Assassin's Creed: Origins Review

After finally straying from the now bland and repetitive world of Europe, AC Origins takes us to the lush and expansive world of ancient Egypt, the most logical direction this franchise has taken since AC2. Exploring unique cultures and uncovering mysteries and conspiracies that exist in historic texts is part of what makes AC so interesting. Egypt is teeming with rich culture, ancient artefacts and history that isn't just war and colonialism. It’s the perfect location especially with AC’s strong religious undertones. Pirates and Gangs of London feel completely irrelevant compared to this.

But of course, culture and history aren’t the only things that make Egypt a prime location. Ancient Egypt in AC Origins is by far the most beautiful world I have ever explored in a video game. I would argue that it's the best world in a video game, period. When you think of Egypt you probably think of barren deserts with nothing to see besides the great pyramids. *Donald Trump voice* WRONG. Ubisoft has made ancient Egypt look and feel like paradise. Unlike the industrial environments of Europe that become repetitive with the same buildings repeated over and over, Egypt is filled with so many unique attractions and areas. Awe-inspiring structures and monuments punctuate every new location you visit. Forests, farmland, beaches, lakes and more are meticulously interwoven with towns and villages. And even the deserts themselves LOOK beautiful. Unlike games like MGSV that feel extremely bland and depressing, Origins makes deserts and mountain ranges look amazing. The game even has a built-in screenshot tool and i use it ALL THE TIME. Oh and did I mention the world is ENORMOUS.

The gameplay is great. Fighting is a little challenging at first because unlike most games, you actually have to dodge and counter attacks manually instead of pressing a button to counter an attack. Thankfully enemies aren’t overpowered and fights are enjoyable most of the time even when you’re surrounded by multiple enemies. Everything is smooth like butter and you won't have to worry about being screwed over by clunky mechanics like taking forever to stand up after being knocked down or accidentally falling to your death. There are also no glitches in this game which is a far cry from most of the games in this series.

As far as problems go, the health bar probably could’ve used a buff because even at max level you die way too easily. It takes a while to regenerate health, and when you’re in an open environment filled with enemies that can shoot at you from any distance no matter how far you try to run, you usually don’t have the chance to hide somewhere and wait for your health to regenerate unless EVERYONE is dead first. There is also a little TOO much extra content. This sounds good on paper, but for a completionist it can become boring fast. I had to pull out my phone and listen to podcasts during post-campaign gameplay, because if I didn’t it would have been extremely boring especially when there is no in-game music to listen to while travelling.

The voice acting is also fantastic, the main actor puts so much effort into his performance that it really makes you enjoy playing as him. And the woman who voices Cleopatra... let's just say i didn't know it was possible to fall in love with a voice until now. There is so much more I could talk about like the story, the graphics, but I don’t want to spend all day sucking this game's dick. Just…Just buy it.