Ubisoft has a new “Assassin’s Creed” and it’s really fun

As the simple street thief Basim, we sneak through everyday life at the beginning of the story and carry out one or two illegal transactions for a good friend. The young man has a particularly fast hand, attracts the attention of the Assassin Brotherhood and secretly plays with the membership of this ominous alliance.

As events unfold, his dream becomes reality. Basim places himself in the hands of the cloaked men and women and is trained as an assassin who carries out important tasks step by step. In Baghdad in the ninth century, we join the fight against the organization ‘The Hidden Ones’, which influences and controls world history behind the scenes.

At the same time, we witness how Basim repeatedly suffers from nightmares and supernatural events. Are they visions, can he predict the future or does he even carry the burden of being a chosen one? Over the next twenty hours of play we will get one answer or the other.

A little distance is always good

Already after the first hours of playing it becomes clear that “Mirage” has distanced itself from its extensive predecessors such as “Valhalla” or “Odyssey”. The hero’s journey begins quickly, the goals are clear, and the map remains clear. Although there are some side missions here and if you uncover the map step by step, numerous symbols beckon for attention and distraction, but everything remains manageable and the feeling of oversaturation does not arise.

So we follow the tightly told story and do what we mainly did in the early adventures: we sneak around, infiltrate different areas and houses, collect information about characters, carry out assassinations and even fight our way through a horde of enemies if we are spotted . and escape the area until the alarm is disarmed.

At the same time, we collect a lot of valuable items, unlock new weapons, improve them and level up our hero in a minimalist but decisive way to make him a perfect assassin. With the help of eagles, we explore the environment from above, ambush opponents while whistling, go underground and visit distant areas on mountains to further the mission there. And of course we climb buildings, swing along rock walls and balance between the canyons.

Sneak or direct confrontation

Even if Basim teaches direct confrontation, the game’s story always wants to lead us towards stealth. But how we complete a mission is up to us. Anyone who patiently remains in the shadows and hidden to achieve his goal will experience almost nostalgic feelings and fondly remember the moments when he spent the nights with this method in the first “Assassin’s Creed” games.

Anyone who chooses the offensive path of violence will quickly notice that later in the game we increasingly have to deal with stronger opponents who then need a tactical touch to be able to go down. Besides the ubiquitous sword, there are other auxiliary weapons that prove useful in such situations. Throwing knives, smoke bombs or blow darts are eventually used and immediately put to rest the question of their existence.

Beautiful music and terrible hair physics

Visually, ‘Mirage’ leaves an ambivalent impression: the world around Baghdad was staged in tranquil and loving detail. There is variety with different neighborhoods that differ in their flora and fauna and which we want to visit in a short trip.

Life in both the city and the countryside is vibrant and there is a lot to discover, if you want to discover it at all. The whole thing is always accompanied by beautiful weather effects and the music plays along atmospherically and swells in the right places at dramaturgically important moments. In short: the atmosphere is good and we always welcome us with open arms.

However, if you look a little closer, some impurities stand out: many clones, which are even next to each other in cutscenes, buzz around, people run through others, objects suddenly appear and disappear again, and in the cutscenes we have to deal with terrible hair physics and dead eyes and animation minimalism. The optical, atmospheric beauty is always central, but the ugliness sometimes follows very closely.

History leaves hardly any traces

As for the story, ‘Mirage’ won’t leave you open-mouthed. You can smell where the journey is going from afar and the characters in this video game work exactly as you would expect them to.

No, ‘Mirage’ isn’t shaking up the ‘AC’ universe at all. You often get the feeling that the game was originally intended as DLC for ‘Valhalla’ and that there are various cross-references that only make sense once you delve deeper into the matter.

But even without any prior knowledge or knowledge of assassins, the story still works, making it surprisingly easy to follow. The simple game principle of search, kill and disappear is understandable and almost universally valid in the gaming cosmos.

However, our main character sometimes makes us shake our heads. Basim is sometimes really unsympathetic, then you feel sorry for him and the next moment his actions and choice of words only leave question marks in the room.

A nice, pleasant step back

Conclusion: Even though at times I didn’t care for the story, I didn’t always agree with the hero, and the sometimes crude technology made me roll my eyes, I had a lot of fun with “Mirage” and was always motivated to finish the journey with Basim .

After its exuberant predecessors, my interest in the “Assassin’s Creed” brand was incredibly low and I was very skeptical about whether a new offshoot would reignite the flames. But lo and behold, it worked. The killer’s fire is burning bright again thanks to “Mirage”.

The main reason for this is the linearity and compactness that kept me glued to the screen. Tricky stealth missions, short paths and a clear map gave me a good time and reminded me of the beginning of the game series, when the Ubisoft formula did not yet have negative connotations.

Anyone who has already mentally finished the series should definitely watch “Mirage”. A playful regression has never been more beautiful or more enjoyable.

“Assassin’s Creed Mirage” is available for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC. Approved for children aged 18 and over.