{"id":270104,"date":"2023-10-05T11:00:53","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T15:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gamertweak.com\/?p=270104"},"modified":"2024-03-04T10:02:38","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T15:02:38","slug":"ac-mirage-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gamertweak.com\/ac-mirage-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Assassin’s Creed Mirage Review (PC)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Assassin\u2019s Creed Mirage started as another DLC for AC Valhalla<\/strong><\/a> but grew to become its own standalone game. After playing the entire game, I think this is one of Ubisoft\u2019s best decisions. Ubisoft Bordeaux previously worked on AC Valhalla\u2019s first DLC, Wrath of the Druids, and wanted to take Mirage back to the roots of the first Assassin\u2019s Creed (2007) game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plan was to commemorate the franchise\u2019s 15-year history of games. As a standalone release now, AC Mirage successfully brings back the DNA of the original game and builds upon it by adding the best elements from each of the iconic games in the series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve always been wary of \u201cback to the roots\u201d taglines for Assassin\u2019s Creed games dev videos. But Assassin\u2019s Creed Mirage is different. It\u2019s the closest any game in the series has come to the original Assassin\u2019s Creed, not just in setting but in gameplay. The setting and soundtrack are incredible, and Basim was a fascinating character right from AC Valhalla. But the real star of Mirage is the parkour. It\u2019s like finding a long-lost love. After years of exploring vast, open worlds, I finally can experience the dense urban parkour I\u2019ve missed so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mirage has some flaws, but it\u2019s a refreshing return to the DNA of pre-RPG era Assassin\u2019s Creed games. You won\u2019t want to miss Mirage if you\u2019re a fan of the original games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assassin\u2019s Creed Mirage Review<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

AC Mirage focuses on the stealth gameplay<\/strong><\/a> the franchise is known for. And like the early games of Altair<\/em> and Ezio<\/em> to days of Unity<\/em> and Syndicate,<\/em> Mirage packs the campaign and additional content in just under 20 hours. This is a good relief from the painful bloatware of 100+ hours the series turned into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gone are the massive open worlds sprawling across multiple cities and even countries in some cases. And along with that, you don\u2019t need hours of grinding on the previous RPG mechanics to max out your favorite skills anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assassin\u2019s Creed Mirage focuses its entire plot around Baghdad and Alamut Castle, featured during Alta\u00efr\u2019s story. Mirage has a short plotline, and the new limited scope of the map results in characters you might not care about with a few plot holes, but the intimate gameplay experience and fun it delivers are more than enough to make up for all its flaws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Assassin\u2019s Creed Mirage is not for everyone. The main reason is the story. As you may know, games that are under 20 hours runtime usually depend on their compelling story to make them successful to an extent. I won\u2019t apply this to roguelike games like Hades (2020) – that game would still be awesome if you strip away all its dialogues. Tunic (2022) is another example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But since Assassin\u2019s Creed 2 (2009), Ubisoft shifted its focus heavily on the lore<\/em> part and wanted to make a deep interlinking connection across all these characters who lived across different centuries in different parts of the world. So, depending on how much you are into this pre-established lore, it may affect your perception of the AC Mirage. I will try to explain this as much as possible now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, if you don\u2019t care about the story since the story elements, you can directly skip the subheading to the next one below to look into the new features and gameplay mechanisms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Plot: marhaban bik ‘ayuha al-mustatir<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Set in 9th-century Baghdad under the Abbasid caliphate, Mirage follows the story of Basim Ibn Ishaq (voiced by Lee Majdoub), a young street thief under the guidance of his mentor Roshan (voiced by Shohreh Aghdashloo), who joins the Hidden Ones, the early incarnation of the Assassin Brotherhood we know today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the release of AC Valhalla in 2020, we now know human reincarnations of the Asgardian Isu Loki. And since Loki took the \u201cMead\u201d after Odin and the other six Asgardian Isu left the Yggdrasil Chamber (bad luck to Heimdall), Loki was born in Samarra (Abbasid Caliphate) compared to all others reborn in northern Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So this makes Assassin\u2019s Creed Mirage a coming-of-age story for Basim. But don\u2019t expect to see everything in Basim\u2019s saga, from his life as a young thief at age 17 till he meets Viking Sigurd at age 35. So AC Mirage is just part of Basim\u2019s saga and acts as the prequel to the novel \u201cAssassin\u2019s Creed: The Golden City\u201d and the events of Assassin\u2019s Creed Valhalla game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I am to give anything more about the story, I will be essentially walking into \u2018major spoilers\u2019 territory. But if you have skipped AC Valhalla or are picking up an Assassin\u2019s Creed game for the first time, Mirage\u2019s story might lead you to more questions than answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Like previous AC games, which focus on major revolutions or wars, the main chuck of AC Mirage\u2019s story takes place in the Zanj Rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate led by Ali ibn Muhammad. For your reference, here are some of the previous wars and revolutions shown in AC games:<\/p>\n\n\n\n