Ubisoft is preparing to launch Assassin’s Creed Origins on October 27, and it gave us one last preview of the game at an event in San Francisco. It’s an important game, as Ubisoft gave its team more time to make this new installment in a series that has generated more than 100 million units sold to date.
This game goes back to a momentous time in history, when the fictional Assassin Brotherhood was born. I was able to play for a few hours in the ancient world of Egypt, around 49 B.C., when Julius Caesar has arrived with its Roman legions and Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy are vying for control of Egypt as the line of the pharaohs is about to come to an end.
I played as the hero Bayek, the last Medjay, a Nubian order of warriors. He and his wife, Aya, are allies of Cleopatra and have been trained as assassins. They uncover a plot among the priests and act on behalf of Cleopatra to unravel the mystery. Their journey leads to the birth of the Brotherhood, which fights against the Templars in future generations in a classic battle of free will versus destiny. Their enemies are trying to maintain absolute control over Egypt.
We’ve played a couple of previews since Ubisoft showed off the game in June, and the latest preview starts in the middle of the game. I had a powerful character, and I was able to pursue some missions that helped me build higher-quality weapons, such as bows and swords.
Ashraf Ismail, game director for Assassin’s Creed Origins, said in an interview that the region has a lot of dense content, with lots of missions littered throughout the area. I was able to pursue main campaign missions during my preview, but I was also able to stray into side missions, like a battle with the hippos in the Nile River.
“Egypt is filled with mysticism and mystery,” Ismail said. “It is full of things for the player to explore. We needed to fill the world. This is by far the biggest Assassin’s Creed we have ever built.”
In my playthrough, I was able to go anywhere on the map. I started with three upgrade points to add to my abilities. I had to craft items, improve my gear, and then go on missions to get new resources for upgrades.
The game is coming for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. In the mission above, I had the unenviable task of clearing a burned-out village. The problem was that the Roman soldiers were stronger than my character, and there were a lot of them. So I had no choice but to use stealth.
Here’s another video below of a mission where there is no stealth. You have confront a bunch of hippos and rescue a woman. I captured a lot more video, but these particular missions turned out to be the most compelling scenes.