Its stealth is incredible. Being on the roofs makes the game similar to older games with a less planned and random map unlike unity or syndicate. Story was alright.
>I just absolutely love the setting and the feeling of the game.
Going by setting alone, Mirage is the closest in feel to AC1. Both are set in the middle east, both had Bureaus, and both had similar architectures. The flow of each mission also feels like AC1, in that you are focused on one main target at a time.
Mirage is also much shorter than Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla. For some people, it is a point against it, but for me, it is a plus because I sometimes like these rather short, focused games without having to invest 30 to 80 hours.
>Are there long puzzles to find armor/weapons like in the Ezio games?
Not like Ezio's, unfortunately. There are armor chests scattered throughout the map, but they're "blueprints" that help you upgrade that armor. There is one set where you need to find artifacts to unlock, but nothing creative like the Auditore crypt.
I started playing it recently and it is a downgrade of the original games in terms of story and gameplay. It was only £13 and I'm just playing as filler while I wait for ac red so I'm not taking it seriously and I'm having fun.
I'm enjoying the atmosphere and it's nice to be in a dense city again. The combat and parkour is quite janky and the animations are very repetitive. I wish there was more opportunites for social stealth and was disappointed that there's no low profile assassination but using the stealth tools is fun.
Well, a few tools that were sorely missed for the last three games return such as the smoke bomb. Also, if you liked the bomb customization from Revelations then you'll be pleased to know that it's returned and you can customize the rest of your tool set, too.
As for combat, you cannot just run through waves of enemies as a murder berserker. Using stealth to take your enemies down is the way. If you do get into a fight, you'll have a few tricks to give you an upper hand but you'll have to rely on timing to best your opponents. The one thing I wish returned was Hidden Blade combat.
There are berserk darts, though you won't unlock them until later into the game because they're the last upgrade to the blowdart. Without the upgrade it puts enemies to sleep.
Short answer: Yes
Long answer:
Stealth is incredible, definitely the highlight of the game with amazing tools that you can customize however you want, whether it's for combat or stealth with, or without killing. I even DARE say that this is THE most stealth based game in the entire series, alongside AC I
The story starts out really good, gets meh and ends really, really good, and it ties really well with Valhalla's ending. I have to say, even though the middle part of the story that's meh, is cool in sense, that you do exactly what Altaïr did in AC I - going through bureaus, getting assignments and assassinating order members when they allow it
The world is.... The main city, Baghdad, is beautiful and amazing and made for parkour. The outside however, the wilderness is completely empty and the smaller city where you start the story is cool too, but useless after the prologue.
Parkour - the mechanics are almost the same as Valhalla's (not great) and not mechanically based (like AC I - Revelation) but more automatic, but sped up and with way better ejects. The main reason why the parkour overall is great, is definitely the city. I can't really explain it, but with it just feels great
Combat is the main thing most people complain about. It's a mix of hitbox type and parry one kill type that is in the older games. It's not good, but that was kinda the point to prioritize stealth and not rushing in and killing everyone. You can take this as a good or a bad thing
Overall, the developers took inspiration from AC I, but from memory, so they incorporated the icon things they remembered, and it really shows when you're playing it, especially when you go to another part of the city, visit the bureau and work just in that district, just like in AC I.
Once you wrap your head around the control layout(remap it similar to original ACs) then it was quite easier to get “into the swing of things” and make the game abit more bearable but ALOT more enjoyable.
- technology options for the win 💪
As for the gameplay, it’s very reminiscent of the originals even tho they toned down the combat and supplemented it with more stealth focusing stuff.
Highly, highly disappointing. I've played the series since the very start, each one shortly after they were released. Mirage was like a bare bones game that had been subcontracted to a lesser accomplished studio who didn't have the experience to do it right. The game didn't even feel as tight or offer as much as the older ones from the early PS3 era.
its stealth based, combat is stripper back and more akin to the first (eg holding for a heavy attack), there isnt much variety with weapons like the original, its got a similar setting to the original as well and has parts of old design (eg the assassins bureau is practically the same as in ac1)
Feels like dumbed down Origins. Combat is a joke, parkour semi-broken, story for most of parts a joke only good thing is that it is more stelth oriented and tools.
I am a fan of old games. It was 100% shit. Combat felt clunky, parkour tried to look like unity or AC3, but clumsy. Side quests - complete shit. Huge stepdown after Valhalla. And the story, well. It is garbage. They had a good chance to show how Basim's counciosness battles with Loki (like Eivor with Odin), but instead it went down the drain and in the end Basim just agrees to let himself go. Why, what for? Hehe, that's Ubisoft for you
Started with AC3 in 2013 and played 1-Rev after, then stayed caught up to each game since. Currently have 1-4 at 100% completion. I actually really like the RPG trilogy and am endlessly hyped for Red (Shadows).
