30.10.2017

It's been two years since the last Assassin's Creed game dropped to yet more mixed reviews and feelings. During this time it seems that Ubisoft and the development team have really thought about how to make Origins a success and, in my opinion, it definitely shows. I've played and liked every AC game so far but Origins has turned me into a FAN again!-----Story-----Set in 49BC Ancient Egypt (a long way from London or France) we play as Bayek, the last Medjay and protector to the Pharaoh and people of Egypt. As we learn from flashbacks and progressing in the story, Bayek is deceived, betrayed and left with nothing. When we start the game it's one year later and we're killing one of the men involved in a rather jarring and confusing cutscene,before we're then thrown into the tutorial fight. I won't lie, the beginning is a little confusing regarding what's going on and why you're doing it but after five or so hours it begins to make sense.Despite the initial confusion, the game is paced quite nicely and explains everything as you go. The setting of Ancient Egypt and its characters are really quite stunning and this is, by far, the best Assassin's Creed to play in terms of setting and immersion. Everything is so detailed and feels alive, from the bustling towns and cities, the people wandering the streets, the random fights that break out between factions and the sheer scale of the world. The story also benefits from the setting as well as it allowed the team to be a bit more creative and surprise you. Ancient Egypt is a mysterious and dark place and this is weaved into the story quite well.Bayek is probably my favourite character to play in the entire series as he possesses charm, skill, that sense of honor and duty you'd expect from a Medjay but also a bluntness in some situations that made me smile. I feel like I actually care what's going whenever a cut-scene plays or whenever characters begin speaking and I haven't really felt that in the last few games. Overall, I'm content with the story and pacing of the story in Origins. It still has that typical AC structure of "here's a big bad guy, but here's five of their minions you'll have to find and kill first" but with the combination of a massive open world and re-worked game structure, it feels much more enjoyable to play through.-----Graphics-----I could sum up this segment of the review by simply saying this -- Assassin's Creed: Origins is stunning. However, that wouldn't be doing the game or the development team justice if I just left it there. Every year the games have improved graphically and Origins is absolutely no exception. Character models are detailed and interesting, the locations are vibrant and full of colour and feel unique and the overall immersion of the game is fantastic. This is helped even more by the addition of a gorgeous day/night cycle and little details like your robes blowing in the wind, being able to light torches, the wildlife and idle animations that help bring the game to life.I wandered into the desert just outside of Siwa, the town you initially start in, just as the sun dropped in the sky and stood there overlooking a beautiful oasis just off in the distance. The water was sparkling and glinting in the sunlight and I just couldn't help but open up the photo mode and begin snapping pictures! It gets even better when you summon Senu, your eagle, and are able to fly around above and just take in the scenery. Hands-down the best setting for the series yet and easily the best-looking as well.-----Gameplay-----The biggest change in Origins is that it now plays as an open-world RPG. With this comes a whole host of improvements and additions that really does bring the game, and the series, forward. Combat blends a mixture of light and heavy attacks with blocking, parries and dodging as opposed to standing there waiting to counter-kill everyone. With the addition of difficulty modes, combat can often be quite challenging as simple button mashing will get you nowhere. Enemies have a variety of weapons equipped so you have to learn how and when to attack and fighting multiple enemies can be challenging.However, despite the overhaul to the combat system, it feels very clunky and awkward at times. The lock-on system is great for one-on-one fights but as soon as you get into a fight with multiple enemies it becomes frustrating. You'll be dodging around a fair bit during combat but due to the camera position, you often end up backed in a corner or getting stuck on the scenery. When everything works it feels great but when things get clunky, you'll end up getting annoyed. I have personally found that changing the controls from default to alternative have improved the feeling of the combat but it's not perfect.The open-world is quite large and filled with things for you to do. Unity and Syndicate had gorgeous areas to explore but they weren't open-world so after a while you ended up feeling constrained in where you could go and everything started to look the same. Origins has a massive landscape for you to explore and immerse yourself in. Siwa, the first village you find yourself in, looks great and has plenty to do for the first five hours or so but you'll