First, a word from the manufacturer: write your epic odyssey to become a legendary Spartan hero. Forge your path in a world on the brink of tearing itself apart. Influence how history unfolds in an ever-changing world shaped by your choices.
Second, a word about the company: Ubisoft’s CEO (Yves Guillemot) and management has allowed a culture of harassment to flourish. For more information, see Jimquisition’s video titled, “Ubisoft Spent Years Protecting Mental and Physical Abusers.” I purchased the game before I was aware of the situation at Ubisoft; I will no longer be purchasing their products. I cannot, in good conscious, recommend anyone purchase this game. I find the actions of Ubisoft’s management revolting. With that said, this review is for people who are considering borrowing the game from a friend.
Pros:
- Voice acting is (generally) good and used throughout the game.
- There are a variety of weapon types to choose from, facilitating different play styles.
- The mechanics are given further depth by the ability to dodge, parry, and use a combination of light and heavy attacks, as well as special abilities
- With that being said, some of the weapons are pretty similar to one another (e.g. the “heavy” weapons)
- You can further customize your play style via three skill trees (which focus on ranged combat, melee combat, and assassination, respectively).
- Ship combat is a nice change of pace, with sea shanties.
- I generally enjoyed the scouting / eagle sections, even if they did get a little tedious and predictable by the end of the game.
- There is a ridiculous amount of content. (Admittedly, this could also be seen as a con. Thinking back on the game, much of the content felt like padding instead of meaningfully advancing the story / adding new game-play features)
- The game has a few different difficulty settings, meaning players can approach the game at their own pace and skill level
- There are lesbian and gay romance options, BUT they are always off-screen, and never really more than a “fling.”
- To the game’s credit, the romance options are pretty varied with regards to age and race (skin tone)
- I like that there are historical sites in the game. Their inclusion is unobtrusive, and you can learn as you play.
- I like the inclusion of Greek words and phrases, even if I cannot confirm their accuracy.
Cons:
- One of the main hooks of the Assassin’s Creed franchise is the interplay between the past and near future. After the intro cut-scenes, though, the “future” part of the narrative all but disappears save for a few stilted segments sprinkled throughout the game.
- To add insult to injury, the game does a poor job introducing me to the “future,” characters and their motivations.
- The ending leaves the story incomplete, basically requiring the purchase of DLC to get the full experience. I could go on a rant about DLC and its role in the gaming industry, but I’ll save that for another day.
- SPOILERS: seeing the modern day character (who’s name I don’t remember) meet Kassandra (the ancient Greece character) was strange. The fact that Kassandra was wearing a suit during the meeting was also rather inexplicable. More than that, it was jarring to see Kassandra die (when she relinquished the magical McGuffin) only to continue her journey minutes later in ancient Greece.
- SPOILERS: the game also strikes a weird tone about the interplay between assassins and templars, like it can’t decide if one is right. It takes a seemingly centrist, “inoffensive,” view that both are needed for, “the sake of progress.” As someone who hasn’t played these games before, that seems like an odd narrative decision (when the public perception seems to be “assassins good” and “templars bad.”)
- Some of the moment-to-moment gameplay is very satisfying (e.g. kicking an enemy off a ledge). Some of the more long-form gameplay elements are also very satisfying (hunting down cultists). With that being said, a lot of the “meat,” of the game (e.g. mission design, or one mission leading to 6 more) is repetitive.
- Even on PS4 Pro, the load times to get into the game are quite long. It isn’t nearly as much of an issue once the game is up and running, though.
- (Nit-pick) The various islands are pretty similar visually.
- I am only listing this as a nit-pick because the game is based on a real-world location
- (Nit-pick) The conquest battles don’t really match up with the established vibe of the series. After all, it’s “Assassin’s Creed,” not, “Mercenary’s Creed.”
- Then again, this didn’t really bother me as I am not a long-time fan of the series (meaning I didn’t go in with expectations or a preconceived notion of what the game was “supposed” to be)
Conclusion:
Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey isn’t groundbreaking in its mechanics. If you’ve played other open-world 3rd person action titles, this one isn’t going to blow you away. With that being said, the world is impressively well-realized, and the moment-to-moment gameplay is generally enjoyable enough to encourage further play. I felt burned by the story, though, be it some of the odd tonal shifts or that the “true,” ending is DLC.
Ultimately, if you like the setting, and you don’t have strong feelings about what an Assassin’s Creed game should be (or, better yet, you like this type of game), you’ll get your money’s worth out of this game. I certainly did, since I bought the game for $15 on sale. It may not be challenging, and it may not be especially stimulating, but by god is there a lot of it.
Check it out here.
You may also enjoy…
- “The Witcher 3,” by CD Projekt Red
- “God of War (2019),” by Santa Monica Studios
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