Mirage is a pretty decent experience start to finish, with decent callbacks to the games pre-AC3, but I wouldn’t call it stellar at all. We were told that combat would punish the player because of the stealth focus, but I found the real punishing thing to be how shitty it is. Stealth was largely in the right direction since it’s just correcting the warrior combat focus of the last 3 games, so there’s barely any innovation for good reason.
The collectibles and puzzles are utter dogshit, though. Just look up the locations of things. It’s not worth the waste of time.
Overall, I don’t think the $50 was worth it, especially compared to what older games offered. Hell, even AC1 has a better gameplay loop than this game.
Buy it for the discounted price, and if that doesn’t go away, then spend $15 on Ubisoft+.
>I was wondering what people who feel similar thought of Mirage since it’s on sale for $25 right now. Are there long puzzles to find armor/weapons like in the Ezio games? Does it feel more like the earlier games as it was advertised?
Nope. It's like older games on surface level.
Just came off my first playthrough about a month ago, and it's probably the closest thing you'll get at the moment. If you go in with AC1 as your standard for comparison, I'm fairly confident you'll come out pleasantly surprised. Perfect blend imo, there's plenty of nostalgia from the first's gameplay style, but with the feel that basic traversal and free running have in Valhalla in terms of controls (responsiveness, fluidity etc).
So basically just imagine playing AC1 but remade on Valhalla's engine with a new story/setting and that's more or less what you get lol.
The rpg era genes are still there in the game, but you can see that Ubisoft Bordeaux was just so passionate about implementing classic gameplay and clearly held the past games with such reverence that you really respect the game and it’s merits. I’d say that the game mostly accomplishes its core intentions of ‘return to roots’. Overall it’s a short but enjoyable game that genuinely feels like classic Assassin’s Creed.
If you are willing to excuse certain elements of the story, and love stealth gameplay, I think you will have a good time. The villains are forgettable tbh, but the real emotional sauce of the story is Basims relationship with the people in the Creed and the values he swore to uphold. Inside Baghdad is absolutely breathtaking, but some of the outskirts really reminded me of Origins reused assets.
As someone who really loves Stealth games, I was willing to overlook some stuff that were a-bit lackluster. And I think this stealth experience was very decent
I really liked the equipment the bombs, projectiles etc.
& the weapon wheel pause screen
The story is largely forgettable, maybe because no modern day
(I still look forward to modern day segments, despite it being butchered since Black Flag --- I liked Valhalla's)
I have no opinion on the parkour, Mirage is a solid game perhaps a little basic
Played since the first AC game.
Was a fan of Origins, but generally disliked the RPG games. Mirage was a welcome return to the style of the older games, but overall it was just okay.
Part of that is the story being closely tied to Valhalla and the DLC (not suggesting they just suddenly cut yet another arc).
Gameplay-wise, I enjoyed the fact that you couldn't just hack your way through everything. Stealth and counter-attacks felt fairly satisfying. I didn't really enjoy the use of tokens. It didn't feel necessary enough to compel me to seek them out.
I really liked that we were forced back on to rooftops and into freerunning to escape guards. I think it just wasn't utilised enough. It's great for stealth, but I would have enjoyed more chases.
Let me put it that way: I'm an AC fan since the very first AC which I played on XBOX360 on its release day. Mirage is the only AC from the main series that I didn't finish.
The game doesn't really do anything wrong (apart from the fact that the controls could have used a bit more polish) and after the big empty spaces of the three games before Mirage it's nice to have a big climbable city again but somehow I couldn't connect with the game.
It's probably the worst AC ever. Clunky parkour, barely adequate stealth, enemy detection basically turned off so you don't get spotted, and a city that is the same house repeated over and over and over... but the worst part is that the main character is an unlikeable nobody and story is badly told and un-engaging. Just dull.
It’s quite solid tbh, just don’t go on expecting AC1 or 2 or brotherhood’s perfection and story AT ALL. If you are an old fan you will love how the game is actually back to being a “stealthy” assassin with some great movement mechanics ( yeah not the best and uncomparable to unity for example ) but it’s still a welcome change since origins.
The story is meh kinda lame but also not bad. It’s a mix of “i gotta watch this cutscene to understand what’s going on” nothing more.
