With Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Ubisoft looks to be embracing the series' gradual push towards RPG elements and player agency, while expanding on the innovations from Origins.
Assassin’s Creed possesses one of the most intriguing, appealing blueprints in gaming. The series has had many bedrock entries supporting the weight of flimsy choices and drastic errors. Assassin’s Creed II and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag have been pillars, beginning- and end-points where the concepts and mechanics made the most sense. Yes, we know that Unity decayed that strength and that Syndicate reaffirmed the house was old and in need of love and care despite being pleasant to spend time in. Though it didn’t rewrite the script, Assassin’s Creed Origins was a sea change, a reflection on what worked best and what could be done to breathe new life into a struggling concept.
As Assassin’s Creed Odyssey inches closer to release, it’s hard to contain my excitement. Ubisoft never ceases to use historical settings as a petri dish for larger-than-life stories and gameplay mechanics. Perhaps the most exciting thing to come out of Odyssey so far is that Ubisoft is ushering in a new era where players finally get to embrace their more primal RPG urges and pick a character who can make choices. After playing a Gamescom demo of Odyssey, I’ve seen the hooks that will latch onto players and add more flavor to the gameplay loop. And if these hooks stay in, Odyssey will live up to the epics that have inspired and come before it.
Before the demo began I was told of the many dangers that awaited Alexios or Kassandra, the male or female protagonist players can choose from. Unlike all the cool kids these days, Greeks did not have access to internet. So the villagers who spent nearly all their lives in their small villages were susceptible to rumors and exaggerations. Greek myths and legends inspired belief structures and the way of life. Pray to a god for a good harvest or don’t go outside because a cyclops might pluck you out of a herd of sheep. Because these people didn’t know any better, these tall tales felt real. I guess in that way, it is kind of like close-minded kids and adults with the internet.
Ubisoft is playing off the idea that the “outside world” is dangerous by inserting fantastical elements into the overarching narrative. The mysterious central antagonist in Odyssey is represented by the Cult of Kosmos, a mask-wearing group of people that use what are likely Pieces of Eden–the Assassin’s Creed universe’s pre-human civilization technology–to exert control over the world. Pieces of Eden would also explain the existence of terrifying beasts like the Nemean Lion that Hercules fought, vicious Minotaurs that prowl labyrinths, and the slithering Medusa. These are prime elements for a series like Assassin’s Creed, which often flourishes best when it incorporates both science-fiction and fact. When players explore far-off areas, there is always a chance that a fantastical myth may actually be a terrifying reality.
Lesbos Island, a forest biome under the breezy influence of autumn, is the centerpiece of this demo. Because this section takes place in the later parts of the game, I was equipped with high or max level gear. Most regions in the game will take seven to eight hours to complete and are packed with sights to see and things to collect. Origins is a game that can’t be knocked for things to do. Small portions of the map can contain dozens of activities, feeding into players’ need to clear up the map–it’s a habit I’m guilty of but one that I desperately enjoy. With Odyssey, there may be just a bit more purpose to the madness. Briefly exploring a town, I noticed a message board which told me any active quests I had or contracts and bounties to be collected. Zones have faction leaders to kill and players will be rewarded for taking them down. Hovering over Lesbos, I could see a purple bar indicating the grip a leader had, knowing that my actions would slowly take that away. It may just be another carrot on a stick for Assassin’s Creed players but it could prove to be more than a one-off check box.
Choosing Kassandra over Alexios felt more meaningful than playing as Aveline in Assassin’s Creed Liberation or Evie Frye in Syndicate. It gives me the feeling that Ubisoft wants players to exert more control over how the narrative is told, both by the writers and the players. During the entire demo, I was left wondering what the dialogue options and interactions with characters would be like as a male or female. It may amount to very little but if anything, gives the illusion that more care is being put into telling a quality story.
In the demo, players are tasked with rescuing a young woman named Bryce from a mob of villagers who say she allowed her companion Ligeia to be taken by a creature. Before Bryce’s blood is shed, you decide to intervene and find out what happened. It took me a couple minutes and one death to get comfortable with the controls; forgive me, it had been a few months since playing Origins. In this way, Odyssey feels like an obvious and natural extension to last year’s entry. Combat flow is similar, allowing lock-ons and switching between melee attacks and a bow. The shot in the arm this year is the Spear of Leonidas which grants Alexios and Kassandra ridiculous powers. Players can hold a trigger button and press a corresponding face button to activate a heal, do a powerful “THIS IS SPARTA!!!” kick, shoot ghost arrows that can go through walls, or charge up three arrows that can shoot in a spread.