soon be itching to hop on your camel and charge off into the desert and explore!Due to the RPG mechanics of the game, the way it plays is much improved. Weapons are obtained via a loot system through treasure chests, killing enemies and quest rewards. There are various weapon types that you can use including dual daggers, heavy maces/axes, swords and spears as well as three different bow types. Light bows fire quickly but don't have a lot of power, warrior bows can fire multiple arrows at once and predator bows have increased precision damage and can be aimed in first person. Weapons can be upgraded and even improved to your level so if you have a favourite, you can keep it for as long as you like!You can craft and improve your gear to increase things like your overall health, melee damage, ranged damage and resistances. This can be done by hunting the vast array of wildlife throughout Egypt in a system that feels very familiar to Black Flag but no less rewarding. The animals and wildlife in general is fantastic and really does spirit you away to the era. Birds will come gliding down into the sparkling blue water, predators lurk in the shadows and attack in packs and the large creatures do actually put up a fight and feel somewhat realistic. There is also a variety of outfits that Bayek can buy/obtain and wear that change his appearance. Also, we can finally choose to toggle our hood on or off!Bayek levels up by earning XP through completing main missions, side quests, killing enemies, hunting and exploring the numerous activities on offer. You can spend your points on a rather large and entertaining skill tree that provides access to loads of abilities and upgrades. You can unlock parries, passive HP regeneration, increased money from selling, stronger attacks, poison/sleep darts, slow-mo bow attacks and even the simple ability to meditate and speed the day/night cycle along to a moment of your choice. It's a familiar upgrade system but it's also a PROPER and in-depth system that works very well with the rest of the game and helps to pace your gameplay and rewards.Enemies also have levels and will deal/take less damage depending on your own level. This adds a sense of danger when exploring or trying to plan your route through an enemy outpost as you have to work out which ones to eliminate first or return to later when you've levelled up. Admittedly, this doesn't feel very 'Assassin's Creed' but that is actually a good thing. Syndicate introduced a similar system but never really developed it. It's about time Ubisoft removed the shackles from previous games and the RPG mechanics in Origins work really well and help deliver a better game and a breath of fresh air for the series.Ever wondered where the whole 'eagle vision' thing came from? Well, in Origins you can summon your faithful eagle, Senu, whenever you like at the press of a button. You can control Senu in the air and use her to spot things far off in the distance like animals, enemies and activities. Origins doesn't feature a mini-map so when you're sneaking about in ancient temples or enemy outposts you actually NEED to use Senu in order to see things from a different perspective and tag enemies for Bayek. It's actually quite fun to do this and breaks-up the traditional system of relying on a mini-map constantly and it also fits into the lore of series so it all makes sense!Aside from the main story and numerous side quests (which, by the way, aren't all that bad) there are lots of things going on in Ancient Egypt that you can get involved in. You can find and explore ancient, hidden tombs and plunder its riches, hunt animals to gather materials, scour all the viewpoints to defog the massive map, partake in a spot of stargazing, hijack cargo carriages, sneak through enemy outposts, buy different mounts, weapons and ammo or just sit and watch time go by. This is the biggest and most involving AC game to date and really gives your money's worth. It's a game you can sit and play for five hours and accomplish a whole lot, or you can sit and play for five hours and do nothing but wander the massive open-world and immerse yourself -- both of which are no bad thing at all.Overall, I'm really impressed with this game and feel it was definitely worth them taking the extra year off to work on it. Everything new feels great and all the existing mechanics like the free-running and parkour feel tightened up and improved. The game plays differently compared to all the others but this was a much needed change and has worked for the best. Featuring the best setting for the series so far and the most interesting game to play, it finally feels like Ubisoft have brought Assassin's Creed forward to match the competition rather than recycle and re-use old mechanics. Fans of the series will definitely appreciate the level of detail and improvement on here and should enjoy everything on offer! Ancient Egypt awaits!PROS+ Massive open-world filled with detail and things to do+ RPG mechanics work well and are a welcome change+ The story is involving and entertaining+ Graphically impressiveCONS- Often clunky combat system- Very minor texture/NPC pop-in- Lip-syncing during cut-scenes isn't great

