Assassin's Creed Mirage (Xbox One/Xbox Series X|S)

Game description:

Assassin's Creed Mirage is a 2023 action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Bordeaux and published by Ubisoft. The game is the thirteenth major installment in the Assassin's Creed series and the successor to 2020's Assassin's Creed Valhalla. While its historical timeframe precedes that of Valhalla, its modern-day framing story succeeds Valhalla's own. Set in 9th-century Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age-in particular during the Anarchy at Samarra-the story follows Basim Ibn Ishaq (a character first introduced in Valhalla), a street thief who joins the Hidden Ones to fight for peace and liberty, against the Order of the Ancients, who desire peace through control. The main narrative focuses on Basim's internal struggle between his duties as a Hidden One and his desire to uncover his mysterious past.

Gameplay:

Assassin's Creed Mirage is an action-adventure stealth game intended to be reminiscent of older Assassin's Creed titles, being more linear and story-focused and reducing the number of role-playing elements present in recent installments of the series. Parkour, close-quarter combat, and stealth are core elements of the gameplay. For assassination missions, Mirage adopts the "Black Box" design previously seen in Assassin's Creed Unity and Assassin's Creed Syndicate, where players have to explore the environment to find different ways to reach and eliminate their targets.

Game review:

Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s return to the stealthy style that launched this series doesn’t do everything right, but everything it does feels like it was done with purpose. This means a shorter game with a smaller map, fewer collectibles, smaller scope in combat, and a limited selection of gear to play with – all of which I found refreshing relative to the arguably bloated scale of 100-hour games like Odyssey and Valhalla. It also means an overly simplistic plot with mostly forgettable characters, but what the story lacks in depth it makes up for with its straightforward quest progression and fast pacing. Though there's no big standout “wow” moment, Baghdad is a beautiful location in its own right, and the world’s detail is focused inward, making every alley and hovel feel well traveled and full of detail and history. I’d recommend Mirage to anyone who’s lapsed on Assassin’s Creed, as its back-to-basics approach is a successful first step in returning the feeling that the earlier industry-defining games gave me so long ago.