To say I’ve taken a stab at the Assassin’s Creed franchise would be quite the understatement. An understabment. I took my oaths in 2007, at the altar of Altaïr. I’ve gone under the hood of more than 15 games in this killer series about serial killers. I’ve spent 2,454 years “consciousness commuting” in an Animus. Whenever a new AC is announced, my ears prick up quicker than dual hidden blades.

That said and while the last few Animus updates were interesting, I miss the time when Abstergo’s fancy sunbed was an undisputed killer app. Every new ARPG revision since AC: Syndicate (2015) has required a bigger leap of faith on my behalf, though the franchise’s throughline—making interesting slices of history come to life with death—has still kept me faithful to the order.

Ubisoft has decided an Animus firmware rollback is in order. The DNA revert they’re proposing is Assassin’s Creed Mirage, a game I spent 4 hours synchronizing with. It’s a memory sequence I’ll gladly share with you in a sec, but I should first provide some preorder opportunities to you “mind’s made-up” diehards. Everybody else can skip all that window shopping by clicking here.

Table of Contents

• Cheapest AC Mirage preorders
• AC Mirage hands on
• AC Mirage trailers

Cheapest Assassin’s Creed Mirage Preorders

Assassin’s Creed Mirage (Standard Ed.)

Note: you can preorder Mirage right now and get The Forty Thieves bonus quest.

PS4, PS5

• Preorder at Mighty Ape – $59
• Preorder at JB Hi-Fi – $64
• Get it digital on PS Store – $79.95

Xbox Series X|S

• Preorder at Mighty Ape – $59
• Preorder at JB Hi-Fi – $64
• Get it digital on MS Store – $74.95

PC

• Get it digital on Epic Games – $79.95
• Get it digital on Ubi Store – $79.95

Assassin’s Creed Mirage (Deluxe Ed.)

PS4, PS5

• Preorder at Mighty Ape – $89
• Preorder at JB Hi-Fi – $89
• Get it digital on PS Store – $89.95

Xbox Series X|S

• Preorder at Mighty Ape – $89
• Preorder at JB Hi-Fi – $89
• Get it digital on MS Store – $89.95

PC

• Get it digital on Epic Games – $89.95
• Get it digital on Ubi Store – $89.95

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Assassin’s Creed Mirage hands-on

So, let’s get the most obvious question out of the way first. Why does Mirage’s RRP represent an absolute steal compared to other entries in this franchise?

It’s because this is a different beast compared to the sprawling countryside ARPGs of Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla. Ubi has downsized. A single central location will be your playground, not the Middle East entire. And, not to bag dad, but this is very much your father’s AC sandbox—rat warren streets instead of the rolling hills and seas of triple-digit hours.

This also means Mirage is a shorter hayride, too. Ubisoft has earmarked it at 20 hours main run and 30 hours for full collectables. That’s quite a drop from Valhalla’s 60 hour minimum, but we may be able to let it slide, provided the shorter narrative is indeed more intimate and expertly crafted. Building bigger didn’t often feel better when it came to the quality of Valhalla’s subquests and script.

My particular hands-on picked up at an indeterminate point during the prologue section in 861CE, Anbar. This is at a time when Baghdad had grown to become one of the biggest, richest, and most advanced cities in the world. Back then, it was home to multiple religions and scriptures, and you’ll see this diversity on its busy streets. Honestly, that feels like the perfect setting to recapture the multicultural je ne sais quoi of the original game.

Our tale centres on Basim, a common thief who’s plagued by nightmarish visions but is nonetheless an upwardly mobile individual. After a hair-raising act of retribution, our Aladdin-esque hero will end up crossing the path of the Hidden Ones, thanks to an event that marks the start of a journey of life-changing discovery. And we’re using ‘journey of life-changing discovery’ in the ‘Basim finds and kills lots of baddies’ sense here.

Next, I was whisked two months into Basim’s future during what seemed to be his last semester at the local Assassin hideout, Castle Alamut. Basically, it’s an advanced tutorial phase that teaches you free-climbing on natural surfaces and the finer points of swordsmanship 101, as taught by Master Roshan. She, along with the slightly more severe (and extra secretive) elder named Rayhan, prove to be the most important members of this local branch.

Lastly, I was whisked forward again to the very first time where Basim gets to saddle up for the actual sandbox. All in all, I got a pretty decent vertical slice of what’s coming on October 5th.

Before we swandive into the murder, I should like to take a moment to share some points of interest about Basim as a character. TL;DR: I like him. He exists in the sweet spot between stoic assassins—like Altair, Anno, and Connor—and more bombastic brothers like Ezio and Edward Kenway.

