Enjoy our Assassin's Creed Mirage review. We ended up having a lot of fun with the game, despite it feeling familiar to a fault.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is the little game that could, originally planned as an add-on for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, before it was expanded into its own game. Back to the roots is the name of the game here, as Mirage was supposed to call back to the first games in the long-running series. Stealth, a more focused scope, and one gorgeous city – that was what Mirage promised, and that’s what it delivered. Is that good enough nowadays, or did the return to old virtues end up disappointing?
| Release Date: | October 5, 2023 |
| Platform: | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC & iOS |
| Developer: | Ubisoft |
| Genre: | Stealth, Action-Adventure |
| Price: | $49.99 / €49.99 / £39.99 |
Here you can buy Assassin's Creed Mirage!
Assassin's Creed Mirage Review | The Bottom Line
Assassin's Creed Mirage is fun and successfully evokes some of the feelings we had in the early 2000s, when Assassin's Creed was fresh and exciting. The beautiful city of Baghdad is a particular highlight, the snappy stealth gameplay and strong encounter design is fun to play. However, the game offers no new ideas, lackluster writing and some jarring conflicts between the newer RPG-style and the classic AC formula.
A Cheesy Tale You Have Heard Before
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is a prequel to Valhalla, set in Baghdad in the year 861 AD, eleven years before the previous game. I haven't played Valhalla, so the main character Basim, who plays an important role in that game, was unfamiliar to me. And that seemed to be fine, as Mirage is a prequel to Eivor’s Viking exploits. In fact, maybe it's a good thing not to have any attachment to Basim, as it could have made the first impression even worse.
In the opening hours, the characterization of Basim is just weird. He's brash, silly, irrational and acts like a petulant 15-year-old, all while looking like a down-on-his-luck 40-year-old. This confused prologue seems to try to speedrun the Ezio arc from AC2, including the woefully misguided inclusion of a tragedy that befalls our hero. But, one or two training montages later, and he is a full member of the Hidden Ones. Noticeably cooler and more stoic, but still a bit of a knucklehead.
The story telling thankfully gets better from here on in, but only in spurts. A lot of it feels like trodden ground. Yes, there's a conspiracy, and every major figure turns out to be a part of the Templars... sorry, The Order. Yes, the hero's tragic personal story gets woven into the overarching plot. And yes, everything eventually becomes weird and supernatural.
There are highlights, despite the bulk of the writing and voice acting being unimpressive. I want to shout out Shohreh Aghdash as Rohsan here. She is easily the most engaging character and gives a commanding performance as Basim’s mentor. But sadly even Aghdash can't save Mirage from the overwhelming sense of familiarity. Even when the story is at it's most compelling, nothing about Mirage sings or surprises.
Take Me To Baghdad
Well… almost nothing. It’s absolutely a cliché to say this by now, but the city of Baghdad really is the star of this game. Ubisoft is still second-to-none in creating these spaces, and Baghdad is the next home run in this regard. It was an inspired choice, one that really gives the game its heart and soul, and it certainly kept me motivated while playing. Small alleys, huge bazaars, emerald canals and towering mosques are just a few of the many unique characteristics of this beautiful and dazzling place.
The moonlight shining over the low houses and tall towers, the Maghrib prayer echoing through the soundscape of the hustle and bustle of the diverse and busy city: Mirage is a gorgeous game and I can’t stop looking at and listening to it. It’s funny how the tower climbing and viewpoint synchronization is still the same as it was in the very first game, and it still works. Every viewpoint was a joy, offering me another opportunity to get a good look at this wonderful place. And having codex entries as collectibles is still pretty nice, even though I wish the history of Baghdad was more directly interwoven in the story of the game.
Reducing the scope and pulling in a tighter focus works wonderfully in regard to how to experience and discover Baghdad. In this sense, Mirage actually hits the “back to the roots” target the closest and feels like Brotherhood or Revelations, which also focused on one city. And I have to admit that I missed that.
While there is a lot to admire in the scope of the previous three RPG games, and how well realized the worlds are, they were so big that one place almost had no chance to become iconic and familiar. With the focus on Baghdad, the intricate and clever design of the AC-cities shines the brightest it has since Assassin’s Creed Syndicate in 2015, the last game to focus on one big city as your playground. And the vibes: I could talk all day about how much I love the game’s atmosphere.
Stealth Action, 2000s Style
The “wow this really does feel like Assassin’s Creed 2”-train doesn’t stop at the focused scope though. After the (very linear) beginning, you’re dropped into Baghdad and its surrounding areas. And the world is once again chock-full with activities, collectibles, missions and so on. And did I say how beautiful the game is?
While Mirage is noticeably smaller than the previous games in the series, an overall playtime of 30 hours will probably be welcomed by most AC players. Having just this one, big area to play in is very reminiscent of the Ezio trilogy, and it works similarly well. Exploring the city is fun, but doesn’t go beyond typical Ubisoft open-world territories. While the goal was clearly to evoke the older games, some residual RPG elements can still be found in Mirage, with mixed results. The gear system seems borderline useless, a lot of lore and side quest stuff is delegated to fetch quests and collectible hunting and unlocking new skills and tools feels arbitrary and confusing.
The mix of new and old works quite well in some regards, though. Once you unlock some tools, like throwing knives, smoke bombs and more, the stealth gameplay becomes really entertaining. And stealth really is the focus of the game: while Basim is a capable fighter, he is noticeably weaker than many other AC heroes. Fights against multiple enemies are especially tricky and can easily lead to your death. So, staying hidden and going through levels unnoticed is what you should do here, which definitely feels like a breath of fresh air after the more brash fighting style of the last few games.
You get help in the form of Enkidu, your trusted eagle. This mechanic is maybe the biggest departure from the stealth of the old games and makes Mirage feel closer to Origins than Revelations. But hey, it works once again: mark all your enemies, take them out one by one, hide the bodies in hay, you know the deal. While this, once again, feels all too familiar, it’s undeniably fun. Basim feels snappy and responsive, combining different tools is cool and going through an entire complex full of enemies undetected is once again quite satisfying. The encounter design is also consistently strong. Throughout the main story, as well as some side quests, you infiltrate one intricately designed and impressively large building or structure after another, making almost every stealth sequence feel like a grand heist.
Verdict
Mirage is really fun, and a good reminder of how cool and exciting Assassin’s Creed used to be. Not to deride the bigger games, I loved Origins and admire the successful step-up the series took. But after the third massive game, the series was in dire need of a break. And Mirage delivers that. But not much more. The writing is serviceable at best and doesn’t add much to the game’s wider mythology, instead rehashing old tropes. But the gameplay is fun, snappy and motivating, without making you work and grind for the pleasure. And that city, man… lovely stuff.
Does Mirage have any new or unique ideas? No, it was never supposed to. Hearkening back to the good old days with the technological and systematic improvements of the newer titles is all this game does. And it’s fun and satisfying and will probably sell many millions of copies. If you are into AC’s stealth gameplay and want to see them do the classic thing of beautifully realizing one historic city, Mirage is definitely fulfilling those criteria.
In a few months, I’ll most likely not remember much from Mirage, bar some strong impressions from 9th century Baghdad. But as a step between Valhalla and the next big Assassin’s Creed title, it’s a good palette cleanser and a fun reminder that games don’t have to be hundreds of hours long to be worth playing.