Good afternoon nerders! I’ve been meaning to do this type of thing for the last year but I usually forget to write them out. So I decided to start it with a game that is a little recent and it happens to be one of my favorite game series. Below may be some spoilers for those of you that have not played this game so you have been warned.
SPOILERS BELOW!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
Assassin’s Creed: Origins takes place before all of the other AC games. This is essentially the beginning of both the Templar Order and Assassin’s Order which is kind of exciting to play through. The setting is in Egypt during the era of Cleopatra and Julius Ceaser. You control Bayek, the last of the Medjay. The Medjay were a group of warriors that protected Pharaohes and their families. Think of them as the Egyptian secret service protecting royalty. For most of the game, this is a revenge story for Bayek and his wife Aya. The Order (Templars) had killed their son as a part of a ritual sacrifice and Bayek watched them do it. He blames himself for not being able to save his son so he is dedicated to killing the man who killed his son and those that allowed it to happen. We come to find out that The Order is well established in Egypt and have been sapping the country of it’s strength and morals.
As the game progresses, Bayek begins to see Aya taking the task of destroying the Order in Egypt as more of a movement and not a one off thing. Aya really believes in Cleopatra and her want to unite Egypt and take it away from her brother Ptolemy. But later they both learn that Cleopatra is out for her and not the Egyptian people. Bayek is still fighting to kill the man that killed his son but start to to have the same thoughts Aya has as the story moves along. You fight through different areas of Egypt like Memphis and Alexandria, destroying the Order’s grip on the country.
Please don’t do what I did and rush through the story of this game. There are so many things that can and should be done before completing the story missions. Yes, some of the missions are tedious and even pointless but they are opportunities to gain XP and different materials for crafting.
As you level up, you can gain different abilities through like any other game. There are three tiers, Hunter, Seer, and Warrior. This kind of reminds you of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate where you unlocked different abilities according to the the tier you are on. This is why I say don’t rush through the story, because the XP you gain will help you level up and gain better skills. I personally enjoyed unlocking the sleepy and poison darts because I rather not be seen (which is the point of an Assassin, duh) but didn’t like how the berserk darts were only for being up close but I got the jobs done.
The landscapes are absolutely beautiful. If you have a PS4 Pro and a 4K TV, you are in for a treat. Yes there is a lot of walking the overall look of the people and places is amazing. I loved climbing atop of pyramids and looking around and just enjoying the view. The game also includes a photo mode so you can take pics and share them with the Ubisoft club publicly.
The combat is different than all of the other AC games. Remember when you were fighting multiple enemies and you would press triangle to do a counter and keep a string of hits going? Yeah, that’s not there anymore. The combat is a little more fluid but you have to dodge without pointers over the enemies head. Which isn’t a bad thing but some classes of enemies are pretty smart and will definitely dodge your light attacks. Weapons and shields are pretty interesting as well. As you progress through the game, you obtain stronger weapons and shields and in turn those new weapons and shields will have special attributes. Some swords will have “Bleeding on contact” which will basically add extra damage to each of your hits. Shields may have restorative properties as you block arrows.
Overall, this was an exciting entry into the AC series. It literally takes you back to the roots of the Assassin’s while having the fun and mechanics of Assassin’s Creed II and Brotherhood. The story was solid and the cut scenes are great. Some of the side missions are worth it and very fulfilling. Fast travel and setting your mount to automatically ride to where ever your objective is located is one the unsung heroes of this game. But other than that, this is probably the most complete Assassin’s Creed game since Brotherhood. I have this game 4.4 stealth kills/5 . I will be doing more short game reviews so be on the lookout. Until next time, Nerd Out!
I think that this is the best AC in the series, with the protagonist coming close to usurping Ezio as the best.
I totally agree. Ezio has always been my favorite Assassin since playing the series. But Bayek reminds me so much of Ezio. Kind of shows how Ezio was really close being a “true Assassin”