Assassin's Creed Origins

Previous titles in the Assassin's Creed series used a "paired animation system" whereby the player character would engage with an enemy and combat would be dictated by a series of predetermined animations based on player inputs and scripted AI movements. Origins moved to a "hit-box system". When the player wields a weapon, they strike at whatever is in range, allowing them to hit and injure enemies directly, and creating the possibility of missing an enemy entirely.[20] There are two modes of melee attack—light attacks are fast but weak, and heavy attacks are slow but strong.[5] Complementing this is the way weapons fall into different categories (common, rare and legendary) and are rated on the damage dealt, speed and range.[21] Bayek is equipped with eight types of melee weapons and four types of bows and arrows.[22] Legendary weapons can usually be obtained by defeating high-level enemies called the Phylakes.[23] As enemy combat is also dictated by the hit-box system, the player is equipped with a shield and needs to balance their offensive and defensive capabilities.[24] Players need to use different weapons when facing different enemy archetypes.[5] They may also need to dodge or parry hostile attacks. Adrenaline slowly builds up during combat. When the player's adrenaline bar is full, they can unleash a devastating attack with their melee weapon.[25] Bayek also has access to tools such as sleeping darts, poison darts, and firebombs, and can use the environment to his advantage.[12] For instance, he can light enemies on fire after shooting oil canisters with fire arrows, and set traps near braziers, killing enemies when they attempt to call for reinforcements.[26]

Locations within the game world enable the player to choose their playing style by offering stealth and open combat as equally viable choices for completing objectives. Players can assassinate enemies by sneaking up behind them using the hidden blade, though higher-level enemies are not easily killed.[27] The "eagle vision" mode, which was used by the franchise to give the player the ability to scout an area by highlighting enemies and objects, has been replaced by a Bonelli's eagle named Senu as a companion.[28] The player can take control of Senu and scout an area in advance, highlighting enemies who will then be visible when they return to controlling Bayek. Players can hide in tall grass or navigate rooftops to avoid enemies' attention.[29] Bayek, however, can whistle to draw an enemy toward him, allowing assassination when the player is still in hiding. As with other Assassin's Creed games, Bayek is an expert in free running and can climb nearly all structures. The player can also tame various predators, which will serve as a companion for the player and assist them against enemies.[30] Naval combat returns in sections where players control Bayek's love interest Aya, who can command a ship and attack hostile ship vessels.[31]

The player takes on the role of a Medjay named Bayek of Siwa and his wife Aya, as they work to protect the people of Ptolemaic Egypt during a time of widespread upheaval. The Pharaoh, Ptolemy XIII, struggles to maintain his rule while harboring ambitions of expanding his kingdom. His sister, the recently deposed Cleopatra, begins marshaling loyalist forces to launch a counter-coup against Ptolemy. Additionally, incursions into the Kingdom by the Roman Republic under the command of Julius Caesar lead to fears of an imminent invasion. Bayek's role as a Medjay brings him and Aya into contact with the secretive forces manipulating these events and into becoming the Hidden Ones, the first of the Assassin Brotherhood.

In 49 BC, Bayek, a Medjay charged with protecting the Siwa Oasis, is abducted along with his son Khemu by a group of masked men and taken to an underground vault in the Temple of Amun. They give Bayek a dormant Piece of Eden and demand that he use it to open a secret vault. Khemu helps Bayek escape. While struggling with one of the masked men, Bayek inadvertently kills Khemu. One year later, in 48 BC, Bayek has exiled himself to track down the five masked men to take his revenge. After eliminating two targets, Bayek heads for Alexandria to meet Aya, Bayek's wife. Aya reveals that there is only one target left. Bayek identifies the Royal Scribe Eudoros as the last target, but he is disturbed by Eudoros' last words, which imply there are more masked men. Aya directs Bayek to her friend Apollodorus for more information. Apollodorus introduces him to Cleopatra, who confirms that the masked men are members of the Order of the Ancients, which ousted her from the throne and seeks to control Egypt using Ptolemy as their puppet.

Cleopatra gives Bayek four new targets. He tracks them down and kills them while Aya convinces Pompey the Great to ally with Cleopatra. Bayek receives a letter from Aya explaining there are more members of the Order at large, including members of Ptolemy's royal guard who are likely responsible for Khemu's death. Bayek begins to believe that Cleopatra is using him to kill her rivals. Pompey is killed by Lucius Septimius, forcing Bayek and Aya to sneak Cleopatra into the palace to meet Julius Caesar. Cleopatra impresses Caesar and secures his support. Bayek kills Pothinus, "The Scorpion", but is stopped from killing Septimius by Caesar. Aya watches Ptolemy be eaten by crocodiles when he tries to flee across the Nile.