27.1.2018

After a 2 year break - although we did see the 'chronicles', movie and Ezio collection remaster, Assassins Creed returns with 'Origins' and. in my opinion, delivers the best Assassins Creed game ever. I know AC2 and AC4 tend to be peoples favourites - although I felt AC4 was more of a Pirate game than an AC game.Origins, as the name implies, goes back to the 'origins' of the brotherhood. The ancient Egypt setting is beautifully realised and stunning. I admit I played the game on the Xbox 'Project Scorpio' in 4k HDR on a UHD Premium quality 4k HDR TV which may have more impact than someone playing on an XB1 without HDR. In HDR though, the lighting is stunning and the attention to detail is certainly impressive.I won't spoil the story at all in my review.The world is very large and filled with NPC's, wildlife and a stunning recreation of Ancient Egyptian architecture. Its an open world action RPG with numerous side quests as well as other activities to complete. The NPC's and wildlife can and often will interact - carniverous animals will hunt and attack smaller animals for example. You can also use animals to your advantage - release a lion in a cage and it will attack the NPC's nearby - you can use this to either kill or distract the soldiers in a fort for example. All the animals offer some reward for killing - whether its materials for crafting and/or 'parts' you can sell to traders for coin. There are tombs to loot as well and it seems you are constantly getting new gear that can be sold or dismantled into crafting components. Crafting really is underused though - its mostly used to upgrade ammo capacity, damage dealt with melee, ranged or hidden blade and increasing your 'armour' to take less damage. Weapons though can be upgraded to your current level.The RPG elements allow to upgrade Bayek in numerous skills - generally broken down into three main areas - ranged (bow), Melee and tools (sleep/poison darts, bombs) - although they do have other skills - like breath holding for underwater, taming animals etc. The main game has a level cap of 40 but you can still keep earning ability points beyond this so its possible to upgrade every ability and then spend your ability points on increasing melee, ranged or fire damage - you can continuosly spend ability points in these 3 areas.There are quite a variety of weapons and bows and you can equip 2 melee and 2 bows - so you can tailor these to suit your playstyle. Predator bows for example are your 'sniper' bows with a controllable arrow (if you upgrade this ability) and a Warrior Bow is more like a Shotgun. Quick bows are more like an SMG and Hunter Bows are more of an Assault Rifle. Melee weapons vary from Swords to axes to bludgeoning weapons. You can also carry a shield too but you can't use it with 'twin swords' for example. Weapons/shields vary from the common to the exotic - like most 'loot' games with the Exotic weapons offering extra perks - like fire, poisoning, health on hit/kill/critical strikes - so there is quite a wide range to pick and choose from.Combat itself has been greatly improved over previous Assassins Creed games and feels much more free form too. AI isn't too bad - archers for example will keep backing away to create space to shoot arrows at you, those with shields will use that to advance on you and, unlike previous games, they can attack at once rather than take it in turns as before.As per usual, there are towers to climb and 'synchronise' - with the usual dive to a 'haybale'. Each time you synchronise though, not only does it reveal some points of interest but also increases Senua (your eagle companion) perception too. Senua is useful as a scout to tag enemies and treasures. Great for scouting a fort to see where the enemies are before you attempt to go in and clear.Day and night also has an impact as enemies will go to bed - giving you a better option to sneak in and assassinate whilst they sleep. The world looks and feels more dynamic than many others with random sand storms in desert areas for example or even random visions as you suffer from the heat of the desert. NPC's will also go to bed at night and go about their daily lives during the day. Like I said, the animals will also attack other animals, go about their daily activity and go to sleep too. All in all, the world feels more 'alive' rather than being 'static'. The attention to detail is great. Its not without a few bugs and glitches but in my playthrough, nothing was game breaking or ruined my experience. I think the worst was an enemy stuck in a wall - but fortunately not an 'important' enemy that I needed to kill.The characters and dialogue are OK but I wouldn't say they were 'standout' performances but neither were they so poor that the game suffered. I felt the Side Quests overall were very good - not just go here fetch/kill and return to complete. Some had more 'story' than others and it all helped to flesh out the experience and added to the game overall. Unusually for an RPG, there are events too. Periodically, there are timed events - usually a weekly challenge - where you can earn some decent rewards if you complete it, usually weapons/gear. There is also a 'daily' challenge too - one travelling seller will give you a relatively simple 'quest' to earn a 'special' reward. This seller will also sell a 'chest' in which you can get some of the rewards that are being sold as micro-transactions - you could het a unicorn for example as a steed via these. I know Micro-transactions are not needed in any game - least of all a Single Player RPG but in fairness, they do seem mostly cosmetic although the weapons etc may give you a perk you haven't yet found - not that its suddenly going to make you invincible or over-powered in the world.Overall, this is my favourite Assassins Creed game and kept my attention throughout the game. I completed every side quest, all the story missions and every '?' mark location on the map and thoroughly enjoyed it. The modern day sections are so small as a perentage of the game and I didn't think they intruded on the game at all. The Gold Edition comes with the Season Pass and the first main expansion arrived this week. It offers a new area and more of the same (not a bad thing at all) as well as a level cap increase. The main game is one of the best games of 2017 (2nd only to Horizon:Zero Dawn for me) and I would highly recommend it. Even if you don't want the DLC/Season Pass (although I think if you enjoy the main game, you will definitely want the DLC as it carries on from the ending and birth of the Brotherhood), you really should buy this game!

