Assassin's Creed Mirage Gameplay Trailer Prioritizes Stealth in Return to Franchise Roots

ign.com:

Ubisoft just showed off an extended look at gameplay from its upcoming Assassin's Creed entry, Assassin's Creed: Mirage, highlighting the ways in which its stealth-focused gameplay is a return to the franchise's assassination roots.

The presentation focused on the classic elements of Assassin's Creed present in Mirage that are highly reminicent of the early games, noting that players should always feel there is a discreet or sneaky way to eliminate their targets. Main character Basim's arsenal includes the hidden blade, a sword, a dagger, smoke bombs, blow darts, and throwing knives, which can be upgraded in various ways.

Direct combat, Ubisoft says, should be a "back-up solution" when stealth has failed and there are no other choices. It's a significant departure from the more action-heavy Assassin's Creed games in recent years, but very similar to the way the early games such as the first Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed 2 handled their gameplay.

Story-wise, Mirage takes place in 19th century Baghdad and follows Basim in a "tragic coming of age story" that explores the tenants of the titular Assassin's Creed. Basim is a street thief who becomes an assassin, but begins to have "nightmarish visions" that seem to be connected to his destiny.

Assassin's Creed: Mirage is currently in the "last phase of production" and the 400+ person team, led by Ubisoft Bordeax, is working on polish and debugging. The game is planned for release on October 12 of this year, and will cost $50 for the standard edition. A deluxe edition will also be available for $60.

In the same presentation, we also got a look at Assassin's Creed: Nexus for VR and the mobile-first Assassin's Creed Codename Jade. For this and all things Summer of Gaming,