Things We Noticed in Assassins Creed Origins Demo at E3 2017

Assassins Creed Origins finally takes the Ubisoft franchise in a new, and much needed direction. After a year haitus, Ubisoft Montreal – and corresponding Ubisoft teams around the globe – are showing off their latest creation: Assassins Creed: Origins. Origins has a fairly hefty demo on the E3 show floor, and here are a few things we learned from it!

Assassins Creed is moving forward with an RPG focus.

While the latest two installments of Assassins Creed – Unity and Syndicate – dappled in RPG elements, neither fully committed to that idea, and instead, stuck with the tested and fairly well received Assassins Creed core gameplay. With a year off to assess the success of those decisions, Ubisoft has come back with something that is still very much Assassins Creed, but also very, VERY different.

From the demo, we see a lot of new things to the franchise, including XP for characters – to level them up – leveled loot dropped by enemies with various levels of rarity (as well as items looted from chests), as well as leveled enemies that ACTUALLY have marketed differences when engaging them in combat.

For example, if you are a level 20, attempting to kill a level 25 character, your stealth moves or long range head shot attacks won’t kill your target. Sure, you will get a stealth bonus, but that individual will not die. Pick your shots carefully!

Origins Truly Feels Like an Open World

When the developers were showing off the game live after the Ubisoft event, one of the most remarkable aspects of that Let’s Play was when the map was shown off. This game is HUGE, and will take many hours to explore. Past Assassins Creed titles have had us running around some great locations, including cities in the Middle East, Paris, London, and various locations in Italy. While all these games have had a feel of an open world, none of them really were.

That changes in Origins, as you will be able to travel from town to town seamlessly, engaging with varied wildlife, cultures, and terrains. The number of unique environments in Origins mimics the actual topography of Egypt. I’m very excited to explore this world!

“Fog of War” will dissipate as you Explore

In past Assassins Creed titles, the foggy areas would only become visible once getting to a vantage point and synchronizing with the area. While these towers and monuments still exist – one of the ways this still feels like an Assassins Creed title by the way – you will be able to clear the fog on the map simply by exploration. This is a subtle change for sure, but a welcome change.

Setting the Franchise Story

The reason why Ubisoft can change the pace of this latest release is because they are creating the Origin story of the Brotherhood of Assassins. I’d assume from what the developers have said, that when the game begins, there is no Assassins organization, there are no Templars, and there is no Piece of Eden. That is likely to unfold as the story carries on, but it’s a welcome change to the establish narrative Ubisoft has been tied to across all the previous Assassins Creed titles.

There is lots to love about Assassins Creed Origins. What is your favorite part? Let us know on social media!