Using these abilities in combat felt a bit awkward at first because there wasn’t an early game tutorial easing me into them and I needed to become familiar with the button-mapping. Multiple times I forgot I actually had these powers but in combat, they are insanely useful and fun. Most operate on a cooldown and some are enhanced by building up adrenaline in combat. Enemies that are too comfortable behind their shield can get a boot to the face or a ground pound to be toppled, while precision arrows can take out most things from a distance with a headshot.
After my first death, I approached the mob accusing Bryce from behind. Yes, because I was still getting my AC sea legs, I climbed up a mountainside to my objective and was met head-on with the enemy. The tactical urge inside my head decided I would target a few bad guys with my arrow spread. One accidentally ended up in the head of a civilian, triggering an event I didn’t know would happen. After a few soldiers and mobsters were killed, a notification splashed up on my screen saying that a new mercenary had been discovered. Kallistrate the Enraged decided to enter the fray, full of piss and vinegar and a yellow bar of health.
Mercenaries carry over from Origins, who in that game are powerful warriors that actively hunt you down. The world of Odyssey will now punish players by putting a bounty on their head instead of desyncing them. Killing civilians or stealing will incur the wrath of named mercenaries. Once a price is on the character’s head, players can choose to run, pay off the bounty, or kill the mercenary. The interesting thing about mercenaries is that they aren’t just throwaway enemies. Most of them have stories and backgrounds that provide context to their lives, players may not even have to engage them in a fight to the death. Even their weaknesses and strengths can be viewed, such as when one will flee when set on fire.
Though I didn’t get the complete picture, killing Kallistrate the Enraged hinted at a kind of nemesis system akin to the Mordor games. Players can switch over to the Mercenaries tab on the menu and look at the different tiers of mercenaries found across the land. Some must be discovered but as Alexios and Kassandra take one out, they rise through the ranks of “top dog.” In the vein of Grand Theft Auto, players can rack up notoriety, represented by up to five red helmets, which will likely add more and more danger to a zone until a bounty is gone. It’s another layer of complexity given to a game where meaning is never a bad thing.
The quest with Bryce led me to the Petrified Forest, a section of Lesbos filled with decaying trees and statues of men. Talks of a dangerous creature and a temple door that couldn’t be opened led me to two different locations. In one I had to climb to the top of a hill and fight a soldier claiming he had met the unknown beast. In another I had to infiltrate a camp belonging to the Daughters of Artemis to find a key. I went by horse and went by boat, with each quest feeling comforting in it Assassin’s Creed-ness. Longtime fans of the series will find solace in how familiar much of Odyssey is, especially after playing Origins.
Yet the most resonating moment from my demo was in a simple dialog choice. After returning to Bryce with information about this mysterious creature and the key, she asked me if I hurt anyone at the Daughters of Artemis camp; after all, Ligeia was a part of their order. I was given the option to say that no one died or that I killed them silently. Because I did kill some of them, I had the option to lie to Bryce or I could be truthful. Someone from Ubisoft told me that had I not killed anyone at the camp, that option would never have appeared.
For players who have spent hundreds of hours making morality choices, this singular one in Odyssey does seem like much. But for a series that has often required players to kill loudly or silently with no regard, it’s an introspective moment. Ultimately, the choice doesn’t matter and the mission will carry on. For some players, however, it will be a morality check or a way to say, “Hey, the choice you made is acknowledged.” And often, acknowledging a problem is the best way to be on the path to fix it. Maybe now that players can wield more choice in their decisions, Assassin’s Creed will further grow and improve.
My demo reached the obvious conclusion of fighting Medusa, a perfect end to one of the most engaging sections I’ve ever played in the series. At the center of the Petrified Forest, which is a sight to behold in its own right, I tussled with the creature of legend. I won’t be cheap and reference other games with third-person boss fights but the Medusa battle hits the right notes. It requires good timing, a level head, and a bit of skill, a good thing considering this fight unfolds in the later parts of the game. Medusa always had me moving, requiring me to destroy stone warriors before her shield disappeared. She blasted me with a stone gaze that slowed my movements and then launched a lightning attack that required quick dodges to avoid. It was thrilling, weird, and fun.
When Assassin’s Creed Odyssey launches on October 5, it will be the last entry in the series until at least 2020. Skipping a year worked wonders because despite the warm reception for Syndicate, Assassin’s Creed was growing tired. Being such a massive game, it’s hard judging too much of Odyssey based on a two-hour demo. But if the pieces fall into the right place, Ubisoft’s decision to embrace the best parts of what Assassin’s Creed is may pay off. And after 11 years, this may be the best foundation yet.
