Assassin's Creed returns with its latest installment, Assassin's Creed: Mirage. Follow Basim's journey as a member of the Hidden Ones. Read on to learn our full review and whether or not this game delivered on its promise of returning to the series' core.

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Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Review Overview

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Engaging Stealthy Gameplay Simple & Effective Counter-Attack System Learning Made Fun Appropriately Despicable Antagonists Outfits that Slay, Literally	Slightly Awkward Freerunning Enemy AI Needs Tweaking Underwhelming Story for Basim

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Overall - 86/100

Assassin's Creed: Mirage properly delivers on the core elements of assassination, stealth, and parkour. Mirage dials back down on the RPG mechanics introduced to the series in Origins, and condenses the open-world activities into a more focused, more engaging experience. What we get is a full-fledged stealth-oriented action-adventure game that successfully goes back to the series’ roots. The game also puts focus back on the classic assassin brotherhood narrative, making AC once again the king of historical period exploration in video games.

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Story - 7/10

AC Mirage seamlessly weaves well-timed cutscenes and constant in-game dialogues together with the gameplay to deliver the overall plot. I found that I had to pay full attention to keep up with story developments. Mirage also gives players an incredibly enjoyable experience learning about the ancient setting of the game. But, despite the immersive portrayal of Baghdad and the plot it introduces, it fails to produce the same level of intrigue when it comes to the portrayal of its characters. The game fell short in delivering a compelling and engaging storyline for the main protagonist, Basim. And the big character revelations ended up feeling flat and anticlimactic, despite the time-tested literary devices used to tell each character’s story and role.

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Gameplay - 9/10

The gameplay has heavy emphasis on freedom of movement and making play style choices. Missions can be done in many different ways and Basim is well-equipped for any kind of playstyle you may want, whether it’s the stealthier route or an all-out confrontation. Combat itself is simple enough, but can be a bit bland. Where I think AC Mirage truly shines is in creative assassination. Dueling or taking out multiple enemies in melee combat sometimes feel less fun and valuable compared to cleverly routing your way around the area to get in and out like a smooth cat.

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Visuals - 9/10

AC Mirage may have a smaller map compared to its predecessors, but every area is packed with detail and makes the entire in-game world feel alive. Scenic shots are breathtaking and it seemed that the Mirage team was confident in using different camera angles to depict cutscenes. The character expressions and animations could be smoother, but you’ll get to see how expressive the characters’ faces are during the closer shots.

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Audio - 8/10

The music is spectacular and helps make the game feel a lot more ambient. The audio is mixed well and the voice lines are clear. I found that the accompanying soundtrack often outshined the voice acting. The vocal performances just lacked emotional depth. However, the tones the actors used made each character distinct.

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Value for Money - 10/10

It’s definitely worth the $49.99. This game offers a focused adventure that delivers on the elements it highlighted. You get a satisfying stealthy gameplay that features fluid parkour mechanics and cinematic assassinations, all things this series is known for. While it seems like you can complete the main story in less than 30 hours, AC Mirage is jam packed with secrets to uncover. You may find yourself spending hours hunting codex entries to learn more of Baghdad’s history, culture, and achievements. Not to mention, it’s easy to just lose track of time getting lost in the city, whether it’s for looting chests or completing other objectives outside the main story.

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Review: Hits Its Mark

Assassin's Creed: Mirage successfully returns to the series' roots. The game captures the essence of what made the series stand out and beloved in the first place. Even if AC Mirage doesn't introduce any groundbreaking elements, its commitment to the core aspects of assassination, stealth, and freedom of movement provides the "ultimate assassin experience" we have been promised ever since its inception. It scratches an itch for players who are looking for a return to the classic Assassin's Creed experience: one that emphasizes the thrill of stylish and inconspicuous kills, anonymity, and the exploration of historical periods.

Most of your time in Mirage will be spent closely following your targets and breaking in highly-patrolled areas – from gorgeous recreations of libraries, private caliphate palaces, all the way to somber, maze-like prisons. You’ll also be mostly confined to the urban area of Baghdad to make actual progress in the game.