8.7.2018

Four stars might sound like a ringing endorsement for a game, and yes, it is but for the longest time I would have happily given five stars to this game. Assassin's Creed Origins is an absolutely gorgeous game, I found myself in awe of the scale and beauty of this game in a way that perhaps only Breath of the Wild and GTA V have surpassed. The artistic design is sublime, the attention to historical detail is second to none. I was initially disappointed to see what looked to me like Roman clothing, armor and architecture in what was meant to be an 'Ancient Egyptian' setting but I soon found out that this isn't actually set in the ancient Egypt of Ramses II or Tutankhamen but rather a far more recent (though still 2000 years ago)Hellenistic setting. A point in history where Roman and Greek influences had become deeply ingrained norms in Egyptian culture just as American influences are ingrained in our culture today. Upon learning this I fell in love with the game, the statues that you see scattered around the city are stunning and authentic. The terracotta tiled buildings and Romanesque temples are so well designed and you actually feel like you're glimpsing into the past. I have never played a historical action game with such a well executed and seemingly authentic feel to it. Some people might say that graphics don't matter but to me the aesthetics of this game enhance it no end and being able to just look at it all whilst playing as the hawk (a simple tap of Up on the d-pad) made it even better. I found myself exploring this environment just to see more, not to gain a new weapon or something like that, but just to look. This is a real achievement by Ubisoft.However.This game isn't flawless. Aesthetically, arguably, it is. In terms of the gameplay it is fantastic, the combat is punchy and fun, the stealth is decent, scaling buildings remains a joy, riding camels or horses is satisfying, things like sailing boats and hunting add to the wonderful tapestry that Ubisoft have created. But I have one towering Pangaea of a gripe. The structure of both secondary and primary quests is absolutely horrific. Quests in Origins lumber on excruciatingly. Here is an example of each of the steps in a secondary quest in this game:1. Speak to quest giver2. Ride to and speak to a farmer3. Start fires for farmer4. Speak to farmer again5. Ride to and speak to original quest giver6. Fight some guards7. Follow original quest giver on horses (tedious beyond words)8. Speak to some rebels (the 5th cutscene so far)9. Travel to and rescue rebel leader from nearby fort10. Escort said leader out of said base11. Find and assassinate a commander12. Ride to and speak to original quest giverYes. There are THAT many steps. For one single quest. And oh boy does it drag. Trying to attain XP so that I can try to complete the game and for a fairly paltry 4500XP I had to endure about half an hour of deeply boring clutter. And this isn't just secondary quests, main quests are just as bad, if not worse. Go here, go there, fight him, follow her, fight them, go there, climb that, investigate that, walk with him, ride there, watch this, sail there etc etc etc etc etc. It is absolutely incredibly tedious. It isn't that the game is repetitive, its that the quests wind on for so long that the same mission can become repetitive! Any of these tasks would have been fine on their own or in short sequence, but all quests seem to embrace most of these in a seemingly random scattershot way. One of the greatest sins a game can commit is outstaying its welcome and I can firmly state that Origins outstays its welcome, by the end I was begging for it to end. The quests are so bad, so bloated, so long winded and unnecessary, so outrageously inane that I really do believe that they are some of the worst quests I have ever seen in a big budget game. They are dire. And this is a major problem. The setting deserved more, clearly certain parts of the development team did a better job than others. On artistic and gameplay merits Ubisoft hit a home run here, on narrative though Origins slumps like a lame camel.It is a shame but despite its terrible flaw Assassins Creed Origins is well worth the money. I have very much enjoyed pouring much of my free time into this over the past month but I won't be buying the upcoming Assassins Creed Odyssey because I am jaded with the writing and mission structures which will surely be the same in the next Assassins Creed - if not, i'm interested.Almost there Ubisoft, but for now, you must remain in the shadows of Nintendo and Rockstar. Shame.

