Ever since Assassin’s Creed moved to the Origin series format, there was a major focus on it being a role-playing game with open-ended gameplay, history and huge maps. Mirage runs in the opposite direction of this. They have done away with most of the RPG elements, and now the skill tree is just three branches with a few choices in each section. You can even reset your skill points and change your build at any time. Rather than concentrating on brute force, there is a renewed focus on tactics, using your environment for tactical advantage and stealth, which translates into better gameplay. It feels antiquated in a good way.

The city of Baghdad is also a star in Mirage, the city is lively there are things to do and people to loot at every turn. Sure, it is very focused and small compared to what the franchise has been dishing out in the last few iterations. However, this is a good decision overall. There are plenty of crowds, places to hide and places to take a breather while you plan your next move. Another great system added to Mirage is the notoriety feature. With notoriety, you get infamous for all your illegal activities and the more notorious you get, the harder it will be to evade the guards around the city. Citizens also alert guards more often when notoriety is high. You can negate this by bribing certain NPCs or by tearing down wanted posters. It is a nice way to tax the player for not being more careful and adds a lot of depth in terms of gameplay and tactics.

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Enemy AI, unfortunately, is not very smart you will have ample opportunities to take out guard after guard, though at the initial start of the game, I would recommend avoiding fighting higher rank officials as they are time-consuming and there isn’t much payoff. It will be better to run off till you can either stealthily attack them or you have enough skill points to upgrade the combat skill tree. Enemies also gang up on you, which means you can be struck from different sides at the same time. It also means you can swing around wildly and attack several enemies at once. However, this also requires the players to be mindful of where the enemies are, and sometimes, it might be prudent just to run along and fight fewer enemies at a time.

The game also has its fair share of bugs. I have seen NPCS running into walls, the game hanging multiple times and even the game completely crashing on the Xbox, requiring me to delete the game and install it again. Not to mention, I do not like the option of not being able to save where I want. Early on in the game, during the first mission, the game crashed, and I had to begin the mission all the way from the start point, which was a bit annoying. I assume these bugs will be ironed out in subsequent patches, but it does have these problems as of now.

The pacing of Mirage is also pretty good; you can choose things you want to investigate, and they don’t need to be done in any order. However, this game is not an open-world wonderland the main mission is pretty linear, and you will end up eventually having to do what the game needs you to do to move forward. I think some players might find this a bit frustrating. The game is also not terribly long you can possibly finish this over a couple of days, something you cannot claim for the last few games in the series.

So, while this may seem like a step back, it is actually Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s best foot forward. The return to stealth and parkouring over the beautiful city of Baghdad feels both nostalgic and fresh. However, the game is let down by its story, numerous bugs and weak lead. Mirage is not for everyone. Assassin’s purist will love this game, but if your flavour is more geared towards the Origin series, you may not like Mirage as much. Base your purchase decision on this, I personally liked the return stealth and tactics. It will be interesting to see where Ubisoft takes Assassin’s Creed from here.