose that lays the golden egg” and the Assassin’s Creed saga perfectly meets that definition. Since its first game starring Altair, the franchise has grown in popularity over the years. So much so, that the developer squeezed it to the maximum, with annual releases, something that exhausted the formula and generated a certain fatigue among its fans.

And to respond to those fans, Ubisoft has worked in recent years on Assassin’s Creed Mirage, the new chapter in the saga designed for the new generation of consoles. A title that arrives three years after Valhalla and is the starting point for a new era in the franchise, since it will be followed by the long-awaited game set in Japan.

It Doesn’t Fail, Visually It’s Impressive

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is a great game on a technical level. The game runs perfectly at 4K and 60 FPS in its performance mode and also has a quality mode. In addition, it arrives in pristine condition, allowing us to enjoy playing on the Xbox Series X without any problems or crashes. I also have not suffered FPS drops except in very specific moments and, above all, it has been in moments where I rotated the camera very quickly. But, when I repeat, this has been rare and practically anecdotal.

The only bug I have encountered has been more like synchronization errors – such as killing an enemy or carrying out an execution – where I saw the action on one side and that of the enemy on the other, a little further away or out of place. Beyond this, I hardly encountered any problematic bugs or errors in my gaming sessions.

Furthermore, the visual section is impressive. As is usual at Ubisoft and in the games of the saga, Baghdad, the main city of the game, is recreated to perfection. Its streets and environments, historic buildings and other cultural elements from the late 9th century AD are perfectly reflected. What’s more, the design of the main characters such as Basim or Roshan have a spectacular finish, full of details. This also happens with the NPCs and enemies who, although smaller in design and types, have a great finish.

The Perfect Union between Classic and Modern Assassin’s Creed

Ubisoft promised and focused the promotional campaign for Assassin’s Creed Mirage as a return to the classic formula; to stealth and parkour, to murders, and to camouflage among the people. Now, the moment of truth has arrived and we’ll see if it’s more than words, and whether truly, Basim’s story is this return. I can tell you one thing very clearly: it is, but with nuances. And I don’t mean that things are left out or that it isn’t as complete, but that Mirage is the almost perfect fusion (because everything can always be improved) between the classic system of the franchise and the direction taken since Origins.

Thus, the first thing I found is that we have to say goodbye to a massive open world, full of diverse areas and different biomes, where we can spend hours roaming. Instead, the action is concentrated in a single city and its surroundings. A significantly smaller map, but one that does not completely abandon the open world. We have absolute freedom to move around its different areas, but on a smaller scale. Everything is more concentrated and you don’t get the sensation of being inside something enormous.

In addition, the presence of certain RPG elements is also lost, such as the levels of both your character and the enemies. In Assassin’s Creed Mirage you no longer gain experience, but as you progress through the story you will rise in rank within the creed, from apprentice to master assassin. Thus, as you advance and complete missions, you will directly obtain skill points that you can spend on improving your stats, learning new skills, or unlocking tools.

Because yes, this time in the game you will be given absolute freedom to unlock the five available tools in the order you want and how you want. At a certain point, the game will give you the opportunity to choose one to unlock, and for the rest you will be able to choose when and which one to unlock. In addition, you can improve options such as greater casting distance, more carrying capacity or change the damage or poison effects they cause to adapt to your way of playing. To do this, you will only have to spend a few resources that you will obtain from chests and looting or stealing.

But the tools are not the only things that you can improve, since the weapons, the knife and the suit will have three improvements each. You can choose these from among those you find, but unlike the previous games there isn’t excessive loot. In fact, enemies do not drop loot at all, but you will find it in equipment chests scattered around the world that will allow you to adapt the abilities to your way of playing.

With all this, we can see a clear change from the latest games, a simplification that works very well. Above all because it fits perfectly with the change in gameplay which, this time, is very focused on stealth and strategy. Mirage is a game that knows how to propose situations to players where it pays to study the terrain, layout and route of the enemies and act with caution and stealth. What’s more, I have rarely chosen to use direct violence in my playthrough, since the combat system is somewhat crude. It works well, but the real satisfaction comes from playing more stealthily.

Mirage Is More to the Point and Will Delight Fans of the Originals

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is a title that knows what it’s looking for. Far from the formula of the latest games in the franchise, focused on offering hundreds of hours of content with various regions, secondary missions and points to unlock on the maps, Basim’s story is more focused and to the point. Yes, we have secondary missions as I already mentioned, but they are more of a tool to obtain benefits. On the other hand, beyond watchtowers and certain theft actions, we hardly have any indicators or activities on the map.

With all this, Assassin’s Creed Mirage offers us a story that lasts around 20 hours. Of course, this is an indicative time and will depend on your ability as a player and the difficulty you select. It’s a duration that we can extend if you want to fulfill all the contracts, the thefts and get the 1000G – perhaps then it could be around 30-35 hours. An experience much closer to what the company intended, closer to the original games than what the last three titles have offered.

Final Thoughts

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is the perfect fusion of old and new. Between the most classic formula of the first games and the previews of the new titles. A not so coarse open world that makes room for an interesting story that encourages the use of strategy and stealth over direct action.

To do this, it has important new features in the saga, such as the possibility of hiring different groups of merchants, mercenaries or musicians to distract the guards, the option to search for alternative routes, etc. All in pursuit of gameplay focused on stealth and the art of murder without leaving a trace. In being a true hidden person who works in the shadows. Ubisoft has achieved this and the sensations could not be more pleasant with the controls. Without a doubt, it’s a really solid and fun offering, with few drawbacks except for a small bug, a combat system that is a bit crude but that is barely noticeable since its main focus is different.

With all this, Assassin’s Creed Mirage is a game that will delight all those who approach this offering. Whether you are new to the franchise or a veteran, you will find a game that knows what it wants to offer and does so with great success. Without a doubt, one of the best games in the franchise.

Rapid Reviews Rating

4 out of 5

4

You can buy Assassin’s Creed Mirage in the Microsoft Store