12 May Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey Review Interactive competition entry
Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey review
Ubisoft’s spectacular recreation of Ancient Greece takes us on a sea-faring journey full of sharks, Spartans… and cultists.
When Assassin’s Creed: Origins came out just over a year ago after a 12-month break for the saga which has been running since 2007. It felt like the absence allowed Ubisoft to breathe a whole new lease of life into a franchise that had become bloated and stale after the underwhelming AC Unity and Syndicate. Most people expected a similar repeat this time around, and we were surprised when the French developer announced a new title only one year after Origins. Concern was rife that Ubisoft was more interested in cashing in off the back of Origins and were not allowing themselves enough time to truly give Ancient Greece the game it deserved.
Boy were we wrong then. Not only does Odyssey meet all expectations, it completely blows them out of the park. Odyssey takes what Origins delivered so well and makes it near-perfect. It provides us with a bigger and bolder adventure. It is truly mammoth in depth, size and scope as we get our biggest open world map of the series. At a time when open world is all the rage, game-makers are racing to provide us with more and more space to run around in. But unlike so many, Odyssey enables us to traverse this vast land (and sea) scape whilst still managing to keep relatively engaged with the world around us.
You can now join huge new battles to help either Athens or Sparta take control. Credit – Ubisoft
Starting with Origins and expanded on again here, Odyssey is now a fully-fledged RPG, ranking up your character remains, as does customisation. Decisions you make in-game can now, really affect your gameplay experience. The new abilities you can add to your character’s arsenal can give you that all-important upper-hand when you are swarmed by 15 brutes holding heavy axes. Speaking of characters, Odyssey allows you a series first in that you can choose to play as either Alexios or his sister Kassandra for the entire campaign. Choosing Alexios for my playthrough so far has been my biggest regret, the voice acting is comically cliched and over the top. It’s not bad at all but certainly not compared to Kassandra who is voiced excellently by Melissanthi Mahut.
Whoever you choose has no impact on the story, save for the pronoun you are referred to. Both siblings are Spartan born but for complex reasons you will discover throughout, are cast out of their home. Myth and legend so often entwined in Assassin’s Creed games are present throughout your journey as you meet characters such as Leonidas, Socrates and Hippocrates who will help or hinder you as your odyssey unfolds across the beautiful Aegean Sea.
Naval travel and warfare returns in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Credit – Ubisoft
This brings us back to one of the core elements first introduced in Assassin’s Creed III and perfected in Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, ship sailing. Not required in the vast deserts of Egypt last time around. Its return in Odyssey along with ship battles provide the cornerstone of your gameplay as well as the most obvious way to traverse the epic map. Of course, should sailing become a bit much, you can always take a dive into the deepest depths of the ocean to explore underwater caves and shipwrecks. Just watch out for the sharks, because it turns out, they like to bite you. It’s these little detailed expansions into an already teeming map that gives the game that extra sense of playability, that there is always something, somewhere to do or be done.
The combat engine is the same as in Origins but there is a vast expansion when it comes to available weapons/gear and (as stated above) abilities. A standard sword, a spear or a heavy axe each have their own benefits and drawbacks allowing you to customise your fighting experience to suit your combat style. You can upgrade and engrave all your gear in line with the level of your character. Although this can be expensive, and you won’t always have enough iron, leather or drachma to upgrade your sword leaving you a dilemma. Do you stick with your legendary sword which poisons your enemies with each hit but is five levels below your level 35 character? Or do you go with a boring old common sword at your level that delves out a little more damage per hit but doesn’t have any of the little perks that can give you the edge? Alternatively, you can just lead your enemies up to a cliff and use the Sparta kick ability to send them flying off a mountain which, and I cannot emphasise this enough, is seriously cool.
The Spartan kick ability looks spectacular as you launch your foes off a mountain. Credit – Ubisoft
Like all Assassin’s Creed games, combat is divided into stealth and active fighting. The new combat mechanics mean that engaging in large fights with multiple enemies becomes significantly harder to manage. The AC games of old where you would wait for one single enemy to attack, kill them and move on is gone. Now, we have much more realistic battles that force you to work out a strategy before you pull your blade out. Your faithful eagle assistant Ikaros can scout out enemy camps and forts as well as strategic points of interest from above.
The RPG elements of the game really bring Odyssey a new direction and seem to pay homage to the excellent Witcher 3, long regarded as the pinnacle of the modern RPG. Pretty much every interaction you have with NPC’s give you some kind of choice to make regarding how to respond. Whilst some are merely cosmetic, others add extra plot details and can even dramatically alter the story entirely.
Considering the scepticism many would have felt about a game on this scale being released only a year after Origins which really re-invigorated the series. Ubisoft has truly gone above and beyond to produce a near-masterclass. It’s open world and attention to detail is nowhere near the level of Red Dead Redemption 2. However, Rockstar had 8 years to focus on their game whereas it’s been only 12-months for Odyssey. It is a visually stunning experience. Playing on ultra-level graphics on PC, there is a temptation sometimes to just sit atop a mountain and simply let Ikaros fly over the map. There you can revel in the sheer beauty and brilliance that lies below in the Ancient Greek world.