3.1.2018

As I huge AC fan the last couple of games have been a let down, I felt the series was reaching it's end. However, I've just completed the main story quest after 60 hours of game play. I have never spent 60 hours playing a Creed game. I couldn't even complete the last two games of the series but this has definitely won me back.The storyline is great, I always feel the Apple of Eden is repeated through the series and the whole game revolves around retrieving it (why do the Assassins keep loosing it or misplacing it?) whereas in this story it's a smaller element around a revenge plot. I know the AOE is important but I feel there's more to Creed than just finding the damn thing all the time so this was a refreshing break.I like the balance of "real-world" and Animus, you can leave whenever you want and explore but there's not much to do. I love seeing how the Origin of the Brotherhood started but I felt they left it way too late game being introduced.There is SO much to do, the side missions go on forever, I still haven't finished them all. I like that there's a development in harder missions as you progress round the map. I also quite enjoyed the new combat system, as someone who hated combat in Creed. I tried to avoid it at all costs but I didn't mind so much. On that note I felt like it was so much harder to be stealthy on this game. Previous Creed's have "set paths" that you knew if you followed you'd have a clear set up of assassinations and stealth whereas this game I felt I constantly ran into people and always got spotted regardless of using Senu. Senu is a great addition to the game although I did miss having the mental version of Eagle vision but for obvious reasons that couldn't exist in this game; however I didn't really notice much improvement when syncing all the points and "levelling" him.I didn't rate this game 5 stars purely because there are elements I think could have been improvement and elements I enjoyed on previous games that they removed. I enjoyed having multiple options in Unity on how you could complete a mission and having different advantage points that you could plan out how you would proceed the mission. This didn't seem to exist on Origins, it just felt like you go in and that's that. This game requires you to use your tools a lot more and I really didn't enjoy how many tools there were to how many buttons you had. I liked the wheel that existed on every Creed game that you could hold down and roll to the weapon/tool you wanted. Instead you have to press Left or Right analogue to scroll until you reach what you want, slower and a pain in mid battle. I also whistled for my horse by accident on MULTIPLE occasions when trying to using Senu and therefore attracting unwanted attention..I hope Ubisoft may read my next point, I loved the idea of having different outfits but they were completely pointless. They had no skill benefit and were purely aesthetic. There were two big side quests: Phylakes and Bayeks Promise, both of them took lots of time and effort. I spent a majority of the main game levelling up to beat the Phylakes and the reward? An outfit. That does absolutely nothing. The quests were great but the end rewards were poor. If the outfits added some bonus to Bayek that would have made much more sense.My last criticism that I can currently think of is when you switch to Aya; why on earth can't you change her weapons and skills? I know you don't spend that much time using her but seeing as the previous game allowed you to switch between Evie and Jacob Frye I don't understand why this wasn't implemented into this game? You also finish the game as Aya, WHY? You grow so much attachment and spend so much time levelling up Bayek; why not finish the game with the character I've learned to love?Overall I REALLY enjoyed this addition to the series, I loved Bayek and I loved the world of Egypt. I loved the levelling up system implemented with crafting and I loved the map and how much there was to do and discover. If the next Creed follows in this game's footsteps I shall be back in love with the series all over again.

