Assassin's Creed Mirage REVIEW

Reviewed by a Baghdad Native!

By Ameer Ammar

I have played through Assassin's Creed Mirage twice: once at launch and now on PERMADEATH on the hardest difficulty, this is a review from the perspective of someone who's native and lived most of their life in this game's setting of Baghdad.

I really think the context of where we were as a fanbase of AC before Mirage is important, it was quite dire, Valhalla while it had a solid story that wrapped up a lot of AC lore finally, it just wasn't Assassin's Creed, by this point we hadn't played as an actual Assassin who can hide in plain sight for over 5 years, The entire announcement of this game genuinely shocked me, Ubisoft going back to appease older fans with constant Assassin imagery and an entire stealth focused game really brought us back together, Mirage isn't a perfect game, it's not even a very great game, but it is the best we've had in a very long time and I really appreciate it and hold it dear for that.

Story The story of AC Mirage is fine. I would say that it's overall quite serviceable, with Basim being a compelling protagonist and Roshan a standout among the cast. It starts off really strong in Anbar as young Basim experiences a tragedy that eventually leads him to becoming an Assassin. I'd say the story pretty much peaks here, ending at Alamut with his training and then eventually being sent to take down the Order in Baghdad. This is where I really think the story takes a nosedive in quality; there just isn't much to the characters you come across in Baghdad, and most are simply forgettable. The voice acting in English especially leaves a lot to be desired. It feels like there's a distinct lack of voice direction, which is most likely because most of this was recorded during lockdowns. It just feels jarring how everyone recorded their lines seemingly in different rooms. The voice acting in Arabic, however, is a lot better, so even if you're a non-Arabic speaker, this game, in my opinion, is better in Arabic. A big negative is being able to play the story in any order you want, which ended up being a massive detriment as all stories end up being largely too separate from each other. Basim isn't allowed character development purely because of this structure, as he has to stay a consistent character in any order you play through the missions. It's a shame they chose this, as it ended up having far more cons than pros. The final section is another peak for the story as it finally comes together again and actually portrays all of Basim's developments throughout the narrative, ending on a pretty strong note, in my opinion, with a great twist for the story. I am curious to see where Basim heads next, as Ubi Bordeaux seems really interested in doing a sequel for this character.

Gameplay Playing Mirage on permadeath has really opened my eyes to its stealth; it is genuinely fantastic. Stealth is where this game shines. Put simply, it is the best stealth system in AC's history, with social stealth that is absolutely perfect mechanically and is consistently used throughout the game akin to the Ezio games, actual stealth that is akin to Unity in many ways as it even borrows many animations from that game, and a wheel of tools that are all genuinely helpful, especially on permadeath when it feels like every tool is important to getting through sections and situations. Permadeath also makes sure combat is not an option nor is failure. It had me consistently planning out what to do, which tools to use, and running away was ALWAYS the better option over combat due to how high-risk it became. Permadeath also was the reason I consistently used Assassin Focus, which is the controversial teleporting assassination ability. I never used it in my first playthrough as I didn't like it, but on permadeath, I realized its potential. It's so helpful for navigation, getting to places you can't otherwise reach, getting out of sticky situations, and getting through entire rooms unnoticed. It actually ended up being a feature I really like after seeing just how useful it can be when utilized correctly. If there's any reason you should play Mirage, it should be because of its stealth. Other aspects, such as parkour, are good enough. I'd say the design of Baghdad and how you can get anywhere through the rooftops is really why the parkour system works. Parkour also did get updated post-launch to allow for better side ejects, and it got sped up, so it generally is really satisfying to traverse Baghdad. Basim feels especially fast when jumping from beam to beam, or getting over rooftops, Vaulting is used a lot too which is a feature I really missed from the older games. though Don't get me wrong—this is not Unity-level sleek nor prior games' level of control, but it is far better than the RPG games, and it works well enough to insert itself into the gameplay loop and not feel frustrating.

Combat is 100% a side mechanic. It clearly is not the focus and is actively discouraged. Mechanically, it is very light and frankly kinda sucks, which is another reason it should be avoided. If you're looking for combat, this is not your game. All the aspects of gameplay come together in the Black Box Assassination missions, which are a huge highlight. Each one of these has so many ways to tackle them, some easier than others, and they really make this a replayable experience. Soundtrack Brendan Angelides who's the composer of this OST really cooked, Implementing actual arabic lyrics into Ezio's Family was frankly genius and makes it the most meaningful version of Ezio's Theme that we've had since the original, the main theme is also great and I ADORE the use of classic iraqi music in certain tracks, there's a ton of respect that was put into this soundtrack to represent both Iraq and Iraqis properly, as well as Arab culture as a whole.

Graphics and World Design If there's one thing Ubisoft has never gotten wrong in the entire AC franchise, it is the graphics and world design. Baghdad is beautiful. It looks fantastic on my PS5. The lighting is especially pretty, and there's a high attention to detail in every street, rooftop, and interior. The layout is perfect, and as a Baghdad native, it captures the vibe perfectly. Even if Baghdad doesn't look like 900s Baghdad anymore, there's just something about the people, the sky, the Tigris River, the outfits, and even the carpets that is so accurate to Arab culture. Even when playing in Arabic, there are certain Iraqi sayings, jokes, and words from our specific dialect that show up from time to time that put a smile on my face. One detail I need to point out is the Adhan aka the call to prayer from the mosques which plays at all the correct times, these details are what makes Baghdad such a well represented setting. Some smaller details I wanna shout out are NPC designs and how colorful their outfits are, the use of greenry across the city and just how the Tigris river runs through the streets. World design is the best we've had since Unity. Baghdad finally feels like it is built with an Assassin in mind. There are parkour routes everywhere; you are always on the rooftops. It is always faster to parkour over running to a place, which is something I can't say for the entire RPG trilogy. I love Baghdad, all the districts feel genuinely distnct, from the clearly richer areas in the round city to the really poor areas in the northern sides of the city all the way to how the literal sand north of Baghdad genuinely looks the same color as the sand there irl which might not make sense to those who don't live there but it has a darker shade of yellow-ish that I haven't seen elsewhere. I really think Baghdad as a map needs to be used as the blueprint for all future cities in AC, this is how you do a city in modern AC and I hope we see more from this talented team.

FINAL VERDICT

Overall, AC Mirage is a great game to me, mainly because the things I care about in AC—stealth and parkour—are both the best they've been since 2015, making it a blast for me as a classic fan to play through. If these aren't the things you are looking for in an AC game, then this is not for you, and that is okay. Baghdad is an amazing setting and really elevates this entire experience.

Assassin's Creed Mirage - 8/10 - BUY