Assassin's Creed Origins is a 2017 action role-playing game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the tenth major installment in the Assassin's Creed series and the successor to Assassin's Creed Syndicate (2015). Set in Egypt during the reign of Cleopatra, the story follows a Medjay named Bayek of Siwa and his wife Aya as they seek revenge for the murder of their son, which leads to the founding of the Assassin Brotherhood and their long-running conflict with the Templar Order. The story is followed in the modern day by Layla Hassan, an Abstergo researcher who is inducted into the Assassins through relations.
The game's development began following the release of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (2013). Ubisoft Montreal led its four-year development with help from a team of nearly 700 people from other Ubisoft studios around the world. The team consulted Egyptologists and historians extensively to ensure the setting was authentically represented in the game. In response to the common criticism that the gameplay of the series was getting stale and overly familiar, Ubisoft decided to reinvent the Assassin's Creed formula with Origins. Whereas previous entries were mainly stealth-action games, Origins introduces many elements found in role-playing games and an overhauled "hitbox-based" combat system. While Assassin's Creed had been an annual franchise since Assassin's Creed II (2009), an extra year of development time allowed the team to polish the game further. This was largely a response to the tepid sales of Assassin's Creed Syndicate, and the troubled launch of Assassin's Creed Unity (2014), which was plagued with technical issues when it was released.
Announced at E3 2017, Origins was released on October 27, 2017, for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, and for Stadia on December 15, 2020. It received positive reviews from critics, with many calling it an improvement over previous entries and praising the story, characters, voice acting, reworked gameplay systems, world design, historical accuracy, and the visuals. However, the game also drew criticism for its pacing, quest design, and technical issues. The game has sold over ten million units worldwide and was nominated for several end-of-year accolades.
Ubisoft supported Origins extensively following its launch, releasing two story expansions—The Hidden Ones and The Curse of the Pharaohs—and a free Discovery Tour mode, which removes all combat from the game and allows players to learn about the history and culture of Ptolemaic Egypt through a series of guided tours. Its successor, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, which is set in Classical Greece during the Peloponnesian War, was released in October 2018, expanding on the revamped gameplay and continuing the new framing story.
Gameplay
Assassin's Creed Origins is an action role-playing video game played from a third-person perspective. Players complete quests—linear scenarios with set objectives—to progress through the story, and can freely roam the open world environment on foot, horseback, camel-back, horse-drawn vehicles or boat. The open world includes much of Ancient Egypt, featuring vast deserts, oases, lakes and ancient cities such as Alexandria and Memphis. The game's main character, Bayek, can dive underwater and explore the lakes and the rivers, the first instance of underwater exploration in the series since 2013's Black Flag. As the players explore the world, they encounter different non-playable characters who need assistance from Bayek. These side missions, which typically involve rescuing prisoners, defeating enemies, collecting items or investigating items of interest, often take Bayek to locations of interest, where the player can find treasures. Throughout the game, players can explore tombs and pyramids, raid bandit hideouts, solve riddle puzzles to find rare loot, and discover synchronization points, which then unlock additional locations of interest and serve as fast travel points. Other side activities players can undertake include competing in a gladiatorial arena where the player fights waves of increasingly difficult combinations of enemies culminating in a boss fight, participating in chariot racing, and solving stone circle puzzles.
Players earn experience points by performing acts like completing campaign missions and side missions, discovering new locations, and defeating enemies. As the players earn sufficient experience points, they can level up and earn skill points, which can unlock new abilities. The skill tree has three unique branches: Hunter, Warrior, and Seer. Hunter improves Bayek's ranged abilities; Warrior makes Bayek a more capable melee fighter; Seer turns Bayek into a more lethal and efficient assassin. Missions and areas have a level recommendation. Players need to reach a certain level before completing them, or else the game's enemies can easily overpower them . To further enhance combat efficiency, Bayek's hidden blade, quiver, stabilizer glove, bracer, breastplate and tool pouch can be crafted using the resources collected from hunting wildlife, dismantling gear, and attacking convoys carrying supplies. Bayek needs to earn coins by looting and completing locations of interest. Coins can then be spent on purchasing or upgrading weapons, outfits and mounts. Gears and crafting materials can be purchased from a special vendor through loot boxes, though these boxes can only be purchased through the in-game currency. Despite this, some cosmetic items can only be purchased via Helix coins, which must be bought with real-world currency.
