Assassin's Creed is a series that dates back ten years and after many ups and downs, Ubisoft are back, taking us further back than they've ever taken us before. Let's go back to the Origins.
(Quick side note, I will not be bringing up Micro-transactions in this review. I frown upon them - heavily - however I do not think they should change a review)
The first thing on the list of many things I will congratulate this game on is the choice of setting. Ancient Egypt is a near on perfect decision, giving a wide amount of choices they could have gone with. The world has been taught about the Egyptians and an opportunity to visit and explore that world is a real treat.
The setting also provides the chance to show off both the power of the consoles and the game engine, with vast open worlds, dunes that you can explore and details all the way across the entire expanse of the game. It's been a while since my initial thoughts in a game were 'Wow, that's gorgeous'. And AC:O has done that.
Not only is the setting great due to the visuals, the story line is one of the more gripping and compelling ones to have come out of any Ubisoft game for years. Not too much will be given away here, but it's worth a full play through.
The gameplay however is where Origins comes into its own. The standard Creed movement system is there, the ability to climb near enough anything is still here, but again they seem to have tweaked it, making it even more fluid and natural. A shift in the combat however brings something very new to the series. With the ability to continually change weapons from your inventory (such as spears, swords, maces) there is also the great addition of being able to equip and use shields and change your armor. They seem to have taken a loot system similar to Destiny 2 (picking up new items as you progress and defeat foes) however it needs a little polish before they reach a similar standard.
This helps open up an almost infinite amount of ways to play the game (think Hitman) where there are no forced stealth missions, where if you just want to play the game by smashing everything and everyone with a mace, you can do and you won't be punished for it. Yes it detracts from the 'Assassin' aspect, but it helps free the player up.
With an ability tree implemented as well, it allows a customization that the titles didn't use to have. If you want to focus on hunting prey and enemies, you're welcome to, or if you want to look towards just your melee game, you can. Or if you're like me, you can grind and keep coming back to the game and complete the whole tree. Grinding will be a key thing that happens, but it doesn't feel too bad, with a large amount of side missions to fall back on and use to level up.
Overall, AC:O is a solid 7/10, if not an 8. Easily the best title since we took a dark plummet after Black Flag, but it doesn't reach the same heights as 2 or Brotherhood. However it's a game well worth playing, especially if you're a series fan.