For a franchise that’s lasted for 16 years now,Assassin’s Creedhas seen a surprisingly low number of changes over its lifetime. Practically nailing the formula right out of the gate,Assassin’s Creedremained largely the same for about a decade, withAssassin’s Creed 2,Brotherhood,Revelations,3,Black Flag,Rogue,Unity, andSyndicateall using generally the same formula, albeit with a few tweaks and additions for each new entry. But after years of the same gameplay just with a different setting, fans were growing tired of the franchise, and that’s when Ubisoft decided to take theAssassin’s Creedseries in a new direction.
2017’sAssassin’s Creed Originsmarked a new phase for the long-running action-adventure franchise, incorporating more RPG elements and giving everything a much grander scale. This isthe formulaAssassin’s Creedhas stuck to ever since, but once again, history has repeated itself and fans are starting to get sick of the same old formula. EnterAssassin’s Creed Mirage, Ubisoft’s next entry, and apparently the return to basics that fans have been asking for. But the more fans are seeing ofMirage, the more it seems as thoughAssassin’s Creed Valhallais holding it back.
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Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s Mechanics Could Be Hurting Assassin’s Creed Mirage
Ever since its first reveal back in September 2022, Ubisoft has marketedAssassin’s Creed Mirageas a smaller-scale throwback entry that’s been heavily inspired by games fromAssassin’s Creed’s first formula phase, namely the original 2007 game that started it all. For a while, it looked as thoughAssassin’s Creed Miragewould be the return to basics that many fans desired, with more of a focus on narrative, parkour, and stealth. But as fans get closer to that October 2023 release date and see more gameplay, the more it starts to look just likeAssassin’s Creed Valhallaagain, but with half of the mechanics ripped out.
Using the same Ubisoft Anvil engine asAssassin’s Creed Valhalla, a good deal ofAssassin’s Creed Mirage’s animations and mechanics look eerily similar to those found in its predecessor. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, with sequels likeGod of War RagnarokandMarvel’s Spider-Man 2looking very similar to their predecessors, it does mean thatAssassin’s Creed Miragecould fall into some big traps when it comes to one of the game’s most anticipated features: its parkour.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s parkourwas fairly sluggish and simple, with the player having limited options in how they approach the actual act of climbing. However, this wasn’t a huge issue inValhallaas the vast majority of its gigantic open-world map was filled with open plains and empty spaces, meaning that players used parkour much less frequently than in previous games in the franchise.
According to Ubisoft, one of the core pillars ofAssassin’s Creed Mirageis its parkour, and with it running onValhalla’s engine, it might not meet fan expectations. From what fans have seen so far,Mirage’s parkour looks quite slow, and seems to have very few animation cycles for climbing and jumping across obstacles. Ubisoft has also confirmed thatAssassin’s Creed Miragewill have no wall side or back ejects, meaning that players won’t be able to carry their momentum while climbing. Though casualAssassin’s Creedplayers likely won’t notice too much of a difference, veteranAssassin’s Creedfans will likely be very disappointed with the lack of parkour actions available inMirage, and if the rest of the game is held back similarly byAssassin’s Creed Valhalla’s mechanics, then it might not be the return to form fans were hoping for.
Assassin’s Creed Mirageis set to release on October 12 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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