The dude clearly has a fierce sense of right and wrong, and an unwillingness to kowtow to some of his new masters. He’s seen as stubborn by some of his classmates, though it’s also noted that he shares a disposition with his bird, Enkidu. Both are known to be very intelligent but also very impatient.

Oh, and mercifully, Basim’s probably the fastest-learning padawan in the franchise so far. Series veterans should have no fear of being stuck in the doldrums of Assassin Initiate inadequacy because there’s minimal slog to “git gud.” Amusingly, a great competence leap is gifted to Basim in a very early, good-old-fashioned training montage.

AC Mirage’s tutorials lead with what’s most important—freerunning and stealth. The latter is a big pivot back from Valhalla, where going in quietly felt like an afterthought, a vestigial limb. We’re not exactly being drowned in new stealth techniques here, though. Being a sneaky bastard is as simple as manually crouching, using thickets for cover, and whistling to lure. Honestly, the most interesting thing is a throwable Noisemaker tool that can be modified to stun, set objects on fire, or strike terror into your enemies.

Get through a brief ninja apprenticeship, and training module 2 is ‘How to Meat New People by Introducing Them to the Wrong End of a Sword.’ Interestingly, whereas some ACs wanted you to do a balancing act between going loud and throwing your weight around versus being a ninja, it’s clear Ubisoft wants you to sneak-shank people above all else.

The reasons that support this theory: combat is a parry-based affair that happily mobs you with many opponents. And you really need to be on fire with your timing skills to take down a mob, because you’ll be punished for non-economical striking or dodging with a deadly stamina-drained state.

Not going to lie, I had hoped that Ubisoft was going to revert things in this area too—by doing away with this sort of combat. Call me very old-fashioned, but I feel the same way when it comes to assassination. On the one hand, I love that social stealth is back in vogue and that you can one-hit-kill basic guards just fine. However, that all changes for the next tier of bad guys. Like the modern AC games, your Assassinate prompt inexplicably becomes a Stealth Attack prompt that will do a paltry 10-20% damage.

Leaving this topic on a positive note, though, it turns out I’m still a sucker for the platforming Prince of Persia DNA that (free)runs through this series. And then there’s the timeless joy of exploration and the addictive loot grind of opening many a chest. Oh, and who could get sick of scaling and synchronizing atop famous historical edifices?

When it comes to audio, I appreciate the devs taking the time to provide an authentic Arabic VO option. So much so, I took the time to do a bunch of side-by-side comparisons of the exact same scene using English actor Lee Madjoub and Eyad Nassar for the Arabic rendition. Just as I would recommend playing the Metro series in Russian or Ghost of Tsushima in Japanese, I feel like playing Mirage in Arabic is the way to go. I just think Nassar has a slightly richer and more mature voice—a bit more gravitas to elevate the experience.

As for the soundtrack, I’ve only heard a small slice of it, but I like what I hear. Something that’s particularly surprising is that it interweaves era-authentic world music with 80s-esque synth. That was definitely not on my bingo card. It makes me wonder in what decade the “outside the Animus” sections are set. (If there are any.)

When it comes to eye candy, I believe the pre-launch visuals are a fair representation of how Mirage looks and runs, at least on PC. Though I must admit, I had one or two moments that reminded me that this engine is by no means a spring chicken. The virtual performances can feel a touch wooden, and there’s a bit of deadness around the eyes there. That being said, I commend Ubisoft for taking the time to fix what were once highly memeable child NPCs. If you’ll recall the horror, some of the kids in Valhalla were weirdly shrunken-down adults.

When it comes to final thoughts, I’m swinging way more towards the positives than negatives. You notice it less now, thanks to the franchise moving largely away from tight city freerunning, but some old platforming peccadilloes have endured. Like, getting momentarily impeded by ground objects or the system not interpreting what you wish to achieve in certain overhang situations. Nothing major, mind you.

Overall, I’m currently ok with Mirage not being a bold leap in evolution; it’s a more lateral jump, back to a sturdier, more familiar handhold. And, although I’ve yet to gel with its take on hidden blade effectiveness, the setting, style, and unmistakable substance of its new protagonist did remind me of why I still carry a flame for this series.

Basically, I went in pretty skeptical. But now, I’m looking at my gaming chair, wishing it had a ‘Pass Time’ prompt to carry me faster to launch day. Because, despite a few reservations, Mirage has got me all Krombopulos Michael; I can’t wait to go killin’ again.

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Assassin’s Creed Mirage trailers

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Adam Mathew is all about the AC. Especially in 48°C (104°F) Aussie summer heat.