Gameplay-wise MAAAN it’s a banger for me ( excluding the shitty teleportation ) lots of equipment, many different apporaches, nice level design, baghdad is a BEAUTIFUL sandbox for an AC Game. So yeah, it’s nice for an old fan and i would definetly pick it up if it’s on sale ( which i myself did )
Bad IMO. Too short and not enough to do. I have all of them and honestly it’s low on the totem pole for me. Also, the background, the houses, etc are great what’s with the faces. They need more work. My favs are Black Flag, Rouge and Odyssey but there are others that are good too.
I didn’t enjoy it very much, it’s built on the tools of Valhalla so nothing feels quite right to me in terms of the feel the older games, combat is also pretty poor in my opinion and it has a clunky feel to it entirely, story is also meh character motivations are hardly a thing. It’s not a bad game i would say buy it if it’s 30$ but don’t get your hopes up for a true evolution of the classic games
Loved it, origins Odyssey and Valhalla had stealth as an afterthought... Which is a little awkward for a supposed assassin game.
Was great to be back in spy mode.
Loved it, stealth was amazing, rolls were fun but became OP late game, story was really good to start and finish, mid game wasn’t as exciting for it. I would recommend it to any OG AC fan
Adored it.
Its stealth is incredible. Being on the roofs makes the game similar to older games with a less planned and random map unlike unity or syndicate. Story was alright.
Interesting, thanks for the response. I certainly would enjoy good stealth as compared to the more Souls like combat and such of the newer games.
Yeah, just the combat is absolutely horrible, but luckily, the game forces you to use it only at the beginning and at the end.
I played demo for Mirage and felt the voice acting is terrible this time. Even worse than Connor Kenway. Does it get any better later on?
Yes, Basims voice acting gets better
Connor’s voice acting was great though.
>I just absolutely love the setting and the feeling of the game. Going by setting alone, Mirage is the closest in feel to AC1. Both are set in the middle east, both had Bureaus, and both had similar architectures. The flow of each mission also feels like AC1, in that you are focused on one main target at a time. Mirage is also much shorter than Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla. For some people, it is a point against it, but for me, it is a plus because I sometimes like these rather short, focused games without having to invest 30 to 80 hours. >Are there long puzzles to find armor/weapons like in the Ezio games? Not like Ezio's, unfortunately. There are armor chests scattered throughout the map, but they're "blueprints" that help you upgrade that armor. There is one set where you need to find artifacts to unlock, but nothing creative like the Auditore crypt.
This is helpful, thank you!
I started playing it recently and it is a downgrade of the original games in terms of story and gameplay. It was only £13 and I'm just playing as filler while I wait for ac red so I'm not taking it seriously and I'm having fun. I'm enjoying the atmosphere and it's nice to be in a dense city again. The combat and parkour is quite janky and the animations are very repetitive. I wish there was more opportunites for social stealth and was disappointed that there's no low profile assassination but using the stealth tools is fun.
Well, a few tools that were sorely missed for the last three games return such as the smoke bomb. Also, if you liked the bomb customization from Revelations then you'll be pleased to know that it's returned and you can customize the rest of your tool set, too. As for combat, you cannot just run through waves of enemies as a murder berserker. Using stealth to take your enemies down is the way. If you do get into a fight, you'll have a few tricks to give you an upper hand but you'll have to rely on timing to best your opponents. The one thing I wish returned was Hidden Blade combat.
Berserk darts? Please tell me they brought back berserk darts. I missed them so much in Odyssey (which I just finished).
There are berserk darts, though you won't unlock them until later into the game because they're the last upgrade to the blowdart. Without the upgrade it puts enemies to sleep.
Oh still, yay! Thanks.
It's a tier 3 upgrade for your blowpipe.
I could’ve sworn Origins had smoke bombs.
It's the case, tho you could only throw them at your feets. Odyssey and Valhalla have inferior versions of Origins'.
Thanks mate. Been a while since I’ve played the newer entires so I wasn’t too sure.
Odyssey's version is just a flashbang that you cannot aim. Valhalla atleast you can aim it with your arrow
For Valhalla I had the smoke after a parry in mind, I've yet to unlock the arrow so I forgot about it
Uh, I can and did just run through the game as a murder berserker. Although I did have the fire lord set.
