Assassin's Creed: Origins

8.5

by Suriel Vazguez

Though Assassin's Creed has experimented with tower defense, grappling hooks, and naval combat over the years, it isn't always quick to evolve. Changes to mission design, combat, and exploration are staggered across separate entries, which dulls the impact of any one change. With an extra year of development to question what makes the franchise great, Assassin's Creed Origins implements sweeping changes in every department, reworking or cutting worn-out features and building new ones in their place. These changes come with some growing pains, but result in one of the largest, most open-ended entries in the series.

CONCEPT

Revamp the most outdated aspects of Assassin's Creed while introducing the series' most sprawling, beautiful locale yet

GRAPHICS

Egypt's deserts, canyons, and oasis towns look -gorgeous. Some framerate slowdowns occur during cutscenes, however, as well as a few hitches lasting for as long as three seconds

SOUND

The sound design is as sharp as ever, from the sword clangs of combat to the bustling cities

PLAYABILITY

Combat and stealth see some welcome improvements, and the larger world serves the series' sense of exploration well

ENTERTAINMENT

Expanded progression, open-world freedom, and a fascinating backdrop make for an enticing origin story

REPLAY

Moderate

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