ASSASSIN’S CREED ODYSSEY
No one was prepared for an Assassin’s Creed game this good. Whether you’re taking in the beauty and splendour of Ancient Greece, engaging in some naval combat, experimenting with the RPG-focused loadout options and skill tree, battling mythical beasts like the wonderfully snarky Sphinx, or simply getting down and dirty with the locals, Odyssey is an evolution of everything in the series to date.
It’s clear that every element has been tailored to improve on what’s come before in every way imaginable. In particular it’s focused on choice. You decide everything you do in Odyssey, from picking your hero (Kassandra or Alexios) to the dialogue options and choosing who lives – and who dies. With nine potential endings, three major questlines and a volume of sidequests that pushes its playtime easily into the hundreds of hours, Ubisoft really wasn’t joking when they called this an Odyssey.
Striking a slightly different tone to Assassin’s Creed games of old, there’s a richness and a warmth to the world and the characters you meet, regardless of whether they’re a main storyline player or a small side mission. There’s more personality in a side character here than some games have in their entire campaign, and a strong sense of each one’s quirks and personality traits, even in the smallest interaction. It also helps that Kassandra and Alexios are the most rounded heroes the series has ever had, with BioWare levels of personality crafting and dialogue options that will make you fall in love with them within the first few hours.
That’s because each one is your assassin. You’ve been able to craft them, personalise and tweak skills, weaponry and even apply perks and buffs to truly hone your Kassandra or Alexios to become the hero you want them to be. This truly is a game about choice, and every one you make can matter either in that moment, or much, much further down the storyline.
Odyssey is the pinnacle of the Assassin’s Creed series, a wonderfully mature RPG, so mythically deep you should expect your trip to Ancient Greece to be an extended one. Sam Loveridge
At one point, thugs attack a politician with snakes. One says they’ll “make Athens great again”. Sound familiar?