That’s not to say there aren’t areas outside of it. There are the rural outskirts with few and far-between signs of settlements, abandoned towns in the farther outer circle of the city, and the vast horizon of sand that surrounds Baghdad. But these are places you’ll mostly have to explore on your own as you won’t be spending too much time traveling in between towns to complete quests.

And most of the other activities, like Contract Missions and the bonus "The Forty Thieves" side quest, require progress in the main story to be all unlocked. This framework present in Mirage offers a more linear experience compared to its more recent predecessors, like Valhalla and Odyssey.

The game is not easy but, I found that nothing got me stuck for too long. Mainly, the tasks are to investigate places or people, and this means going about your missions undetected most of the time. Every once in a while, I’d find myself directionless on some quests, as some of the objective prompts don’t give clear outlines.

The detailed and interactive depiction of Baghdad, along with the other activities and challenges it offers, ultimately gave me a rich and captivating gameplay experience. The attention to detail complements the gameplay and feeds into the stealthiness of the game – from the lively streets, filled with various characters, to the open homes, providing opportunities for strategic escapes. The in-game world constantly seems abuzz with people going on about their daily activities, and expect that your line of sight will be obstructed by structure after structure. I found that these design choices added to the thrill and elevated the experience because of how successfully they put you on high alert.

You can freely go around, pickpocket, steal or kill but there’s always that danger of getting caught. During missions, I found that even though there were lots of places to hide, there were always patrols lurking around. I’d cross rooftop to rooftop, scout places where I can weasel my way in, and think ahead to try to paint a mental image of hiding spots once I infiltrate a section of an area.

I’ve never had this much fun scaling walls, sneaking through windows, and hiding in plants. It’s fun cloaking in the dark, waiting to strike or cause distractions and to get to finish the mission with as little trouble as possible. The "notoriety" system adds an extra layer of challenge and consequence to the gameplay, encouraging me to be mindful of my actions and interactions. The higher Basim’s notoriety is, the more difficult it becomes to infiltrate places, or to even just go around town. NPC townies will recognize Basim and will immediately call soldiers’ attention to take him down.

Mirage allows players to enjoy a holistic experience, where every corner of the city holds potential surprises and interesting narratives, making the journey through Baghdad's streets exceptionally engaging and rewarding.

The weakest point of the game comes to having a compelling main character. We navigate Basim’s story as we pursue the Order of Ancients, a group trying to control society, opposed by the Hidden Ones who aim to stop the Order’s preying on the disenfranchised. Basim, being a Hidden One, naturally opposes the Order. There isn't much personal depth to Basim's motivations, and this left me uninvested in his story. This is an especially regrettable omission, since, spoiler alert for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Basim is the main antagonist, making this their chance to really flesh out his character.

Despite this narrative flaw, Mirage is absolutely a successful return to what Assassin’s Creed used to be. The game has struck a nice balance of gameplay and storytelling. Plot developments thrillingly unfold during quests in the forms of hints and clues you piece together. It never felt like I was merely going over an aimless to-do list.

For players seeking the classic Assassin's Creed experience, AC Mirage provides a satisfying and nostalgic journey that allows you to relive the excitement of the early games in the franchise.

Pros of Assassin’s Creed: Mirage

Things Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Got Right
Engaging Stealthy Gameplay Simple & Effective Counter-Attack System Learning Made Fun Appropriately Despicable Antagonists Outfits that Slay, Literally

Engaging Stealthy Gameplay

Assassin’s Creed Mirage brings back the essence of the series and puts it front and center in the gameplay: to be an assassin. It is best to remain undetected throughout the missions in AC Mirage as the combat is quite punishing, despite its simplicity. You’ll get the most out of Basim’s offensive abilities from being crafty and hitting from out of nowhere. It’s easy to avoid blowing your cover, but the challenge comes from the complex design of the different areas, teeming with guards ready to take you down on sight especially when the area is on high alert.

Maintaining stealth is crucial, and the consequences for being detected are balanced to keep the tension without making the game overly frustrating. Players are incentivized to maintain a low profile and avoid unnecessary attention, something we haven’t seen in a lot of the Assassin’s Creed games of late.

Basim's relatively reduced combat prowess has shifted the challenge more towards strategy and planning rather than direct confrontation. It’s important to carefully analyze enemy positions and the layout of the environment. Using abilities like Eagle Vision and Whistle helped me execute these tactics.