Cleopatra takes the throne as Pharaoh. Septimius becomes an advisor to Caesar, and Cleopatra cuts ties with Bayek and Aya. Bayek and his supporters realize that Cleopatra and Caesar have now allied themselves with the Order. Bayek gathers his allies to form a brotherhood to counter the Order and defend the people's free will. Bayek and Aya realize the Order showed interest in the tomb of Alexander the Great where they find a mortally wounded Apollodorus. He warns them Caesar's lieutenant Flavius is the true leader of the Order. He and Septimius had taken the Orb and a Staff from the tomb and are going to Siwa to open the Vault.

Bayek tracks Flavius to Cyrene, where he has used the activated Apple of Eden to hold the population in thrall. He kills Flavius, avenging Khemu's death and returns to Aya. Aya recruits Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger and Gaius Cassius Longinus to their cause and heads to Rome to assassinate Caesar and Septimius. Bayek and Aya part ways but form the Hidden Ones, the foundation of the Assassin Brotherhood when they both swear to protect the world from the shadows. In Rome, Aya confronts and kills Septimius, who wields the Staff of Eden. She infiltrates the Roman Senate and assassinates Caesar. Later, she meets Cleopatra and warns her to be a fair ruler or she will return to assassinate her. Afterward, Bayek and Aya (now calling herself Amunet)[lower-alpha 1] begin recruiting and training other Hidden Ones as they build the Brotherhood in Egypt and Rome, respectively.

In the present day, Layla Hassan, a former researcher for Abstergo Industries, is tasked with finding and retrieving an artifact in Egypt for the Assassin Brotherhood. Instead, she finds a tomb containing the mummies of Bayek and Aya. Hoping to find any relevant information that would secure her a position in the company's Animus Project, Layla decides to relive both Bayek and Aya's memories using a modified Animus without telling her superiors. When Layla fails to report in, Abstergo sends a team to kill her, but their plan fails. Layla returns to the Animus but is later wakened by William Miles, the Assassin Mentor and the father of the deceased Desmond Miles. She accepts his offer to work with the Assassins but stops short of actually joining them. The two depart for modern-day Alexandria. In experiencing Bayek's memories, Layla may encounter a series of ancient structures built by the First Civilization. Each contains a message that alludes to Layla playing a pivotal role in an upcoming apocalyptic event.

Four years after the main story, Bayek is called to the Sinai Peninsula by Tahira who oversees the local Hidden Ones' bureau. Sinai is occupied by the Roman Empire, whose men are forcing the local population to mine turquoise. Tahira is concerned that the Hidden Ones' support for a rebel faction from Nabatea has led to their exposure and asks for Bayek's aid. Bayek agrees that the Hidden Ones are vulnerable and decides to kill the three lieutenants of General Rufio, the consul of Sinai, in the hoping to draw him out. However, the Hidden Ones' bureau is fire-bombed, and Tahira is killed. Bayek is captured and crucified, only to be saved by Amunet, who warns him that his actions in Sinai risk exposing the entire Brotherhood. Rufio arrives and begins slaughtering the villagers to subjugate the population. Bayek and Amunet stop the massacre, and Bayek kills Rufio, who reveals that Caesar rebuilt the Order of Ancients and that their influence extends the breadth of the Empire. Amunet asks Bayek to look into Gamilat, the rebel leader who has provoked fights with the Romans then hidden his men among civilians, knowing that the Romans will kill indiscriminately; he then uses this to recruit new soldiers. Bayek confronts Gamilat and kills him when he defends his actions as a necessary evil. With the people believing the Hidden Ones destroyed, Bayek decides to rebuild the Brotherhood discreetly and expand to Judea, the Levant and beyond.

In the second chapter, The Curse of the Pharaohs, Amunet asks Bayek to investigate a disturbance in Thebes which she believes is a sign of another Piece of Eden. Bayek arrives to find the city in the grip of fear as apparitions of the undead plague the region. He learns that two relics have been stolen from nearby tombs: the first belonging to Nefertiti has been taken by black-market antiquities dealers who intend to sell it; the other belonging to Akhenaten was stolen in retaliation for a cult worshiping him being established in Thebes as the veneration of Akhenaten is heresy. Believing the relics will offer the user the same power that Flavius used to subjugate Cyrene, Bayek resolves to return the relics to their proper places. He tracks both relics to a Greek official named Tychon who is based in the Temple of Hatshepsut. After recovering the relics, he visits the tombs of Nefertiti and Akhenaten in the Valley of the Kings and finds them desecrated. The only way to restore balance is to cross over into the afterlife. Bayek discovers these are reflections of the mortal world and that the corruption that has taken hold in Thebes has spread to the afterlife. He realizes that Aten, the god worshipped by the monotheistic Akhenaten, is actually the Piece of Eden he is looking for and that Akhenaten was not buried with it; instead, it was passed on to his descendants and is held by the cult of Amun. The curse plaguing Thebes was unleashed by Isidora, a priestess of Amun, as revenge for the death of her mother. Bayek follows her to the tomb of Tutankhamun, where she tries to justify her actions. When she refuses to stand down, Bayek kills her and takes possession of the Aten. He entrusts it to Sutekh, a thief who aided his quest, with burying it in a place where it will never be found.

