Assassin's Creed Odyssey review: Impressively detailed and fun, but familiar

Assassinator's Creed is a staple video game franchise that seems to e'er maintain a high standard of gameplay, open-world shenanigans, and stunning visuals. Assassin's Creed went dark for a couple of years following Assassin's Creed Syndicate, as Ubisoft struggled with franchise fatigue.

Assassinator'south Creed Origins, released just final year, was arguably the best Assassinator'due south Creed in years, bringing with it fresh RPG mechanics, stunning 4K visuals, set in a vast Ancient Egypt landscape. Assassin's Creed Odyssey pushes deeper into RPG territory, with a branching, choice-and-consequence narrative, an emphasis on loot and equipment upgrades, and experience gain.

Set in Aboriginal Greece, how well does Odyssey stand upwardly to the Assassin'southward Creed legacy? Here'due south what you demand to know.

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Assassin's Creed Odyssey visuals and setting

Assassin'southward Creed Odyssey continues Ubisoft's tradition for open up-world particular. Aboriginal Greece has never been realized so vividly in a game earlier, dotted with marble ruins, decrepit tombs, and hulking statues. The gigantic map is crammed with a loftier density of areas to explore, with unique biomes such equally Mediterranean islands, swampy marshland, dense forests, and mountainous regions. Each corner of the map has something unique to offer, elevated with spectacular HDR lighting, 24-hour interval and night cycles, and moody conditions effects.

Odyssey is another win for Ubisoft's leading design squad.

Ubisoft's team has done a bully job breathing life into Odyssey in much the same way information technology did in Origins, with a wide range of intersecting A.I. ecosystems. Aboriginal Greece is aggress by warring factions, with Spartans, Athenians, and other nations littering the world with violence and battles. You tin can likewise partake in these large-scale epic fights yourself as part of the game'southward conquest system, and the book of fighting NPCs on screen — all without a hint of slowdown — is quite impressive.

Odyssey is most impressive in 4K on the Xbox One X or on a higher-stop Windows PC that enjoys college pixel densities and depict-distance than the Xbox One S version of the game. In my current build, texture compression probably needs to exist tweaked, equally information technology'due south a little aggressive at times even on the X. That's a minor gripe considering how feature-rich the game's landscapes are, though.

Odyssey puts a renewed accent on naval combat and sailing, not seen since Assassinator's Creed Four: Black Flag. As such, the game has some really spectacular water effects, adapted from previous games. HDR lighting glistens on the waves, which react to weather dynamically, making sailing more than dramatic.

Ubisoft's penchant for authenticity remains in Odyssey. A few dozen hours in, and you lot'll happen upon Athens, Greece's historic capital. Seeing the Acropolis reimagined during the elevation of its glory is an inspiring sight, and many other famous Greek landmarks brand the cut, likewise. If you're a fan of ancient Greece and its mythology, this is a game you have to play.

From the detailed 4K visuals, the evocative historical music, and varied environments, Odyssey is another win for Ubisoft'southward leading open world blueprint team.

Assassin'southward Creed Odyssey story

For Odyssey, Ubisoft is diving deeper into RPG territory with its commencement endeavour at a true branching narrative, where your decisions have consequences. The direction is a welcome one, but it's quite clear that Ubisoft is inexperienced with it.

Assassinator's Creed Odyssey takes place several years after the famous boxing Battle of Thermopylae, which the picture show 300 is based on. You lot play as either Alexios or Cassandra, the grandchild of Leonidas of Sparta.

Following events I won't spoil, y'all're separated from your family equally a kid and finish up carving a life out for yourself on a small island. Working as a misthios, or mercenary, you lot're eventually offered a major contract, providing enough greenbacks to exit the island and begin setting up a mercenary visitor, consummate with your own trireme ship.

Odyssey follows the familiar Ubisoft formula of tracking down the main adversary'southward lieutenants across the globe, eliminating them as you lot work your mode to the peak. Y'all notice that a nefarious cult is tracking down your family unit bloodline, working from the shadows to influence Greek politics across the world. Resolving to terminate them, Alexios or Cassandra embarks on an ballsy odyssey to end the cult, and uncover the mysteries of their past and the supernaturally powerful Spear of Leonidas, which ties into the over-arching sci-fi Assassin's Creed plot.

The ability to make story decisions is a nice step forward.

The decisions you make in Assassin'due south Creed Odyssey are referenced throughout future conversations, but opportunities to influence the actual outcomes of a quest are rare. Some major plot threads diverge based on your decisions, but it's overall a softer approach than other games.

Problematically, your choices can also create odd contradictions in the principal character's personality, since main plot threads seem to want to bind you to a specifically noble personality, while side quests often allow you to be, well ... a bit of a dick. In 1 main story mission, Alexios gets incredibly angry at a villain for playing both sides of the state of war to sell weapons, despite the fact that the game'due south quests are rammed with opportunities to do exactly that.

I experienced dozens of instances like this where the main character slips quite hands into inconsistent morals and hypocrisy based on your dialogue choices, versus choices that are made for you as part of the main story. If y'all want to avert that, be sure you're always choosing the "heroic" option, since that's effectively what the game wants Alexios or Cassandra to be.

Despite that, Odyssey's story holds up nicely. Some of the dialogue is genuinely laugh-out-loud hilarious, owing to the main character'south cocky airs. Many of the game'due south side quests riff on tales from ancient Greece while tying some of the mythology more deeply into Assassin'southward Creed's main story. The game explores historical accounts of ancient Greek culture, including polytheism, fledgling republic, ostracism, and slavery.

As usual, Ubisoft plays it safe when information technology comes to controversy and drama, avoiding the introduction of a primal antagonist until a few dozen hours in. Information technology makes information technology hard to forge an emotional attachment to the story and its characters equally a result, since the game revolves around shadowy organizations for the almost part, rather than an identifiable threat.

