Assassin’s Creed Mirage, a new action-adventure game in the franchise centered on stealth and parkour, has been fully announced by Ubisoft.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which was revealed as part of Ubisoft Forward’s Assassin’s Creed Showcase, casts you as Basim Ibn Ishaq and is set in Baghdad twenty years before the events of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. It is intended to be a modernized version of the basic gameplay template for the previous Assassin’s Creed games, with developer Ubisoft Bordeaux employing the same three design pillars as the original game: stealth, parkour, and assassinations.
There was no gameplay shown, but a CGI movie trailer focused on Basim’s ascent from a basic street robber to a master assassin. He does it with the help of Roshan, a Persian assassin played by Emmy winner Shohreh Aghdashloo. According to narrative director Sarah Beaulieu, the duo’s plot will include several historical personalities, including political leaders.
Ubisoft Bordeaux presented a variety of important details in an additional press meeting. This is a city-set game, similar to the earlier entries in the series, with Baghdad divided into four distinct districts. Beyond Baghdad, we’ll go to Alamut, the Hidden Ones’ castle headquarters.
The world has been created with parkour routes and stealth in mind, so there will be lots of pathways up to roofs and hiding areas. To allow for additional information in stealth encounters, a new, more granular detection mechanism has been developed. According to Ubisoft, you can also expect the reintroduction of several iconic parkour moves, such as the corner swing, as well as speedier free running than in previous games.
Mirage is defined as a more linear game with a major focus on story, owing to the return to a more classic game framework. There will be sections of linear task chains, as in the original games, and then areas where you can choose from a variety of possible quests.
Some of those tasks will be ‘Black Box missions,’ which are the core assassination quests, according to Ubisoft. There was little information provided, however it was stated that they provide an “opportunity to design the means and path to take down the next target.” Perhaps they are inspired by AC Unity’s assassination missions, which offered a variety of methods for infiltrating and killing a target.
While Assassin’s Creed Mirage clearly pays homage to its forefathers, it also introduces a few unique themes. The eagle companion, first seen in Assassin’s Creed Origins, has returned. According to Ubisoft, using the bird’s vision is useful for locating stealth ways, but you should be wary of new archer foes who can shoot your eagle out of the sky. Basim will also gain access to ‘Assassin’s Focus,’ which slows time and allows him to conduct numerous assassinations at the same time. It sounds like the Assassin’s Creed equivalent of Splinter Cell’s Mark and Executes mechanism.
Aside from these modifications, it appears like Basim’s kit follows the series’ heritage, featuring a blowdart, traps, and mines. He’ll also be able to bring down scaffolding on foes and perform other contextual environmental murders. Samarrah was the inspiration for Baghdad in Mirage, but the city was destroyed afterward and the version that exists now is drastically different. More districts will be unveiled as Mirage nears its release date, so stay tuned for an in-depth look.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage will be released for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, PC, and Amazon Luna in 2023. The normal version will be $50, the deluxe edition will be $60 (with “extra content”), and the collector’s case will be $150 (with the deluxe edition plus a 32cm statue of Basim, a replica of his brooch, a map and art book, a soundtrack, and a steel book).