29.6.2018

I wasn’t the biggest of fans of the assassins creed series, after playing the first game on release, and finding it not all I thought it would be due to the breaking of immersion between the point in history and the way it kept thrusting you into modern day. It was a formula kept throughout the series, but thankfully the instances gradually got shorter, which is a good thing, because the series has covered some amazing and pertinent points in history, even if they have had to use more than a little artistic licence, to tie you into the major events. This can really pay off if done well, and I can safely say Ubisoft pulled out all the stop with origins, giving us one of the best episodes to date.This applies on all counts, whether it be visually, historically or just as a convincing plot to tie into accepted stages in that time period.The game took a much needed shift from its original formula, but still maintained enough of it key features to keep its identity.The changes made were a much needed improvement in my opinion.Giving the game more of an RPG feel, meant ubisoft could open things up more, and allow the player to feel more immersed in its massive open world, and to feel at one with the main character through a fairly expansive, yet very easy to follow skill system.Without wishing to give away too much of the game, The story follows two intertwining paths between Bayek, who is the main character, and his wife Aya. Bayek is a Medway, which is basically the equivalent of a sherif in ancient Egypt, who is assigned to keep order and protect the Pharoah. This is a role forced sadly on a different path, as he is forced by events to take revenge for the murder of his and Ayas son.I won’t give the whole plot away, but will just say that like all good story telling, nothing is given to you all at once, and is fed to you at pertinent times within the main quest, which incidentally is easily around 90ish hours, taking into account side quests, which I thoroughly recommend you take, as a few of them give little insights into Bayeks piece of mind, as you experience his demeanour change from being a jovial and loving father, through to his now he’ll bent need for justice. Those side quests will serve as undertones to show how Bayek feels a need to protect, especially children, for what I interpret as his need to not fail them, like he likely feels he did with his own child. The odd quests also serve to show that weight shifting accordingly with events you carry out through the game.I mentioned earlier that it was about two intertwining paths. You occasionally take the role of Aya, but she is essentially there to provide extra colour and extra depth to a bleak situation. She like Bayek is twisted on revenge, but you see both take different, yet often enough the same path, due to the excellent story telling, and direction. Allowing them to Shamir in each other’s grief and the common goal.The story can seem a little predictable in places as you find yourself embroiled in the way they must be feeling. Because again through the excellent way everything is put together, you find that your engagement allows you to second guess how these two now damaged individuals must inevitably have now had to change. Which helps, because you get no real insight into Aya before these events. So you are left pretty much to fill the gaps based on her current emotions.Both characters are extremely well acted, and at no time did I ever think that the story was too far fetched. Not even later, when they get tied into historical events. But that is for you to experience.This game alone has renewed my interest within the series, and I have now started to play the titles I previously passed on, and can honestly say that despite some people’s reservations that they strayed too far from what the series was. They have still managed to retain all the elements which in my mind make the game. So maybe give it a try if you have yet to.I urge anyone, that if they are only going to play one game over the next few weeks, make it this one. You won’t regret it .

31.10.2017

After a years break Ubisoft have returned with a shake up of the traditional game formula. I'm going to keep this as short as possible since I'm sure most of the official reviews have said mostly the same thing.Really, this should be a 4.5, but Amazon doesn't have that.-Game-AC: Origins is, without a doubt, the best game since Black Flag. I've sunk about 20 hours into it and only just got past the third Templar, so it's definitely keep you busy. Egypt is an absolute marvel to behold, and although everyone has praised the visual, this is without a doubt one of the most beautiful worlds in gaming. Everything has been crafted to the most minute detail. Even Ancient Egyptian culture is shown true to form,instead of the slightly demonised versions seen in previous media.Bayek is a very interesting character. He has sheer brutal fury unlike anything Ezio, Connor or Arno had, but its quite well offset by the fact that he is a genuinely kind person, helping everyone with a problem (and there are loads), and the moments he has with the various children in the game are very touching, which makes his rage all the more terrifying because it's clear Bayek struggles with it unlike the aforementioned who never really had to deal with the realities of such anger.The Templars, or rather, the Order of Ancients as they're known in this game, are very well presented. All of them are known by a moniker based off one of the major Egyptian gods ie the Ibis, the Scarab, the Crocodile. But, unlike 'future' iterations of the Order, these Templars are truly terrifying due to them playing off the brutal, mysterious atmosphere of Egypt and nearly always being masked, which leads to you, the player, trying to figure out who they are based on lines said by that particular questline's cast. For example, a character close to the Scarab mentions his 'great work', a line uttered by Grandmaster Germain in Unity.True to the name Origins provides a lot of, well, origins to the various rituals of both the Brotherhood and the Templars. But the game is clever about it as much of these instances stem from mundane practices, as in the case of the feather, misinterpretation in the case of the Templar's Father of Understanding, or just accidental for the Hidden Blade.Stealth has taken a back burner due to the game being more combat focused, and the parkour has been streamlined to use two buttons and the left analogue stick, which cuts out most of the infuriating instances when the designated Assassin jumps on the wrong thing while you're trying to be quiet.The main cons I have with the game are the combat. While the game lifts a lot from Dark Souls in terms of the combat the combat itself is geared towards one on one duels, meaning it can become vary frustrating when your fighting two standard soldiers or bandits and a massive brute comes along and instantly kills you because you can't block in time.Also, the Gods addition only comes with the preorder mission and the Deluxe Pack, which means you will need to pay for the season pass separately OR fork out an extra £40 for the Dawn of the Creed Edition.-Physical stuff-The Gods edition comes with a beautifully drawn map of Ptolemiac Egypt, which looks like it could have been lifted straight from the era, a pretty nice artbook full of the games official promotional art and concept art, including stunning paintings of Egypt and previous designs of characters, as well as the game's wonderful soundtrack. It also as a heavily detailed statue of Bayek, which looks great on anyone's shelf and, let's face it, that's why you want this edition.----Overall AC: Origins is, despite clunky combat and few bugs, a return to form for the series. This is certainly the best game in the series, in my personal opinion, and definitely a step in the right direction for the series in the future. The Gods edition also has a hefty amount of cool loot for the price, but the one downside being that it does not come with the season pass which makes it necessary to spend a further £30, or by the DLC individually.

