Assassin's Creed Mirage

Adventure stealth-action from a third-person perspective Assassin's Creed Mirage takes the franchise to the Middle East, to Baghdad in the 9th century. The main character is a young Basim ibn Ishaq, a street thief with a hot heart and nimble hands, seeking justice. Thanks to a mysterious ancient organization known as the "Hidden Ones," he becomes a deadly master assassin and changes his destiny in ways he could never have imagined.

Plot-wise, Mirage is a spin-off prequel about the character Assassin's Creed Valhalla Basim, showing his coming-of-age and self-discovery. In terms of gameplay, it attempts to cater to the desires of old fans and bring back the spirit of the Assassin's Creed series. A single-player project without grind, on a small map, focusing on the story and the necessary minimum of side quests.

Mirage begins in 861 AD — 20 years before the start of Valhalla, 900 years after the finale of Assassin's Creed: Origins and 338 years before the original Assassin's Creed. The era of the flourishing Abbasid Caliphate, embodying the setting of "Arabian Nights," turns the capital — Baghdad and its surroundings — into the epicenter of the struggle between assassins and templars, seasoned with genuine atmosphere and historical figures.

Immersion is provided by a detailed and meticulously crafted vast eastern city with characteristic architecture. Buildings seem to be stacked one on top of another. Narrow streets shaded by palm trees and crowds of NPCs going about their business. Bazaars filled with merchants selling a variety of goods. Wide squares with fountains near the caliph's palace. Tall city walls and narrow banks of the Tigris. The city noise, animal sounds, the buzz of the crowd, and the cries of merchants blend into a common cacophony of an eastern fairy tale.

Above all this is a separate world of spacious roofs and beautiful terraces, with ledges and pathways on the walls, stretched ropes, thrown logs, dropped ropes, and arranged platforms, as if inviting to parkour. The outskirts of Baghdad are less picturesque — in the middle of the desert, there is a water oasis with palm trees, vegetation, and wildlife, a few villages, and suburbs.

The ambitious young man Basim lives with his friend Nihal in the town of Anbar near Baghdad. Besides stealing and doing dirty work for the "Hidden Ones," he struggles with a terrifying djinn that haunts him in his dreams. Who this Djinn is and what it wants is the main intrigue of the plot, marked at the beginning but forgotten until the very end, with a sharp revelation in the finale.

The main plot is connected with eliminating local members of the Order of Ancients to free Baghdad from their influence. After undergoing initiation in the iconic Assassin's Creed fortress of Alamut and settling in a cell of the "Hidden Ones" in Baghdad, Basim needs to gather evidence, engage in much conversation, and investigate each of the Order's figures. Future templars are digging around Baghdad artifacts of the ancient race of the Isu, which cannot help but raise concerns for future assassins.

Knowing where it all leads, the writers at Ubisoft did not attempt to methodically develop the story. The plot of Mirage is a chronologically structured set of events, rather than a work of art, devoid of emotions, drama, and the characteristic themes of free will found in the original trilogy. Understanding the ending will require extensive knowledge of the lore, which leaves its meaning hidden from most players.

The narrative appeals with typical techniques. Engine-driven cutscenes quickly explain the problem, stereotypical evil villains are revealed through brief exposition. Relationships with literally five main characters in the plot are also superficial. The dialogue system has been cut. There is no characteristic plotline of the franchise in the present.

Mirage repeats Valhalla's mechanics in a simplified form, but the gameplay focuses on stealth and furious quick duels, rather than long "brawls" with crowds of enemies. The protagonist is fragile, not particularly resilient or tough, using one set of weapons (sword and dagger). In combat, he combines light and heavy strikes, and for defense, he blocks, parries with counterattacks, or dodges with a follow-up attack. He is not trained to perform special attacks from previous games in the series, and there are narrow windows for parrying to hit.

Despite the meager roster of enemies (6 types) and the absence of serious bosses, they deal increased damage and attack simultaneously, often making it impossible to parry their strikes; fleeing from battle in Mirage is not uncommon for Basim. Enemies have had levels and auto-leveling removed, so when the protagonist levels up sufficiently, he can chop his assailants to bits.

At the beginning, however, one must master stealth. The hidden blade always kills enemies in one hit, and the ability "assassin's focus" allows for discreetly dealing with even a group of Ancient Order soldiers. Smoke bombs, throwing knives, noise bombs, sleeping darts, and other tools (Basim crafts them from available materials) distract enemies or simplify the task of eliminating groups.

There is a lot of parkour in Mirage, and it significantly affects movement and, through it, gameplay. You can "grab on the fly" to ledges, catch ropes, run on wires, and jump between static and dynamic platforms, squeezing through any gaps. The parkour still lacks micro-control and development of depth in mechanics as the game progresses, while the animations lack fluidity.

The new mechanic — a hero's wanted level system a la GTA — directly limits aggressiveness. If the protagonist attacks unsuccessfully or is spotted while stealing, he receives a wanted star, and the higher the number of such stars, the harder the game becomes. Regular enemies become tougher and more vigilant, moving more actively through the streets, and strong fighters come to their aid at the slightest disturbance. Posters depicting Basim are hung around the city, which ordinary NPCs easily recognize and immediately call the guards. The wanted level can be reduced by tearing down posters or bribing the poster maker.

Completing Mirage, as in the origins of the franchise, is tied to searching for towers and capturing outposts, completing tasks to eliminate ordinary minions and important targets in the hierarchy of the Ancient Order. The latest mechanics are similar to BlackBox missions Assassin's Creed: Unity and include a chain of investigations. You need to interact with NPCs, steal keys and letters, search homes for compromising material, and gather other information about the target and ways to approach them.

Next, Basim must stealthily enter a guarded area, a well-thought-out and complex location reminiscent of Hitman Trilogy. This can be done independently by finding the best entry point; disguising as someone else, securing the support of mercenaries; learning the password by eavesdropping on conversations. The objective remains to quietly kill the target with a hidden blade, but there are alternatives in some places: orchestrating an accident, luring the target out of the guarded zone through a workers' riot, or stealing important goods. There are minimal independent side quests.

The equipment has been simplified: costume, outfit, sword, blade, and talisman. Costumes have unique properties that shape the character's build, while outfits change the appearance of the costume while retaining its properties. Talismans only affect appearance. Variations of the sword and blade are tied to combat skills. There is no universal outfit; each has useful but not dominant characteristics. Each piece of equipment provides passive bonuses and has three levels of upgrades.

There is gathering, where you can find both raw materials for crafting and items and upgrades for them (in chests). Some chests require solving puzzles or finding keys. The game highlights chests when capturing another tower.

Experience points are awarded for all main activities, which accumulate into levels, granting skill points. Mirage features three short talent trees: "Phantom" (simplifies assassinations), "Thief" (improves stealth), and "Predator" (additional abilities like "Eagle Vision"). All skills are useful, and some significantly change gameplay and simplify task completion. To succeed, you need to maintain a balance between completing story missions and gathering to upgrade both skills and tools.