Combat Previous titles in the Assassin's Creed series used a "paired animation system" whereby the player character would engage with an enemy and combat would be dictated by a series of predetermined animations based on player inputs and scripted AI movements. Origins moved to a "hit-box system". When the player wields a weapon, they strike at whatever is in range, allowing them to hit and injure enemies directly, and creating the possibility of missing an enemy entirely. There are two modes of melee attack—light attacks are fast but weak, and heavy attacks are slow but strong. Complementing this is the way weapons fall into different categories (common, rare and legendary) and are rated on the damage dealt, speed and range. Bayek can be equipped with eight types of melee weapons and four types of bows and arrows. Legendary weapons can usually be obtained by defeating high-level enemies called the Phylakes. As enemy combat is also dictated by the hit-box system, the player is equipped with a shield and needs to balance their offensive and defensive capabilities. Players need to use different weapons when facing different enemy archetypes. They may also need to dodge or parry hostile attacks. Adrenaline slowly builds up during combat. When the player's adrenaline bar is full, they can unleash a devastating attack with their melee weapon. Bayek also has access to tools such as sleeping darts, poison darts, and firebombs, and can use the environment to his advantage. For instance, he can light enemies on fire after shooting oil canisters with fire arrows, and set traps near braziers, defeating enemies when they attempt to call for reinforcements.
Locations within the game world enable the player to choose their playing style by offering stealth and open combat as equally viable choices for completing objectives. Players can subdue enemies by sneaking up behind them using the hidden blade, though higher-level enemies are not easily defeated. The "eagle vision" mode, which was used by the franchise to give the player the ability to scout an area by highlighting enemies and objects, has been replaced by a Bonelli's eagle named Senu as a companion. The player can take control of Senu and scout an area in advance, highlighting enemies who will then be visible when they return to controlling Bayek. Players can hide in tall grass or navigate rooftops to avoid enemies' attention. Bayek can, however, whistle to draw an enemy toward him, allowing assassination when the player is still in hiding. As with other Assassin's Creed games, Bayek is an expert in free running and can climb nearly all structures. The player can also tame various predators, which will serve as a companion for the player and assist them against enemies. Naval combat returns in sections where players control Bayek's wife Aya, who can command a ship and attack hostile ship vessels.
Synopsis Setting The player takes on the role of an Egyptian Medjay named Bayek of Siwa and his wife Aya, as they work to protect the people of Ptolemaic Egypt during a time of widespread upheaval. The Pharaoh, Ptolemy XIII, struggles to maintain his rule while harboring ambitions of expanding his kingdom. His sister, the recently deposed Cleopatra, begins marshaling loyalist forces to launch a counter-coup against Ptolemy. Additionally, incursions into the Kingdom by the Roman Republic under the command of Julius Caesar lead to fears of an imminent invasion. Bayek's role as a Medjay brings him and Aya into contact with the secretive forces manipulating these events and into forming the Hidden Ones, the precursor organization to the Assassin Brotherhood. The story is followed in the modern day by Layla Hassan, an Abstergo researcher who covertly reads Bayek and Aya's memories to uncover the origins of the Assassins and secure a senior position in Abstergo's Animus project. In experiencing Bayek's memories, Layla may encounter a series of ancient structures built by the First Civilization. Each contains a message that alludes to Layla playing a pivotal role in an upcoming apocalyptic event.
Plot
In 2017, Layla Hassan, a researcher for Abstergo Industries, is tasked with retrieving an artifact in Egypt on their behalf. Instead, she finds a tomb containing the mummified body of Bayek of Siwa. Hoping to find information that would secure her a position in the company's Animus Project, Layla covertly obtains a DNA sample and reads Bayek's memories using a modified Animus device. In 49 BC, Bayek, a Medjay charged with protecting the Siwa Oasis, is abducted along with his son Khemu by a group of masked men and taken to an underground vault in the Temple of Amun. They give Bayek a dormant Apple of Eden and demand that he use it to open the vault. Khemu helps Bayek escape, but while struggling with one of the masked men, Bayek inadvertently kills Khemu.
One year later, Bayek has exiled himself to track down the five masked men and take his revenge. After eliminating two targets, Bayek heads for Alexandria to meet his wife Aya. Aya reveals that she has also killed two masked men, leaving only one target. Bayek identifies the Royal Scribe Eudoros as the last target and assassinates him, but is disturbed by Eudoros' last words, which imply there are more masked men. Realising Aya should be buried in the same tomb, Layla locates her mummy and inputs her DNA into the Animus, which synchronises her memories with Bayek's. Aya directs Bayek to her friend Apollodorus for more information. Apollodorus introduces him to Cleopatra, who confirms that the masked men are members of the Order of the Ancients, which ousted her from the throne and seeks to control Egypt using Ptolemy as their puppet.