Most game mechanics also seem to tie in with that focus on stealth, like the notoriety system. The more crimes you’re caught committing, the more notorious you become and the more aggressively the authorities pursue you. This, for me, added an extra layer of challenge and realism to the gameplay, encouraging me to be more strategic and lowkey. There’s lots of intel gathering and asking around, too. It makes you feel like a proper ancient world detective, wrapped in a hooded tunic overcoat.

Simple & Effective Counter-Attack System

Mistimed dodges or parries can lead to dire consequences. You can die after just taking 3-4 hits from enemies, making Basim basically a glass cannon. It’s safe to say that combat isn’t really the highlight for this Assassin’s Creed game. But, there is magic in the way that you can do a lot by being passive in battle in AC Mirage.

The combat system uses a coloring mechanic to indicate if attacks can be parried or must be dodged. You can simply wait for your opponent to make a move, defend, and attack in the opening. The counter-attack system can then be used to your advantage, letting you land a chain of attacks, secure a kill, or restore some stamina.

Learning Made Fun

AC Mirage is a game that invites players to truly get to know the period and locations the game is set in. Each codex entry you find in-world all finely details the societal life of Baghdad, starting from its founding. As someone who enjoys learning snippets of history, I really liked the exploration-education format Mirage is bringing back. Of course, there’s always the fictional spin to have it make sense with the game, but a lot of it is still grounded in reality. It felt like reading an encyclopedia, and made me think "Wow, Assassin’s Creed is definitely still the video game authority when it comes to histories of civilizations in games."

Some historical sites are out of the way, so it can be a chore getting to them. But it goes without mentioning how stunning the game captures real world sites. I think I was most impressed with the Ziggurat of Dur-Kurigalzu. Just seeing the remains of the ancient city juxtaposed with the impressive man made structure was a unique experience. Google Earth can’t provide this level of immersion. I basically got a virtual walking tour in a dead city site.

The codex entries also give context to different aspects of the in-game world or plot. For example, you’ll learn about the Translation Movement in 9th century Baghdad and how this ties into the main quest "Follow the Fiery Trail". Your target to assassinate, Fazil the Great Scholar, turns out to be a leader of The Order who has gotten his hands on texts on dark magic and has been conducting human experiments. It’s a great mixture of fiction with nonfiction, and it’s sure to hold the attention of even those who usually dislike history.

Appropriately Despicable Antagonists

Learning about the motives and evils of the targets added depth to the playing experience. It offered that addictive gameplay loop of learning about your targets and hunting them down. Uncovering these sordid backstories really enhanced the "assassin experience," as it harks back to the classic loop of tailing, eavesdropping, and others just to uncover more.

Apart from that, however, Mirage tried to be eye-opening in how predatory and exploitative hierarchies and schemes of power can truly be which is mostly tied into the main quest. One such topic Mirage brings up is the purchasing of migrant laborers. Al-Ghul, a member of the Order, preys on foreign settlers. He forces them into working his dig sites with prisoners, all under the guise of providing them with a livelihood.

Al-Ghul would overwork the migrant workers, all to scour the desert for some artifact. These people dug at his bidding, died at his hands, and were castaway like mere sweepings. Truly, a man who preys off the desperate and disenfranchised. "Such atrocities will continue. One person is but a cog in a larger wheel that spins destructively" Basim’s mentor Roshan declaims. I think these backstories paint a portrait of a truly hateable target, allowing us to strike him down with little moral ambiguity.

Outfits that Slay, Literally

While Basim’s wardrobe isn’t wildly assorted, each of them enhance the gameplay overall. Outfits will have game-changing perks that complement the stealthiness of the game and are, interestingly, like extensions of Basim’s assassin abilities. Somehow, a white garb can make me as silent as the dead. Never realized Basim was so into fashion. Nearly all outfits are accessible (3 are exclusive to DLC packs) and you can essentially switch up Basim’s build by changing his cloaks whenever the mission calls for it, no sweat.