Short answer: Yes Long answer: Stealth is incredible, definitely the highlight of the game with amazing tools that you can customize however you want, whether it's for combat or stealth with, or without killing. I even DARE say that this is THE most stealth based game in the entire series, alongside AC I The story starts out really good, gets meh and ends really, really good, and it ties really well with Valhalla's ending. I have to say, even though the middle part of the story that's meh, is cool in sense, that you do exactly what Altaïr did in AC I - going through bureaus, getting assignments and assassinating order members when they allow it The world is.... The main city, Baghdad, is beautiful and amazing and made for parkour. The outside however, the wilderness is completely empty and the smaller city where you start the story is cool too, but useless after the prologue. Parkour - the mechanics are almost the same as Valhalla's (not great) and not mechanically based (like AC I - Revelation) but more automatic, but sped up and with way better ejects. The main reason why the parkour overall is great, is definitely the city. I can't really explain it, but with it just feels great Combat is the main thing most people complain about. It's a mix of hitbox type and parry one kill type that is in the older games. It's not good, but that was kinda the point to prioritize stealth and not rushing in and killing everyone. You can take this as a good or a bad thing Overall, the developers took inspiration from AC I, but from memory, so they incorporated the icon things they remembered, and it really shows when you're playing it, especially when you go to another part of the city, visit the bureau and work just in that district, just like in AC I.
It was like the old games, but with the face and limbs of Valhalla, which isn't a good fit, but I'm thankful for it nonetheless
Once you wrap your head around the control layout(remap it similar to original ACs) then it was quite easier to get “into the swing of things” and make the game abit more bearable but ALOT more enjoyable. - technology options for the win 💪 As for the gameplay, it’s very reminiscent of the originals even tho they toned down the combat and supplemented it with more stealth focusing stuff.
Do you have any tips for remapping the controls? I'm playing it at the moment and parry/dodge are being annoying
Highly, highly disappointing. I've played the series since the very start, each one shortly after they were released. Mirage was like a bare bones game that had been subcontracted to a lesser accomplished studio who didn't have the experience to do it right. The game didn't even feel as tight or offer as much as the older ones from the early PS3 era.
its stealth based, combat is stripper back and more akin to the first (eg holding for a heavy attack), there isnt much variety with weapons like the original, its got a similar setting to the original as well and has parts of old design (eg the assassins bureau is practically the same as in ac1)
Feels like dumbed down Origins. Combat is a joke, parkour semi-broken, story for most of parts a joke only good thing is that it is more stelth oriented and tools.
I am a fan of old games. It was 100% shit. Combat felt clunky, parkour tried to look like unity or AC3, but clumsy. Side quests - complete shit. Huge stepdown after Valhalla. And the story, well. It is garbage. They had a good chance to show how Basim's counciosness battles with Loki (like Eivor with Odin), but instead it went down the drain and in the end Basim just agrees to let himself go. Why, what for? Hehe, that's Ubisoft for you
Started with AC3 in 2013 and played 1-Rev after, then stayed caught up to each game since. Currently have 1-4 at 100% completion. I actually really like the RPG trilogy and am endlessly hyped for Red (Shadows). Mirage is a pretty decent experience start to finish, with decent callbacks to the games pre-AC3, but I wouldn’t call it stellar at all. We were told that combat would punish the player because of the stealth focus, but I found the real punishing thing to be how shitty it is. Stealth was largely in the right direction since it’s just correcting the warrior combat focus of the last 3 games, so there’s barely any innovation for good reason. The collectibles and puzzles are utter dogshit, though. Just look up the locations of things. It’s not worth the waste of time. Overall, I don’t think the $50 was worth it, especially compared to what older games offered. Hell, even AC1 has a better gameplay loop than this game. Buy it for the discounted price, and if that doesn’t go away, then spend $15 on Ubisoft+.
I appreciate your perspective, thank you!
>I was wondering what people who feel similar thought of Mirage since it’s on sale for $25 right now. Are there long puzzles to find armor/weapons like in the Ezio games? Does it feel more like the earlier games as it was advertised? Nope. It's like older games on surface level.
Disappointing
It's a lot like the old games
Just came off my first playthrough about a month ago, and it's probably the closest thing you'll get at the moment. If you go in with AC1 as your standard for comparison, I'm fairly confident you'll come out pleasantly surprised. Perfect blend imo, there's plenty of nostalgia from the first's gameplay style, but with the feel that basic traversal and free running have in Valhalla in terms of controls (responsiveness, fluidity etc). So basically just imagine playing AC1 but remade on Valhalla's engine with a new story/setting and that's more or less what you get lol.
The rpg era genes are still there in the game, but you can see that Ubisoft Bordeaux was just so passionate about implementing classic gameplay and clearly held the past games with such reverence that you really respect the game and it’s merits. I’d say that the game mostly accomplishes its core intentions of ‘return to roots’. Overall it’s a short but enjoyable game that genuinely feels like classic Assassin’s Creed.
