Transported back in time once again, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey puts players in the middle of one of the deadliest conflicts of history: the Peloponnesian War. Going hands-on with the game, Ubisoft places us at the peak of Greece’s Golden Age showing us that this franchise is far from dead but instead, fully revived.
Watch: Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey Hands-on Gameplay & Impressions
Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey – What’s New?
While there are a lot of new additions Ubisoft brought to the table this time around, character selection is the one that probably excites us the most. For the first time in Assassin’s Creed history, at the start of the game players can choose to play the entire game as a character of our choosing: Alexios or Kassandra. Similar to what we’re used to from games like Mass Effect, choosing your character here doesn’t alter the story; however, the new player choice dialog options will have a lasting impact throughout the game.
Just like in Assassin’s Creed: Origins, players can tailor their skill tree to their play-style. What’s new in Odyssey is the addition of combat skills such as the Spartan Kick which, combined with some of the most iconic finishers of the franchise make each encounter epic. Moreover, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey simply delivers when it comes to encountering historical legends such as Hippokrates and Socrates and the addition of large-scale 150 vs. 150 battles gives players a real taste war.
Set sail with no sails in Ancient Greece as your crew rows you to victory. The Assassin’s Creed franchise is no stranger to boats and naval combat, but Odyssey takes it to a whole new level. Players are not only able to traverse the vast map via ship, but take part in battles against full fleets, customizing your warship and recruiting crew members to prep for the next potential encounter. With a fully-dynamic weather system which has seen some noticeable improvements from the already-impressive Black Flag, naval combat in the game takes on a whole new meaning when a storm approaches.
Also, One of the more exciting changes to Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey is what happens when the player kills innocent civilians. Previously, killing civilians would desynchronize you, killing the player and making them reload from a previous save point. Instead, there is a new Mercenary System where if players commit illegal acts their notoriety, or bounty, increases. As your bounty grows, high-level mercenaries spawn, very much like the Phylakitai from Assassins Creed: Origins. Once you encounter them, you have a few choices; pay the bounty, run away, or kill them and take their loot.
Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey – My Impressions
When I first played Assassin’s Creed: Origins I was confident in saying it was the most beautiful Assassin’s Creed to date but, after getting a chance to go hands-on with Odyssey, that spot has been quickly replaced; Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is absolutely stunning.
With a map equally as large as Origins, navigating the unique landscape of Ancient Greece is simply breathtaking. The vibrant colors that decorate this iconic landscape make Assassin’s Creed Odyssey a wondrous adventure. The water alone drew in my attention; the mere idea of being able to explore the massive depths of the Aegean Sea made me jump right into the water to find full shipwrecks. Even with the limited time I had with the game, I was already easily distracted by just roaming around and exploring this captivating environment. Odyssey is a game one could easily spend hours in just wandering around picking up meaningful side quests and interacting with AI that becomes more lifelike with each installment.
Furthermore, the time period players visit in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey takes place actually before the events of Origins. While Assassin’s Creed: Origins was dubbed “the origin story”, I am extremely intrigued to unravel how the timeline connects. With the long overdue addition of character selection and player choice dialog, Assassin’s Creed is finally fleshing out to be the RPG of our dreams. Rather than operating like an unwanted checklist, grinding meaningless missions and only living for every cutscene, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey finally shifted its focus to the player and it’s well equipped to be the best Assassin’s Creed yet.
Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey is available October 5th, Be sure to preorder your copy for early access, FOR SPARTA!!
Check out more of our Impressions of the most anticipated titles of 2018 here: Kingdom Hearts 3 Impressions | E3 2018, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Impressions | E3 2018
