I was a bit apprehensive when I decided to review Assassin's Creed Mirage. Having played the first two games in the series, along with Black Flag, only to skip several of the remaining titles until Odyssey and Valhalla came along, I already knew what to expect from Ubisoft's premiere franchise.
Indeed, Assassin's Creed Mirage is more of the same, for good or ill. Veterans of the series would see numerous mechanics and concepts that feel quite familiar.
However, this also led to disappointments, with relatively few innovations that could've made the game stand out on its own. This is also compounded by a weaker campaign with uninteresting objectives, as well as downright appalling AI opponents.
A day in the life of Basim
Assassin's Creed Mirage tells the tale of Basim Ibn Ishaq, a character who first appeared in Valhalla, the previous mainline entry in the series. Those who've played Valhalla will know of Basim's fate, which sets the stage for his origin story.
Mirage's campaign begins with Basim, a lowly thief in a small village, aided by his long-time friend Nehal. Circumstances lead to the vagabond making his escape, which brings him to the fortress of Alamut, the base of the Assassin Brotherhood. There, Basim trains, becoming an initiate and, eventually, rises through the ranks as you advance further in the story.
While the story focuses on Basim, you do meet other characters, like the aforementioned Nehal and the redoubtable Roshan, Basim's mentor. Sadly, the rest of the cast have forgettable roles, appearing as NPCs in only a select few missions, which get downright tiresome after a few hours. At the very least, and without spoiling major details, the overall arc and conclusion serve as a neat precursor to Basim's role in Valhalla.
Baghdad in all its majesty
Perhaps the best thing that can be said of Assassin's Creed Mirage is how it manages to recreate Baghdad in all its majesty. The game is set in 861 CE, with Baghdad under the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate. Its bustling streets are filled with shopkeepers, travellers, and citizens going about their business.
In the distance, you'll see towering minarets and mosques decorated intricately with blue marble. Beyond the city's limits, you'll travel across sand-swept deserts and dunes, along with the occasional oases, and maybe a few secret caverns in between.
Naturally, as I climbed atop structures that acted as sync points, I couldn't help but marvel at the sights and sounds. Then, upon roaming the streets, I'd look at the sheer number of people surrounding me, feeling that I might get lost as I explore. Ubisoft has truly managed to create a living and breathing world, further bolstered by Middle Eastern culture and themes that have always fascinated me.
Positive performance
It helps that Assassin's Creed Mirage had fairly decent performance across the board. With an Nvidia RTX 3080, Intel 10900K, and 32 GB of RAM, I was able to play using ultra settings at 4K resolution, averaging 70+ fps even when running across rooftops in a densely packed city.
As for upsampling type, I had TAA (the default option) selected. DLSS was available though, oddly enough, there were no other options (i.e. Quality, Performance, or Balanced). I'm not certain if these would be added in a patch.
Investigation without imagination
Assassin's Creed Mirage differs from more recent titles like Odyssey and Valhalla since it relies on a more linear approach. Once you arrive in Baghdad proper, you'll tackle objectives via the investigations board, which then lead to your main assassination target in that district.
This approach was a welcome change, at least on paper. The problem was that the tasks in each district/arc turned into a rehash of things that I've done previously. For instance, some missions required me to sit on a bench so I could blend in and eavesdrop on NPCs. This, in turn, led to the next step, where I had to check documents or objects in a room. Actions like the Eagle Vision (i.e. ping), and an actual eagle that marks enemies and points of interest are still around, but the whole process felt rudimentary and rote.
There were entire segments when I felt that I was just going through the motions, tackling samey tasks as part of a short arc, and redoing those in the next. True, I've seen this before in previous titles, such as Valhalla and expansions like Wrath of the Druids, but since these moments happened far too often in Mirage.
It's as though the entire campaign became a to-do checklist. The main assassination missions were better, as they offered different ways to plan your approach, including cinematic kills. It's unfortunate that the means of reaching these moments turned out to be a tedious and repetitive romp.
Stealth, action, or just trick the AI
By far the weakest part of the game is its combat. Mirage is supposed to be a callback to older Assassin's Creed games, which focused primarily on stealth. This is true, for the most part, since you have to rely on assassination takedowns and a plethora of tools (i.e. throwing knives, gas traps, and blow darts), all while sneaking around. However, because enemy density is more akin to that of Odyssey and Valhalla, you're more likely to get spotted.
Here's the main problem: the AI is absolutely terrible. Soldiers defending a stronghold will stay in that stronghold - there were instances when I simply dangled off a balcony or waited outside a doorway and, once they lost track after a few seconds, I just swooped in for another kill. It's also possible for enemies to just mill around after spotting a dead body, returning to their previous script or pathing.
At the very least the notoriety system, which triggers if people spot you committing a crime (i.e. stealing or outright murder), might cause bystanders to call on guards for help. But this is also easily negated once you've destroyed wanted posters plastered on city walls. There are also other options, such as using Khidmah Tokens to bribe mercenaries or blend in with merchants that are walking around, but I found these a bit more tacked on because of how easy it was to cheese the AI.
Lost in the sands of time
I completed Assassin's Creed Mirage in roughly 20 hours, though my playtime also included grabbing a few collectibles and making use of Photo Mode (Baghdad is beautiful, after all). Naturally, since this is an open-world Ubisoft game, there are a lot of collectibles to find, which can add to the number of hours played if you're a completionist. Still, most of my experience was spent going through the motions as I tackled investigation objectives, which were very repetitive.
As it stands, Assassin's Creed Mirage tries to go back to the series' roots as a stealth game, yet the mechanics are either outdated, tacked on, or lacking in innovation. The more recent action-oriented offerings masked these inadequacies, due to myriad skills and devastating abilities that could be used. Even with AI woes, frantic combat meant doing Spartan Kicks or leaping smashes, which are sorely missing here.
These flaws are more glaring now due to the hybridised concept, a feature that's a mish-mash of stealth and action, yet succeeding in neither. As such, Assassin's Creed Mirage is something I would recommend, albeit begrudgingly, to only the most die-hard of series fans.
An Assassin's Creed Mirage PC code was provided by the publisher for review.
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