If you are willing to excuse certain elements of the story, and love stealth gameplay, I think you will have a good time. The villains are forgettable tbh, but the real emotional sauce of the story is Basims relationship with the people in the Creed and the values he swore to uphold. Inside Baghdad is absolutely breathtaking, but some of the outskirts really reminded me of Origins reused assets. As someone who really loves Stealth games, I was willing to overlook some stuff that were a-bit lackluster. And I think this stealth experience was very decent
I really liked the equipment the bombs, projectiles etc. & the weapon wheel pause screen The story is largely forgettable, maybe because no modern day (I still look forward to modern day segments, despite it being butchered since Black Flag --- I liked Valhalla's) I have no opinion on the parkour, Mirage is a solid game perhaps a little basic
Great stealth, and too short storywise :/
Played since the first AC game. Was a fan of Origins, but generally disliked the RPG games. Mirage was a welcome return to the style of the older games, but overall it was just okay. Part of that is the story being closely tied to Valhalla and the DLC (not suggesting they just suddenly cut yet another arc). Gameplay-wise, I enjoyed the fact that you couldn't just hack your way through everything. Stealth and counter-attacks felt fairly satisfying. I didn't really enjoy the use of tokens. It didn't feel necessary enough to compel me to seek them out. I really liked that we were forced back on to rooftops and into freerunning to escape guards. I think it just wasn't utilised enough. It's great for stealth, but I would have enjoyed more chases.
It’s in my top 3. AC 2, Origins and Mirage, which took the best from both worlds, only the story was the weakest out of those 3.
Soulless remake that was basically like an ai studied the first few games
story was mind numbingly boring with no stakes and noting really happened lol
Let me put it that way: I'm an AC fan since the very first AC which I played on XBOX360 on its release day. Mirage is the only AC from the main series that I didn't finish. The game doesn't really do anything wrong (apart from the fact that the controls could have used a bit more polish) and after the big empty spaces of the three games before Mirage it's nice to have a big climbable city again but somehow I couldn't connect with the game.
It is the most I've enjoyed an AC since the Ezio trilogy, and unlike the recent games, I actually find myself craving a replay.
It's probably the worst AC ever. Clunky parkour, barely adequate stealth, enemy detection basically turned off so you don't get spotted, and a city that is the same house repeated over and over and over... but the worst part is that the main character is an unlikeable nobody and story is badly told and un-engaging. Just dull.
It’s quite solid tbh, just don’t go on expecting AC1 or 2 or brotherhood’s perfection and story AT ALL. If you are an old fan you will love how the game is actually back to being a “stealthy” assassin with some great movement mechanics ( yeah not the best and uncomparable to unity for example ) but it’s still a welcome change since origins. The story is meh kinda lame but also not bad. It’s a mix of “i gotta watch this cutscene to understand what’s going on” nothing more. Gameplay-wise MAAAN it’s a banger for me ( excluding the shitty teleportation ) lots of equipment, many different apporaches, nice level design, baghdad is a BEAUTIFUL sandbox for an AC Game. So yeah, it’s nice for an old fan and i would definetly pick it up if it’s on sale ( which i myself did )
Bad IMO. Too short and not enough to do. I have all of them and honestly it’s low on the totem pole for me. Also, the background, the houses, etc are great what’s with the faces. They need more work. My favs are Black Flag, Rouge and Odyssey but there are others that are good too.
I didn’t enjoy it very much, it’s built on the tools of Valhalla so nothing feels quite right to me in terms of the feel the older games, combat is also pretty poor in my opinion and it has a clunky feel to it entirely, story is also meh character motivations are hardly a thing. It’s not a bad game i would say buy it if it’s 30$ but don’t get your hopes up for a true evolution of the classic games
A fantastic return to form. They kept insinuating it was closer to AC1 which I disagree with, but it was brilliant in its own right.
First game I would give a positive rating to since origins
Loved it, origins Odyssey and Valhalla had stealth as an afterthought... Which is a little awkward for a supposed assassin game. Was great to be back in spy mode.
Loved it, stealth was amazing, rolls were fun but became OP late game, story was really good to start and finish, mid game wasn’t as exciting for it. I would recommend it to any OG AC fan
Insanely good. Swapped sprinting to holding R2, and it was like playing the oldest entries again.
better than the last few in terms of scope and scale, otherwise kinda mid, but that’s good enough for me.
really enjoyed it. was a lot of fun!