Assassin's Creed origins disappointed me

(sorry if the first paragraph is a different colour, my google docs wouldn't change it after copying and pasting)

I bought the first Assassin’s Creed game the day it came out, although I liked the concept I think the game was probably too complex for me at the time, and the repetitive missions deterred me from getting too far into the experience. So it wasn’t until 2015's Assassin’s Creed Syndicate that I really became a fan of the series. It’s generally regarded as a decent if unspectacular entry into the series, but I loved it, the setting was great, the stealth and combat mechanics were basic but extremely fun, and the level progression was rewarding.

As soon as I completed it, I went and played every previous main game in series except for the third one. Some were better than others, unlike most fans, Black Flag is not one of my favourites, while Unity in its final form is one of the least appreciated In my opinion. My favourite would be Brotherhood, it encapsulates the best features of the series, and for me it had the most engaging story, where the stakes were always high.

But it was obvious that the series needed to take a break and reinvigorate itself after Syndicate’s release, the core gameplay had not evolved much since AC2, and the central plot had kind of lost focus. So I was ecstatic to hear that they were going to take a gap year and come back with an origins to the lore, which was also set in ancient Egypt. So I couldn’t wait for the day to play it.

But I’m afraid to say that a month after Assassin’s Creed: Origins came out, I still haven’t completed it, in fact I gave up trying to. I might go back to it one day, but for me the game was a big disappointment, it is by no means a bad game, in fact it’s a very good one in many ways, but overall it’s one with wasted potential.

It’s more of a refinement of the series than an evolution that many expected and some would say it needed. The fundamentals of the game-play are more or less the same as those of the previous entries, although the eagle vision has been replaced with a bird’s eye drone mechanic, the character progression has more of a role-playing aspect to it (something Syndicate had as well, but to a lesser degree), and the combat system has been overhauled.

And it is the combat that has had the most drastic alteration. At first I hated it, the lock on system is useless against multiple opponents, and it lacks any kind of intuition. But it does improve once you begin to upgrade your abilities (there’s a skill tree in which you can choose abilities that you want to upgrade each time you level up), it’s quite gratifying to pull off certain combos to kill a difficult opponent. But the combat is a chore rather than a thrill, this was not too much of a game breaking problem for me as I like to play Assassin’s Creed games as stealthily as possible.

The characters and stories in Assassin Creed have always been a bit of a mixed bag. The central protagonists (aside from Ezio Auditore) are usually nothing more than cyphers for the story to carry through, the supporting characters were always great however, the likes of Charles Dickens and Napoleon were at the very least, interesting.

The same can’t be said for the supporting characters in Origins, because of this the side missions never feel as important as they ought to, and it doesn’t help that they are pretty dull to begin with. Bayek, the lead protagonist, has clear motivations and agency, but there’s little in the way of personality outside of his own obsession with revenge. I never once felt an attachment to him, and I’d place him in the lower ranks of all the protagonists in the series.

The villains are woefully underdeveloped, most only appear when the story requires them for a gameplay mission. This severely handicaps what is a shallow, character driven plot that is never more than the the sum of its parts. The creation of the Assassin’s Brotherhood is underwhelming to say the least, and surprisingly forgettable.

Egypt is gorgeous, it is without question one of the most visually impressive settings I have seen in a video game, the lighting and water effects are astounding. But, for all its beauty, it lacks the character that made Florence, Rome and London so memorable in the previous titles. To me it just felt like glossy wallpaper, a place to explore but not one to really immerse yourself in, one of the great tricks of the Assassin’s Creed series is that the gameplay mechanics masterfully integrated into the locations they were set in. Origins fails to do this for the most part.

Perhaps I’m being too harsh, and this is to be expected seeing as the game is set in ancient Egypt. But aside from a few good screenshot locations, the setting is a rather forgettable experience to play through.

One day I might go back to Origins and appreciate it more, perhaps when I take a break from open world games. If you are a fan of the series there is plenty here to like, but if you have never liked one before, this will not change your mind.

I wasn’t initially going to score this game seeing as this is more an opinion piece than a full blown, in-depth review. But if I was asked, I’d give it a 7/10. A good game but nothing special, perhaps wait for a sale and then try it.