Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Genre: Stealth, Action-Adventure, RPG, Open-World, Historical

Fun fact: The gap between 2020’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Assassin’s Creed Mirage is the longest the franchise has ever had between major titles since it originally began in 2007. That also means that Assassin’s Creed Mirage is arriving just in time for the franchise’s 15th-year anniversary. To celebrate the occasion, Assassin’s Creed Mirage is purportedly a homage to the franchise’s earlier titles and a return to its triumphant roots.

So, is Assassin’s Creed Mirage worth the wait? Read on to find out.

Past, Present And Future

Chronologically, Assassin’s Creed Mirage is actually a prequel to 2020’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. It also features one of the main antagonists from Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Basim, as its protagonist. Despite that confusing narrative setup, the story and plot in Assassin’s Creed Mirage are relatively straightforward and simple, following the same structure as previous titles. As an Assassin or Hidden One, the protagonist goes on missions to hunt down members of the Order Of The Ancients (AKA Templars) and works up until they reach the head of it all. Everything else is exactly what you’d expect from an Assassin’s Creed, and unfortunately, Assassin’s Creed Mirage also succumbs to the same problem as previous titles; an underwhelming and anti-climactic ending that feels like it comes out of nowhere and hard to make sense of.

Fortunately, the best thing about Assassin’s Creed Mirage is its gameplay mechanics, which is a return to the franchise’s stealth roots after three major entries that were essentially action RPGs with stealth elements. Assassin’s Creed Mirage is a stealth and it plays like one. For starters, Basim is not like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s Kassandra/Alexios or Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s Eivor. He isn’t a one-man army and players aren’t supposed to play like one. Instead, he easily dies after only a few hits, which means that stealth should really be the primary gameplay style. Basim can no longer use multiple weapons like Assassin’s Creed Origins’ Bayek, Kassandra/Alexios or Eivor. Instead, he’s given a sword and a dagger, so those are his only weapons from the beginning of the game to the end of the game. Not to worry though, because Basim also has access to multiple tools at his disposal, such as Throwable Knives, Blowdarts, Smoke Bombs and more, which will aid him in being a proficient Assassin.

Assassinations is the best it’s ever been in the franchise in years (since 2017’s Assassin’s Creed Origins), and they look stylish to boot. This is how Assassin’s Creed Mirage feels like the first few Assassin’s Creed games again. In Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla, it was ridiculous when enemies didn’t die when players “assassinated” them just because their level or stats weren’t high enough. In Assassin’s Creed Mirage, all enemies die immediately when you assassinate them, as they should. That includes both normal enemies and the bigger, stronger guys, which should have always been the case considering they’re all just human. That’s another major improvement in Assassin’s Creed Mirage, there are no longer any levels and best of all, that means that there is no longer level-gating, which was one of the biggest problems in the last few titles. You no longer have to grind to increase levels in Assassin’s Creed Mirage.

That being said, Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s main progression system is one where players receive skill points after completing missions. These skill points can be used to unlock new abilities in the game’s skill three, which includes three branches. All of them offer significant abilities such as chain assassinations and not simply redundant stat increases. Another progression system is ranking, where players gain ranks after reaching certain points in the story. While some areas were stated to require higher ranks, I didn’t really face any problems that prevented me from exploring those places, so there are really no elements of progression-gating here. I reckon that you can choose to complete the story without doing any of the side quests or side activities if you really want to.

The side quests include optional Contract missions, optional Tales Of The Baghdad missions, and collectibles. The main collectibles include weapons (variations of the sword and dagger) and other miscellaneous stuff. These are usually to unlock more weapons and cosmetics (outfits, outfit dyes, etc.), so they’re completely optional. In order to upgrade your weapons and outfits, you need to find Upgrade Schematics from chests, and all chests require some thinking or puzzle-solving to reach or open, so they’re not as simple as finding a chest and opening it.

It just feels like busywork, because Upgrade Schematics only pad out the game more, and finding one in your chest is not as exciting as finding a new weapon or outfit. Plus, it’s quite annoying that each weapon and outfit can be upgraded twice but you need to also find each individual weapon and outfit’s Upgrade Schematics twice (which means two different chests).

Thankfully, these are all optional, so you don’t have to do them if you don’t want to.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage also features a new Notoriety Level mechanic where killing enemies in front of witnesses will increase it, similar to the Wanted Level mechanic from Grand Theft Auto. In order to decrease the Notoriety Level, players need to roam around and remove wanted posters. One mechanic that is a welcome introduction is that Assassin’s Creed Mirage doesn’t have a traditional quest log. All quests and narrative-related elements are displayed in the new Investigation Board. This mechanic makes going from mission to mission less of a boring checklist and something that feels more like an active investigation, hence the name.

While the assassinations in Assassin’s Creed Mirage feel great to pull off, the combat feels like a step back. It feels janky and doesn’t really feel satisfying to pull off. This is disappointing considering that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla had combat that actually was satisfying and fun. This is especially so when there are certain moments in Assassin’s Creed Mirage where the game forces players to participate in direct combat instead of stealth. Granted, these moments are rare, but due to how janky the combat feels, these parts feel superfluous. Combat is meant as a last resort, but it would still have been an improved experience if combat had felt smoother and punchier like it was in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

Other issues in Assassin’s Creed Mirage include some remnants of outdated game design such as frustrating tailing missions. Why did Ubisoft bring back tailing missions? They’re not fun and there’s a reason why most modern games have abandoned tailing missions. Parkour, on the other hand, is the same, as it feels very similar to how it felt in Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla. The only reason it’s different is because the city of Baghdad has been designed with parkour in mind, which makes parkouring around better than it was in ancient Greece or old England. Other than that, parkour really just feels the same, it’s just that Ubisoft actually made a setting that parkour is more viable for parkouring around.

Despite some issues, Assassin’s Creed Mirage is an enjoyable experience. Why? It’s not bloated or overwhelmingly long like Origins, Odyssey or Valhalla. I finished the game in only 16 hours, which is more than respectable for an open-world action-adventure stealth game.

In addition, perhaps due to its smaller scale, everything is more focused and there are surprisingly little to no bugs that I encountered during my playthrough. That made me feel like Ubisoft is finally learning from its mistakes and realizing that a game doesn’t necessarily have to be 50 hours long to be a good game.

Stealth Oasis

Ultimately, Assassin’s Creed Mirage feels like a return to form for the franchise. If you’ve hated the action RPG leanings of the franchise for the past few years and have been hankering for the good old days, this game just might do it for you. Assassin’s Creed Mirage isn’t revolutionary in any way, and it has some issues, but it’s a good enough stealth jaunt.

PROS

• A return to the franchise’s stealth mechanics and roots.
• Assassin’s Creed Mirage feels like an actual stealth game again.
• A game with a decent amount of content (15 to 20 hours long); the open world doesn’t feel bloated and the campaign doesn’t overstay its welcome like Origins, Odyssey or Valhalla.
• Surprisingly polished for a Ubisoft game (not much bugs).

CONS

• Underwhelming and anti-climactic ending.
• Some outdated mechanics such as tailing missions.
• Combat can still feel janky.

FINAL SCORE: 70/100

Assassin’s Creed Mirage was reviewed on PS5 based on a review copy provided by the publisher.