Cons of Assassin’s Creed: Mirage

Things That Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Can Improve
Slightly Awkward Freerunning Enemy AI Needs Tweaking Underwhelming Story for Basim

Slightly Awkward Freerunning

The parkour and freerunning mechanics in AC Mirage have undergone some changes and they definitely look a tad more fluid. However, there were some limitations in movement control, especially in terms of Basim's behavior at the edges of surfaces. The autopathing tends to disrupt your flow and route, sometimes causing you to land somewhere you didn’t mean to.

The spacing between vertical posts, like buildings and mountain walls, and the inability to leap between them despite visual indications that you should be able to, can lead to some frustrating situations. I've almost fallen to my death a couple of times, especially when reaching higher multilevel areas, like the training ground in Alamut.

Additionally, the absence of certain parkour abilities, like side leaps and wallruns, are a bit of a disappointment, as it makes freerunning feel somewhat automated. But the wide array of obstacles to hurdle through more than makes up for features I think the game missed out on.

Enemy AI Needs Tweaking

The real challenge of dealing with enemies comes from the intricacy of each location’s design, enemy placement, and their numbers. The enemies themselves don’t present much challenge aside from overwhelming you with numbers in combat. They’ll fall for the same tricks most of the time and you can always easily recover if you accidentally (or intentionally) blow your cover. Patrol guards don’t look or spin their heads around too much. It’s also easy to lose guards who are on your tail, since the enemies don’t seem to employ any strategy whatsoever in chasing you.

Underwhelming Story for Basim

AC Mirage explores 9th century Baghdad and the origin story of Basim. The stories and events in Baghdad make up the majority of the game’s plot. The main plotline involving the conflict between the Hidden Ones and the Order of Ancients is clear and straightforward, but Basim's character development and backstory was not nearly as engaging or well-executed. Rather, his story felt underwhelming, with some twists just thrown in there, seemingly haphazardly.

The story's stakes are set early in Mirage, establishing the conflict between the Hidden Ones and the Order, but not the same can be said for our protagonist’s own story. An enigmatic artifact discovered by Basim in the palace at the beginning of the game is intricately tied to his character, yet this element remains underexplored, mentioned only briefly a couple of times before its eventual revelation.

Similarly, Basim's haunting visions, meant to serve as a metaphor for his character, lack substantial exploration throughout the game, leaving his character development feeling incomplete and unfulfilled. They tried to spur intrigue with Basim's backstory but there weren't really any meaty, juicy parts written in the game for his narrative. It's muddled with lots of uninspired symbolism and an unsatisfying conclusion. It doesn’t seem like we’ll get any further development on his character anytime soon either, with the next game set to take place in Japan during the feudal era. It really feels like a wasted opportunity.

Is Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Worth It?

Definitely Worth It

Completing the main quest of Assassin’s Creed: Mirage should take anywhere between 25-30 hours, depending on how swiftly you crack clues and complete investigations. Outside of these missions are a rich array of objectives and optional content you can pursue that, more often than not, take you on a thorough exploration of the city of Baghdad. The game lets you fully immerse yourself in this carefully crafted world by packing it with optional content as you progress through the main story. Of course, side quests and optional content are penchants of the series, but they’ve managed to make it feel less of a slog or menial this time around.

It’s certifiably an enjoyable game especially if what you like about AC is stealth and delving into perfectly realized ancient worlds. Honestly, $49.99 is just right for this game.

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Overview & Premise

Assassin’s Creed Mirage follows Basim as he goes from being a street thief to a full-fledged member of the Assassin Brotherhood in 9th century Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age. In the midst of political instability, Basim must serve the brotherhood and uncover the mysteries of The Order, a powerful, secret group that holds powers over even the most influential leaders in the city.

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Assassin's Creed Mirage Product Information

Title	ASSASSIN’S CREED MIRAGE
Release Date	October 5, 2023
Developer	Ubisoft
Publisher	Ubisoft
Supported Platforms	PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Genre	Action, Adventure
Number of Players	Single player
ESRB Rating	M
Official Website	Assassin’s Creed Mirage Website

Charlene Aguila

A huge enthusiast of interactive games, turn-based RPGs, and horror-survivals that let you fire a gun. Her love for gaming started with the Shin Megami Tensei franchise and Dino Crisis. Although she'd try any game there is in the world, she will always have the biggest room in her heart for titles..