Ubisoft Forward heavily focuses on Assassin's Creed Mirage, revealing new and story gameplay details regarding the 2023 title. Prior to the event, AC Mirage (then under the codename Rift) was reportedly a Valhalla expansion that Ubi decided to turn into a full standalone game. AC Mirage's creative director Stephane Boudon tells Game Rant that this idea only lasted a few weeks and was only ever on paper, with the current iteration of the game being a far cry from a DLC now.

Indeed, this does seem to be the case. Assassin's Creed Mirage's development is led by Ubisoft Bordeaux, with the support of several other studios under the Ubisoft banner, and is set in 861 AD Baghdad. It is a narrative action adventure, with a structure similar to the first game. This means that the core gameplay focus on stealth, parkour, and assassinations, as evident in the classic Assassin's Creed game, is at the fore here.

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Players take on the role of Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Basim as he grows from a street thief into a master assassin. He is brought into the Hidden Ones and trained by his mentor and a former Persian slave, Roshan (played by Shohreh Aghdashloo). Basim is plagued with nightmares and visions, and it seems he hopes to find answers to them within the organization. Boudon describes their relationship as a "classic mentor-student relationship," but it does seem Basim likes to play it a little fast and loose sometimes, while Roshan is more stringent.

Gameplay-wise, stealth is improved over the past RPG titles. The core gameplay loop here involves identifying guards and/or targets, eliminating those necessary, and vanishing. Ubisoft Bordeaux reworked the detection system to enhance this loop, with there being various archetypes for guards, with there being clear communication as to what guards are alerted, and so on. Players will go through various, recognizable phases like a warning phase, a search state, and then open conflict. There is also a Wanted system that could see crowds turn against the player, meaning players will need to be cognizant about their activities. Players, like in the past few entries, also have an Eagle companion. Basim's is named Enkidu, but one major difference is that it's not as "infallible" as past games; Archers, for example, can shoot down an eagle if players do not eliminate them first.

Of course, to accomplish this, parkour is key in Assassin's Creed Mirage. Ubisoft Bordeaux focused on giving Basim a certain quickness, allowing him to get through the heavy crowds of Baghdad (which Boudon compares to the crowds of AC Unity) and take off across the flat roofs of Baghdad. All the animations are new to emphasize Basim's skills, while new elements of parkour like pole-vaulting are introduced. Players are able to set off traps and knock over scaffolding to create even more distance, and there are also tools like smoke bombs and other gadgets to take advantage of.

Combat-wise, Boudon said the fighting mechanics were more akin to Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla, but there are new distinctive elements too. Assassin's Focus is one of those, and it's perhaps most comparable to Red Dead's Dead Eye. When used, Basim is so proficient that he eliminates many targets quickly, which manifests in-game by slowing down time and allowing players to pick their targets. Overall, it seems clear that Assassin's Creed Mirage is very much a return to form, yet it seems to be carving out its own identity all the same.

Assassin's Creed Mirage releases in 2023 for Luna, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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