Assassin's Creed Welcomes More RPG Features in Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins has been officially announced at E3, and there is already a slew of new information about the newest game in the long-running Ubisoft series. Origins is looking to take the series in a new direction, though… and it caught our attention as it's a direction that RPG fans can come to appreciate. Let's take a look at what we know about Origins so far.
Assassin's Creed Origins, as the name implies, tells the story of the creator of the Assassin's Brotherhood, Bayek. The game takes place in Ancient Egypt, well before any other game in the series timeline. The Ubisoft blog about Origins sheds more light on the main character, also known as the Protector of Egypt:
Bayek is the last of the Medjay, a Nubian order of warriors who served as agents of the pharaohs for hundreds of years, protecting cities and temples from threats. In his hometown of Siwa, Bayek is seen as a hero – but in the rest of Egypt, where the influence of the Greek Ptolemies is stronger, those in power seem to view him as more of an inconvenient relic.
Let's take a look at Ubisoft's gameplay trailer, and how it showcases the new direction Origins is taking the series:
Immediately you'll see that there's no longer a minimap—instead, players will have to rely on their sense of direction to explore Egypt. But, that does not mean you can completely blind; Bayek can employ his eagle Senu to get a literal bird's eye view of the surrounding area. You can also have Senu mark enemies for Bayek. That way, it is easier to sneak up behind them and kill them silently and quickly, as any assassin is expected to do.
While using stealth to take down your enemies is nothing new to the series, you will notice some of the new RPG elements in action while Bayek works towards his target in the video. Each enemy kill gives the Protector experience and the chance to level up. Leveling up Bayek gives you affinity points, which can be used to unlock new skills. There are three different skill trees (Hunter, Warrior, and Seer) which each promotes a different style of play, combined with the various weapon types to create the perfect playstyle for each individual player. Additionally, Bayek can loot his victims, and you can see that different weapons have level requirements to equip and different attack values—commonly seen in many Western RPGs.
Finally, at the end of the video, you can see Bayek reach his target, and Origins sheds its stealth trappings for a more action-RPG tone. The bodyguard and the Protector have something akin to a boss battle in an action RPG, complete with weapon combos, guarding, and dodge rolling. Here's a more in-depth look of Origins' battle system in motion:
Of course, Origins is also an open world game, and with that comes many of the standard gameplay elements you can expect from the Assassin's Creed series. There are areas to explore, quests and side quests to partake in, and areas of interest that offer rewards for the observant. Origins appears to be a nice blend of what made the series popular in the first place, with new RPG elements that will breath a breath of fresh air into a franchise on its tenth mainline entry.
Assassin's Creed Origins comes out on October 27th on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