Despite the mixed results, the ability to make story decisions is a nice stride forward for the franchise.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey gameplay

Odyssey continues what Ubisoft started with Assassinator's Creed Origins, pivoting the serial towards a more RPG-like format. Levels and feel gains are back, every bit well equally loot, passive traits, and specializing ability trees. At that place are a few systems borrowed from older Assassinator's Creed titles and even other games.

On normal difficulty, combat presents a solid challenge, although information technology can experience a bit cheap at times. Your defensive abilities are a melee parry, a brusk dodge, and a longer dodge coil. Regular enemies are easy enough to dispatch, their weapons shimmering white to signify that they can be parried. Each weapon type has its own animations to learn and defend against, and in one case you do, parrying is easy and satisfying, allowing you to follow up with your own combo flurries.

Where things get trickier is in the array of special abilities enemies frequently take that cannot be parried. In the terminate, it's usually safer to just contrivance-roll when combating elite mercenaries and captains, since a fault tin price you a huge amount of wellness. Still, you gain access to your own array of deadly tools to fight dorsum.

The bow and arrow return from Origins and can be upgraded to a really deadly piece of kit, with aimed headshots dispatching enemies with ease. There are several powerful melee abilities, as well, accessible on ability wheels while belongings downwards certain shoulder buttons. The iconic "Spartan boot" popularized in 300 sends enemies flying off edges to their death. You tin can also wield a wide array of weapons that support various playstyles, including brusque swords, spears, and large two-handed axes. Beyond standard heavy and light combos, there are some "hidden" special moves you tin can pull off when dodging in certain directions, adding some flair to proceedings. Fights typically cease with a context-sensitive execution animation, which is satisfying.

Supporting basic combat is typical Assassin's Creed stealth gameplay. Replacing the hidden blade is the Spear of Leonidas, which can be upgraded throughout the game'due south story. Borrowing from Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Alexios tin can hurl his spear at a distant target to effectively "teleport" to them, although the game makes it seem equally though he simply rushed over there. It's a little cheesy in the context of the game, but it's still quite fun to pull off.

Some of the college-end abilities include deadly combos, exploding arrows, and slow motion, all important tools for overcoming Odyssey'southward surprisingly hard enemies. In keeping with the game'due south swing to RPG-mode mechanics, maintaining your weapons and equipment is a must, because enemies scale directly alongside your level. If you permit your gear get likewise far behind, you will dice chop-chop. You can upgrade your gear using wood, leather, iron, and other collectibles obtained via exploration or hunting.

Equally I progressed further through the game, I frequently found myself struggling to maintain a decent amount of materials to keep footstep with the enemies, despite doing a off-white bit of exploration and full general looting. Missions and areas can jump up a few levels quite quickly, likewise. If you lot're the type of person who ignores side quests and exploration, it'southward easy to notice yourself struggling to progress. It'south with this in listen that I find information technology quite frustrating that Ubisoft sells permanent EXP and money boosts inside the game for real money, equally if they knew that progress would get grindy for some players.

The game revolves around mercenaries, both in its plot and in-game mechanics. Committing murder, theft, and other actions have a run a risk to create a bounty on your head. More powerful enemies will begin tracking you across the map, often showing up when you lot would really rather they didn't. As you impale your manner upward the ladder, you can earn passive benefits such as decreased vendor prices.

This is where I feel Odyssey slips up a chip with its gameplay. You can "recruit" stunned enemies and some quest NPCs into your mercenary visitor, but once they're in your crew, they pretty much practice naught. There was a missed opportunity here to explore camaraderie and mercenary "brotherhood," in a similar vein to Assassinator's Creed: Brotherhood, ironically. It would have been interesting to see real rivalries between you and other aristocracy mercenary groups.

Speaking of bolting on, Assassin's Creed 4: Blackness Flag's free roaming naval combat makes a return, as well, although it'southward a lot more than fun than the mercenary organisation. The Greek archipelago is a perfect opportunity for this blazon of naval gameplay, and Odyssey does a skillful chore of making ship combat and traversal experience enjoyable.

Overall, Assassin's Creed Odyssey has great gameplay, but some of the additional systems Ubisoft included for this game could accept used a piffling more love to requite this game its ain identity.

The lowdown on Assassin's Creed Odyssey

Across the dozens of hours I played Odyssey this by calendar week, I never found myself bored. Whether raiding enemy ships for boodle, diving through abased tombs off the beaten rails, or hunting down some of the game'south hole-and-corner boss fights for legendary gear, there'southward plenty of things to keep yous busy beyond the main story.

Odyssey is a great entry in the wider series, largely bug-gratuitous, with great visuals and tight combat. Merely many of the "new" features Ubisoft included aren't as well executed equally y'all might hope from an annual franchise. I wish Ubisoft had fleshed out the mercenary ladder and mercenary coiffure a flake more to tie them into the game's story, as it would have granted Odyssey a starker identity. The dialogue choices are a nice bear on, and a few key moments tin influence the style the game ends. Nevertheless, yous won't actually feel much of that touch throughout the game, save for a few referential dialogue lines here and there.

Pros:

Stunning scenery.
Satisfying gainsay.
Dumbo open up world, full of interesting quests.

Cons:

Can feel a piffling grindy at times.
Does little to refresh the formula.

If you enjoyed Assassin's Creed 4'due south naval combat and Assassin Creed Origins' shift to an RPG-like progression organisation, Odyssey is a friction match fabricated in Elysium. Odyssey does not revolutionize the franchise, but it's a capable entry that volition satisfy fans for dozens and dozens of hours. The game is expected to exist released on October 5, 2022, for Xbox One, PC and PlayStation 4, for $60.

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