28.10.2017

PLEASE DO NOT BE PUT OFF BY MICROTRANSACTIONS.I'll deal with that first. They are surplus to requirements, there only for people who like a leg up, perhaps do not like doing all the quests and want to wade straight into the story. I have found no need to rush or cheat (I see those transactions as cheats). There is plenty to do, and so far, in the first region things do not seem repetitive in the slightest.The scenery is wonderful, graphically, Ubisoft always pull out all the stops and this game is no different. I am using a PC, and have everything on maxed, and it runs perfectly well, 66 FPS at QHD, 1440p. Smooth as butter, no stutters. The animations are good.There have been a few camera issues but nothing that detracts from the gameplay and didn't cause any problems. I imagine a lot of these little niggles will be sorted in the first update, something that usually occurs within the first week of release. After all, this game is so huge, play testing on a massive scale is the only real way to ensure everything is perfect or near as possible.This game is great fun. The only other Assasins Creed I have played in Black Sails, and that was fantastic. Origins is a change in combat and movement, and at first I found it quite difficult to master, however after a couple of battles everything clicked. There is enough weaponry to keep the geekery happy, different styles of attack, stealth, bows, maces, swords etc. You can craft to increase gear capacity, and armour quality. There are shops to sell your wares, the funds from which can be used to upgrade weapons or buy a new mount, that sort of thing.At this point, if I had to compare the game to anything it would be similar in game type to Witcher 3, regions, of which are massive enough to make is feel as open as any open world you could want. I don't yet know if all the regions open up after I complete the first one, perhaps I'll come and edit the review later after some more play.If you like freedom to choose your quests, love to choose between stealth or outright attack, or just like wandering a well crafted landscape, visiting tombs and diving into lakes to collect loot, then this is definitely a game worth picking up.I have seen a few negatives from other reviews on the net, about the game not being as "revolutionary" as they'd hoped, and the glitches being an issue. I have to say, I barely think they are worth mentioning as problems. There are of course some weird things that happen, for instance, why would you, as the good guy tread over the innocent civis that wander the streets while riding your camel? It looks funny, but its not something that a true gamer should be whinging about. It doesn't stop you completing your quests.Please, give it a go, I am glad I did, it's a step up from the pirate Assasins Creed in my opinion, and that game took 100 hours of my life away I was so engrossed. I can see this, with the shear size of the world, taking many many more of them. Have fun!

3.3.2018

One of the best Assassin's Creed games to date..............oh you wanted more?If you like good looking sandbox games, Ubisoft have made a welcome return to the Assassin's Creed series after taking a year break. If this is the standard of game I get after 2 years than I think this should be a standard thing if they want this franchise to continue.Probably one of the best looking games I have played so far on the PS4 and also one of the most detailed. There is so much to see and do in this world that I still found things over 40 hours into the game. A few people may moan about the size of the sandbox world however this vast desert is needed just to justify the scale of what it would be like out in the dessert.I liked the world I really did, the towns were busy with people going about their own business, you could listen into conversations, stealth kill guards and more importantly pet cats!Sure you will pick up more side quests than you know what to do with and that also goes for weapons but you don't even have to do all the side quests if you choose to platinum. You do however have to travel the entire map, locating treasures, animals and enemy camps but personally I really enjoyed this. What other game lets you tame a lion than unleash them onto their enemies!Your horse can be frustrating at times but I have played worse horses (I'm looking at you Witcher 3/Zelda: Breath of the Wild).Things I also enjoyed were the gladiator side missions which reminded me of Gladiator however the chariot racing was frustrating, hard to control and annoying.The Story line was good but not great and some of the side quests forgettable. The combat was everything you expect from an assassin's creed game and the stealth worked well.I enjoyed not having a map on the screen, it wasn't missed and using you eagle was a brilliant replacement.I did mention side quests and you do get a lot of them. Should you chose to do the side quests as you pick them up you will also find yourself overpowered when you come to the story missions. Good or bad thing this is in your hands!Around 90 hours to platinum trophy and not once did I get board. Sure this tells you everything. P.S. You can continue the game afterThe game also lets you play a secondary character which does offer something different to the game however this doesn't happen often.Be warned this game does have micro transactions but trust me, unless you want a Unicorn for a horse and why would you, the only things worth buying are cosmetic or having map locations for all the items needed to get platinum. Save yourself real money, I wasn't board finding them on my own. And if you really need help i'm sure the internet could tell you this information for free!

