Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk. Journey into Ancient Egypt, the most mysterious place in History, during a crucial period that will shape the world. Discover the secrets behind the Great Pyramids, forgotten myths, the last pharaohs, and - engraved in long-lost hieroglyphics - the origin story of the Assassin's Brotherhood.. Mercenary Pack The biggest change in Origins is that it now plays as an open-world RPG. With this comes a whole host of improvements and additions that really does bring the game, and the series, forward. Combat blends a mixture of light and heavy attacks with blocking, parries and dodging as opposed to standing there waiting to counter-kill everyone. With the addition of difficulty modes, combat can often be quite challenging as simple button mashing will get you nowhere. Enemies have a variety of weapons equipped so you have to learn how and when to attack and fighting multiple enemies can be challenging. However, despite the overhaul to the combat system, it feels very clunky and awkward at times. The lock-on system is great for one-on-one fights but as soon as you get into a fight with multiple enemies it becomes frustrating. You'll be dodging around a fair bit during combat but due to the camera position, you often end up backed in a corner or getting stuck on the scenery. When everything works it feels great but when things get clunky, you'll end up getting annoyed. I have personally found that changing the controls from default to alternative have improved the feeling of the combat but it's not perfect. The open-world is quite large and filled with things for you to do. Unity and Syndicate had gorgeous areas to explore but they weren't open-world so after a while you ended up feeling constrained in where you could go and everything started to look the same. Origins has a massive landscape for you to explore and immerse yourself in. Siwa, the first village you find yourself in, looks great and has plenty to do for the first five hours or so but you'll soon be itching to hop on your camel and charge off into the desert and explore! Due to the RPG mechanics of the game, the way it plays is much improved. Weapons are obtained via a loot system through treasure chests, killing enemies and quest rewards. There are various weapon types that you can use including dual daggers, heavy maces/axes, swords and spears as well as three different bow types. Light bows fire quickly but don't have a lot of power, warrior bows can fire multiple arrows at once and predator bows have increased precision damage and can be aimed in first person. Weapons can be upgraded and even improved to your level so if you have a favourite, you can keep it for as long as you like! You can craft and improve your gear to increase things like your overall health, melee damage, ranged damage and resistances. This can be done by hunting the vast array of wildlife throughout Egypt in a system that feels very familiar to Black Flag but no less rewarding. The animals and wildlife in general is fantastic and really does spirit you away to the era. Birds will come gliding down into the sparkling blue water, predators lurk in the shadows and attack in packs and the large creatures do actually put up a fight and feel somewhat realistic. There is also a variety of outfits that Bayek can buy/obtain and wear that change his appearance. Also, we can finally choose to toggle our hood on or off! Enemies also have levels and will deal/take less damage depending on your own level. This adds a sense of danger when exploring or trying to plan your route through an enemy outpost as you have to work out which ones to eliminate first or return to later when you've levelled up. Admittedly, this doesn't feel very 'Assassin's Creed' but that is actually a good thing. Syndicate introduced a similar system but never really developed it. It's about time Ubisoft removed the shackles from previous games and the RPG mechanics in Origins work really well and help deliver a better game and a breath of fresh air for the series. Ever wondered where the whole 'eagle vision' thing came from? Well, in Origins you can summon your faithful eagle, Senu, whenever you like at the press of a button. You can control Senu in the air and use her to spot things far off in the distance like animals, enemies and activities. Origins doesn't feature a mini-map so when you're sneaking about in ancient temples or enemy outposts you actually NEED to use Senu in order to see things from a different perspective and tag enemies for Bayek. It's actually quite fun to do this and breaks-up the traditional system of relying on a mini-map constantly and it also fits into the lore of series so it all makes sense!
Box Contains
Blu-Ray
Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk. Journey into Ancient Egypt, the most mysterious place in History, during a crucial period that will shape the world. Discover the secrets behind the Great Pyramids, forgotten myths, the last pharaohs, and - engraved in long-lost hieroglyphics - the origin story of the Assassin's Brotherhood.. Mercenary Pack The biggest change in Origins is that it now plays as an open-world RPG. With this comes a whole host of improvements and additions that really does bring the game, and the series, forward. Combat blends a mixture of light and heavy attacks with blocking, parries and dodging as opposed to standing there waiting to counter-kill everyone. With the addition of difficulty modes, combat can often be quite challenging as simple button mashing will get you nowhere. Enemies have a variety of weapons equipped so you have to learn how and when to attack and fighting multiple enemies can be challenging. However, despite the overhaul to the combat system, it feels very clunky and awkward at times. The lock-on system is great for one-on-one fights but as soon as you get into a fight with multiple enemies it becomes frustrating. You'll be dodging around a fair bit during combat but due to the camera position, you often end up backed in a corner or getting stuck on the scenery. When everything works it feels great but when things get clunky, you'll end up getting annoyed. I have personally found that changing the controls from default to alternative have improved the feeling of the combat but it's not perfect. The open-world is quite large and filled with things for you to do. Unity and Syndicate had gorgeous areas to explore but they weren't open-world so after a while you ended up feeling constrained in where you could go and everything started to look the same. Origins has a massive landscape for you to explore and immerse yourself in. Siwa, the first village you find yourself in, looks great and has plenty to do for the first five hours or so but you'll soon be itching to hop on your camel and charge off into the desert and explore! Due to the RPG mechanics of the game, the way it plays is much improved. Weapons are obtained via a loot system through treasure chests, killing enemies and quest rewards. There are various weapon types that you can use including dual daggers, heavy maces/axes, swords and spears as well as three different bow types. Light bows fire quickly but don't have a lot of power, warrior bows can fire multiple arrows at once and predator bows have increased precision damage and can be aimed in first person. Weapons can be upgraded and even improved to your level so if you have a favourite, you can keep it for as long as you like! You can craft and improve your gear to increase things like your overall health, melee damage, ranged damage and resistances. This can be done by hunting the vast array of wildlife throughout Egypt in a system that feels very familiar to Black Flag but no less rewarding. The animals and wildlife in general is fantastic and really does spirit you away to the era. Birds will come gliding down into the sparkling blue water, predators lurk in the shadows and attack in packs and the large creatures do actually put up a fight and feel somewhat realistic. There is also a variety of outfits that Bayek can buy/obtain and wear that change his appearance. Also, we can finally choose to toggle our hood on or off! Enemies also have levels and will deal/take less damage depending on your own level. This adds a sense of danger when exploring or trying to plan your route through an enemy outpost as you have to work out which ones to eliminate first or return to later when you've levelled up. Admittedly, this doesn't feel very 'Assassin's Creed' but that is actually a good thing. Syndicate introduced a similar system but never really developed it. It's about time Ubisoft removed the shackles from previous games and the RPG mechanics in Origins work really well and help deliver a better game and a breath of fresh air for the series. Ever wondered where the whole 'eagle vision' thing came from? Well, in Origins you can summon your faithful eagle, Senu, whenever you like at the press of a button. You can control Senu in the air and use her to spot things far off in the distance like animals, enemies and activities. Origins doesn't feature a mini-map so when you're sneaking about in ancient temples or enemy outposts you actually NEED to use Senu in order to see things from a different perspective and tag enemies for Bayek. It's actually quite fun to do this and breaks-up the traditional system of relying on a mini-map constantly and it also fits into the lore of series so it all makes sense!