Assassin’s Creed goes to Greece

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey,Rated M for Mature (Xbox One,PS4, PC)

Assassin’s Creed is dropping us into the thick of Greece in 431BC to expand the fun and excitement that made Origin such a hit.

Lets’ get the visuals out of the way.

The game plays in 4k ultra HD on the Xbox One and looks unbelievably gorgeous. Greece has never been so beautifully rendered with lush trees, wildlife and even inhabitants going about their daily business. Even on a PS4 or Xbox One, the game looks amazing. From pieces of armor to horses — everything is wonderfully rendered.

The game starts by you choosing a character, either male or female. I chose the female to see how in-game characters would interact with her and to explore some of the love-based questions.

For players who loved Origin’s more RPG play style you’ll feel right at home in Odyssey. The game throws players into a war between the Spartans and the Athenians. With the factions competing.

The controls are easy enough to pick up for players who missed Origin. The game plays like Origin with players having a light and heavy attack. A parry used for incoming attacks activated with a press of both left and right bumpers at the right moment. If you time it just right, you can stagger the enemy making them open to more attacks.

With spears, dual daggers, swords and more, there is an endless amount of weapons to try out in battles.

This game takes the formula of Origin and expands it. Players have a simply enormous map to explore including the return exploring the sea.

Greece is here for you to explore complete with Athens, other small towns, islands and more. As you explore and complete camps, leader houses and forts, you will get to choose whether you want Spartans or Athenians to conquer that land. You have to watch your back as enemies can attack you while you’re trying to take out other enemies. Once you beat a few enemies, you’retasked with killing the captains on the battlefield. If you win the battle, the player is awarded not only experience, but also some rare equipment.

Each different territory or island can be switched to your faction of choice by doing these battles. You can spend days and days just exploring the map. To put in into prospective, I have more than 60 hours exploring and haven’t touched a majority of the map.

As you gain experience and your character levels up, you can unlock abilities from three different skill trees. These three skills focus on Hunter, Assassin and Warrior. Players can choose if they want to go in guns blazing and take on the enemies hand to hand or choose to go stealth.

With tons of bushes players use as cover and call enemies to take them down with a quick assassination.

Stealth is no guarantee of avoiding conflict though, as enemies, can see you taking out one of their own opening you up for a fight.

Killing enemies can also raise your bounty level making other Mercenaries aware of your location and they will try and kill you.

It works almost like the police in Grand Theft Auto, circling you and trying to eliminate you.

One thing people have noticed is the ability to purchase experience boosts with real cash. I played 80 hours spending zero on micro transactions. You can easily level up your character by exploring the world and doing side missions of which there are plenty.

The return of the sea thrilled me like it should other players. Players can set sail and explore the large sea, battling other ships in ship to ship combat. Players can ram other ships, fire arrows and even harpoons to break the other ships’ defences until you have the option of boarding them or just sick the ship.

Your ship has a full crew of archers and javelin throwers, all of which can be upgraded to make them even more effective against enemy ships. There are even underwater locations for you to explore with hidden treasures and shipwrecks to explore.

Just don’t ex the expect the underwater exploration to go smoothly as you will have to deal with hungry sharks at every turn.

With easily over 60 hours of game play and tons of replay value this is a must buy. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey gets a 10/10.

Sascha Heist is a Penticton gamer.

Feel free to contact Sascha at sggall@telus.net with gaming questions and more. On XBox One : acehardy13 On PSN: acehardy13 This column appears Saturdays.