2.11.2017

I've given this game 4 stars due to one or two issues that I feel let the game down.First issue is the climbing up or down system this game uses. In AC Syndicate you held onto A to run upwards, which they've kept in this game and you held onto B to climb downwards which was also kept in this game. The flaw is that if you hold onto A you will easily jump off a cliff or tall building and plummet to your death. In syndicate it was pretty difficult to jump off something which will do your character harm. I feel this game has gone backwards in this aspect because syndicate had this spot on.Second issue is a big issue for an assassins creed game. Stealth kills.

2.2.2018

I must say it took me a while to warm to the assassins franchise. Someone lent me the original game years ago on the PS3 I think it was and I never made it past the ridiculous tutorial at the start. I dabbled with them over the years but it wasn't til Black Flag came out that I really got into the series and even then it was more for the nautical elements than the follow this person, do this do that approach that this franchise used to be so fond of.I found the combat in previous games to be haphazard at best and whilst it's by no means perfect here it's such a massive improvement on the previous systems it's a joy.I recently saw a YouTube video comparing this to the Witcher 3 and I sort of get it.

5.12.2017

There is a lot of good within this game - it looks wonderful, there are some nice cut-scenes, shed loads to do, and some fairly amusing bits as well. The story does end up showing the origins of the assassin's order, I think they could have made more of it though, and I would have loved that as the story line / lore is a major part of the franchise.The combat has been changed to introduce "special moves" and "combo's" - which is different to the standard parry & counter - I'm not overly keen on these but by just sticking to one or two you can get by. Things get way easier once you realise that riding around on a horse solves all kinds of problems and speeds up hunting,

28.12.2017

This is my first Assassins Creed game since Assassins Creed 3, that game was a huge steaming pile of plop and totally ruined what was up until then one of my favorite game series, Its been a few years since AC 3 so I decided to give the series another go and I'm happy that I did because I'm really enjoying AC Origins.The series doesn't really seem to have changed much since I stopped playing it, you go around the open world completing missions and assassinating people, If you've played an AC game before there isn't much here that you haven't seen before, I think the reason why I'm enjoying it so much though is because of the setting, Egypt is the perfect location,

23.2.2018

I Spent a fair amount of time reading reviews before purchasing this. I was very concerned re: microtransactions and how it might affect the game. I am very pleasantly surprised.This game is fantastic. It does take a bit of time getting used to the new combat system but it will click and suddenly you’ll be dancing around your enemies and pulling off headshots in no time.The story itself is good, it largely does away with some of the complicated “creed” storyline at least until later. The pointless and boring sections set in the modern world are thankfully kept to a minimum.There’s a lot of talk about grinding for resources to upgrade your gear. I’ve actually really enjoyed it - raiding boats for copper and iron,

24.4.2018

This is the first time I have been drawn to Assassin's Creed since the excellent Brotherhood chapter. The design and scale of this game is incredible, it really maximises the power of the PS4 to produce a graphical masterpiece. The playability is also rather good with the usual development of the skills tree opening up a variety of alternatives in infiltrating areas of the map and eliminating enemies. The skill level required for each area you explore is revealed on the map which is very helpful. Of course, the side missions can feel somewhat repetitive and the main missions can feel like you are always completing a similar objective but there is still a lot of fun to be had there.

13.8.2018

1st note, after speaking with a number of friends, most of us believe the story line in AC3 was probably a bit better, but otherwise this was a great step forward.In most AC games since AC2 freerunning was what the game was built around, it was great because you could climb nearly anything, and leap off tall building etc, but the main issue was, if you ran down a tightish side street or corridor, your character would want to jump onto anything, which meant they slowed down or jump onto things that you didn't want them doing. Not in the game. It does feel the freefunning that this franchise was build around wasn't so focused on in this game. I would imagine it may be due to the complaint I said about,

Assassin's Creed: Origins - Reviews

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