Assassin's Creed Origins received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[73][74][75]

Louise Blain of GamesRadar praised the varied map design writing that each region felt unique.[80] IGN's Alanah Pearce agreed, adding each city had its own unique culture and architecture. She added the game offered a "delightful sense of discovery" as it allowed players to come upon locations of interest organically.[19] Chris Carter of Destructoid wrote that "at no point did Origins feel inauthentic", and applauded Egypt as a unique setting for a video game. Like Pearce, he explored the game's world more than previous Assassin's Creed games.[76] VentureBeat's Stephanie Chan described Egypt as "a spectacle to behold", praising its varied map design and the puzzles inside tombs and temples. Alessandro Fillari of GameSpot also liked Egypt as a setting, calling it "vibrant and lush". He believed it had a "strong sense of life", though he noted some regions are "disappointingly sparse". He praised the dense towns and cities in the world, and commended Ubisoft's attention to detail.[79] Writing for PC Gamer, Christopher Livingston noted the recommended level of an area made Origins similar to a massively multiplayer online game (MMO) and remarked it created "a feeling of artificial difficulty".[81]

Blain praised the game's design and applauded the team for ditching the franchise's staple gameplay features such as paired animation combat, tailing missions, and "a map of pointless collectibles".[80] Pearce liked the elimination of forced stealth missions and the implementation of a redesigned parkour system, which removed the frustration she had with earlier installments. She also applauded the new progression system, which gave players more choices than previous games, and the action-focused combat, which she described as "tense".[19] Suriel Vasquez of Game Informer praised the game's openness, since it gave players freedom to approach objectives in their own way. He described the combat as being more active and involving.[78] Chan described the combat as "flawed" but "generally solid", though she disliked segments featuring Aya and Layla as she felt they interrupted the gameplay. Christian Donlan, writing for Eurogamer, believed that the combat was a significant improvement over its predecessors and felt it reflected the franchise's new direction.[77] He believed that the combat was more engaging, commenting it required players to use strategy, especially when they were facing different enemy archetypes together. However, he felt that the combat and the gameplay were unoriginal, and added that "everywhere you look in Origins you'll find things that you have done in other games". Both Pearce and Fillari complained the lock-on system did not work properly.[19] Fillari added it turned "battles that could be tactical and fierce into disorienting and clumsy encounters".[79] Fillari also noted that the control for stealth was less responsive than the previous games and considered it one of Origins' weakest aspects.[79]

Blain liked the game's quests noting that starting one side quest might initiate a chain of additional narrative side missions that players can complete.[80] Pearce called the story "delightfully mystical" and "elaborate",[19] while Fillari applauded the narrative for successfully balancing "moments of heartbreak and earnestness".[79] Pearce also praised the side-quests for being memorable and featuring "multi-faceted, interesting characters with believable motives".[19] While Carter noted that the game had a rough start, the tale involving the cult and the Order of the Ancients slowly became more intriguing and interesting.[76] Chan criticised some campaign missions, especially those involving assassinating members of the cult, for being anti-climatic. She praised the side-quests for reflecting the "everyday aspect of life" in Egypt, but she lamented they were repetitive. She compared completing locations of interest to running errands. Andy Kelly, also from PC Gamer, added that the game was "guilty of a particularly egregious example of padding", and wrote that during his 28 hours play time to finish Origins, at least eight hours were spent on completing side content "against [his] will".[84] Livingston remarked the player was often forced to grind for experience points before they could complete the main campaign missions, which broke the flow of the main campaign.[81] Bayek is generally well-liked by critics. Donlan called him "charming", while Polygon's Colin Campbell described him as "kind" and "devout".[77][82]

In November 2017, Ubisoft announced sales of Assassin's Creed Origins during its first 10 days were double those of Assassin's Creed Syndicate, while player engagement increased. 35% of the sales were digital download, compared to just 12% for Syndicate.[85] It was the best-selling retail game in the UK in its first week of release, beating competitors including Super Mario Odyssey and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, which were released on the same day as Origins.[86] It was the second best-selling retail game in the US in October 2017, behind Middle-earth: Shadow of War, and the third best-selling game in November, behind Call of Duty: WWII and Star Wars Battlefront II.[87][88] The game sold more than 10 million copies during life of eighth generation of video game consoles.[89]