ASSASSIN’S CREED ODYSSEY
Ubisoft Socra-teases a Greek epic that’ll make Creed history
More fighting! More killing! More… romance? We explore the latest, very different, AC game.
We have to go back. Back to the beginning. Wait, even further back than that. That’s the premise Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, the latest in the long line of Assassin’s Creed games that follows on from, and is sort of the prequel to, last year’s Assassin’s Creed Origins – being set in 431BCE as opposed to around 50BCE.
You’ll find yourself in control of either Alexios or Kassandra as you sail your way between Greek islands during the Peloponnesian War, a big punchup between the Spartans and Delian League (led by Athenians). As you’d expect from the series, there’s secretly more to the war than the history books would have you believe. Once again you’re jumping into memories from the present day, but you needn’t worry too much about the modern-day framing fluff.
It doesn’t make much difference which character you pick – they have the same dialogue, rather than being two distinct characters (as was the case with Alex and Evie, the stars of 2015’s Syndicate). You’re a mercenary hailing from Sparta, a descendant of King Leonidas I, and inheritor of his broken spear – a Piece Of Eden, a “magical” First Civilisation artefact.
THESEUS’ CREED
The Assassin’s Creed series is certainly one that’s changed parts in and out quite a few times over the
“THIS TIME, WITHOUT A SHIELD, THINGS GET MUCH MORE OFFENSIVE.”
“ROMANCE OPTIONS ALSO COME TO THE SERIES, ALLOWING YOU TO SMOOCH MEN AND WOMEN ALIKE.”
years. While Odyssey shares a lots of its DNA with Origins, changes have been made, and a lot of these seem to be aimed at squeezing as much colourful fun out of the setup as possible.
Leonidas’ now-broken spear plays a big role in that. As it’s just the tip of the spear, in some ways it acts like the hidden blade weapon series fans will be familiar with, but this personal item can be fully customised as you progress. “In the past, you’ve maybe had the Apple Of Eden for a little bit; we give this to you for the entire game, and you upgrade it, you make it better,” says Scott Phillips, the game’s director. “You get to get more abilities because of it, and because of its connection to you, which we’re going to develop throughout the story.”
These range from passive powers, such as one that negates fall damage altogether, to tying into the new combat abilities. The latter build on the overpower finishing move system in Origins, where you would use a bar of adrenaline to perform a powerful attack tied to your weapon. Now, you can cash out this bar in chunks to use moves when you need them, or save up for a more powerful one. These come particularly in handy in the large-scale battles that have you take part in actual battlefields.
One ability, of course, is the 300-esque Spartan Kick that’ll send enemies flying, and another particularly handy one sees you ripping a shield from your enemy and throwing it to the ground. Combat is similar to Origins, with 1:1 real-time attacks as opposed to the animation grappling of series precursors. This time without a shield things get much more offensive, parrying coming to the fore as your main defensive move. Levelling, skill trees, and experience make a return, so you can dig into the playstyles that interest you exclusively. You’ll grab skills from the three branches: hunter (focusing on ranged attacks), warrior (focusing on close combat), and stealth (focusing on the sneaky business), with stealth taking the place of Origins’ seer skills.
With the foundations set by the Montreal team, Ubisoft Québec has been given room to have some fun and mix it up, just like when it was given the task of following up Unity with Syndicate (which was a whole load of goofy fun). Unshackled from many of AC’s trappings, you’re able to mix up your approaches to situations massively, and thanks to the Greek setting, ship gameplay makes a fullyfeatured return (Origins’ naval sections were limited) as you sail from island to island. There will be plenty to explore in the Aegean.
LOVE ISLANDS
Perhaps the biggest breath of fresh Greek air about Odyssey is how it’s leaning into the more RPG-like elements of the game. Because you’re allowed to pick your character, you have a greater sense of inhabiting who they are, and shaping them via a wealth of fully featured dialogue choices: “We wanted to have consequences for those choices. The things you make decisions about within quests are going to have an impact later on,” explains Phillips. Quests may follow you for a while depending on what you do. Romance options also come to the series, allowing you to smooch men and women alike, no matter who you play as. We’ll be practising our pucker ready to snog all-comers in October.