Assassin’s Creed Origins Gameplay: What You Need to Know

Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins

The guard goes limp with a quiet sigh and you move in quickly to catch his body so the sound of it slowly hitting the ground doesn’t draw any attention. The good news? With him down and a moonless night, you can move in closer to get a better look at the situation. The bad news? You now have a better look at the situation. More soldiers than you thought. It could have been a better idea to have gone in during the day when they were out on patrol although it’s just as likely you would have been seen in the light of day. You whistle softly and feel the gentle clip of feathers as Senu darts past you, soaring up above the fort.

Through his eyes you see a few dozen men, a couple of heavy soldiers and your target, the commander of the fort. Tradition advises that you use the quieter of your tools and the instant kills of your craft to stalk your way through the compound, a vicious shadow, a hidden cause of death and grower of panic.

Still, you consider as you look at the more brutal of your weapons, there’s something to be said for going straight through the main door. An unbreakable stone against a metal sea splitting it into crimson waves. It’s a good feeling when you’re the only one who walks away.

You hear the roar of lions, prizes from the day’s hunt awaiting encaged in the fortress for transport to the arena at dawn. Or, you could find new friends to make the choice for you. You grin quietly and move forward, taking the first steps of grander plan that could play out in a dozen different ways depending on your choices.

This might very well be a scene from your playthrough of Ubisoft’s upcoming Assassin’s Creed Origins. The game has been in development for years, taking and improving on Ubisoft’s gameplay successes before and during that time.

Most noteworthy of all is the heavy addition of RPG elements to the HUD, skills and loot. In the case of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, a bit more unique variety (instead of 20 kinds of bombs, 17 of which you may never use) would help combat the franchise’s reputation for being repetitive.

So how does making Assassin’s Creed Origins more like an RPG plan to do that?

 

Skill Tree

Bayek has been doing his job for a while but there’s still plenty of room to improve. The varied skill tree, a first for the Assassin’s Creed franchise but recognisable from Ubisoft’s Far Cry Series, has three paths to follow: The Warrior, the Hunter and the Seer. You’re not limited to a particular section of the skill tree, many of the abilities overlap and given enough levelling, you’ll get them all. For a guy who ultimately ends up envying other class exclusive skills in RPG games, this gives it a solid tick from me.

The Warrior is for the brawlers and melee lovers. Through this skill tree you learn how to take damage and dish it out. It adds bonuses to your combos and benefits to fury mode.

The Hunter is for the archery lovers and is the more traditional Assassin’s Creed experience. Improves your skills with the bow, gives bonuses for quiet kills and boosts Senu’s eagle abilities.

The Seer is an odd path but seems to be the “rogue” branch of the skill tree. Through this path you gain smoke bombs, poisoned darts, deadly powders and even the ability to tame animals (Crocodiles, hippos and lions to name a few!). Personally, its not as cool as the Hunter path but definitely looks like the most entertaining.

 

Loot

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There are 8 categories of weapons in Assassin’s Creed Origins, including bows, spears, swords, axes and maces. They all vary in stats and perks. For instance, you could pick up an axe that stuns or cause bleeding damage, if you’re lucky you may even find one that does both.

You can also purchase clothing and amor. The difference? You need the amor to live but the clothing is there look cool why you do it. Armor contributes to your defences but clothing equipped in around that is really up to what the player likes. Its a little thing but a very personal addition that many players like myself (You can lower or raise your hood! Not Death. Death. Some random guy patting a camel. Harbinger of DOOM!) will definitely enjoy.

While loot does seem to be a random drop, the stronger enemies are more likely to drop better stuff. You can also purchase it from in game shops or find better versions hidden away in the world but what you find in those places depends on where you go. Given Ubisoft’s history with micro transactions, it not unreasonable to expect that you could also purchase this gear with real world cash.

 

Dynamic Combat system

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You’d think having access to that kind of gear would be enough but Ubisoft has a couple other things to add.

The first is melee fluidity. You can switch between a couple different sets of gear and your ranged weapons to better suit the bad guy you’re fighting or just to vary the beating you’re bringing. Spears keeping distance between you and the target? Dodge back and start firing arrows. Heavy fighter shrugging off your sword slashes? Switch to a mace and go for the stuns.

Put points in the right skill tree and you’ll have access to the Overpower ability. Once your adrenaline bar is full from giving and taking hits, Bayek attacks with increased strength and ferocity. The cool thing about this is that what it looks like depends on the kind of weapon you’re using at the time. Maces hit harder, swords stab deeper and arrows become a few centuries closer to bullets.

You’re also not just limited to what your weapons do either. You can set your arrows on fire from nearby torches and use that to cause other things to catch on fire. With this you can cause enemies or the camels they’re riding to panic, giving you time to get in a few more hits, thin the crowd or even just get away (fair warning, Bayek is just as flammable). Developers promise many more environment related attacks will be possible.

 

Time skipping

AC Origins

Find Bayek a quiet spot to sit and he can meditate to a different and potentially more convenient time of day. You might find it easier to sneak into a fort under the cover of night or wait until the crowds of midday arrive to strike at a target among them.

NPCs have a schedule of behaviours built around the day and night cycle. You’re more likely to encounter bandits and thieves during the night whereas guards in the city might patrol more frequently during the day. Civilians gather in crowds, go to temple or shop during the day but stay at home or sleep at night.

Its another little change that provides you with not only a couple different ways to approach a problem but also adds to the game NPCs feeling a bit more organic and making you more involved with them.

 

Living Ecosystem

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Adding further to that, Assassin’s Creed also boasts a living ecosystem. Reminiscent of the hilarious karmic moments in the Far Cry series, the local wildlife doesn’t like anyone on their turf. Expect to see crocodiles and hippos attacking boats that get too close or lions and hyenas surprising bandits who were a few seconds from surprising you.

In order to add to the world, Ubisoft has taken that a step further. Crocodiles and hippos have their own distinct territories and will attack each other if their space is encroached. If you’re hunting amongst the dunes, move quickly to pick up your kill before its claimed by larger predators or even snatched up by eagles.

Whether it’s in the cities, underwater, in tombs and with people or wildlife, Assassin’s Creed Origins makes Egypt feel alive by giving its inhabitants lives of their own.

I think there are two parts that make a good immersive RPG experience; how the game reacts to the things you do and how it exists on its own in spite of you. From what Assassin’s Creed Origins has shown so far, it promises to deliver spectacularly on both.

Assassin’s Creed Origins is due to be released on 27th October 2017 on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

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