The Incredible Importance of Parkour in Assassin's Creed Mirage

Parkour in Assassin's Creed Mirage is facing immense pressure to return to its previous form, as the series' design has received criticism for its recent games. Ubisoft has emphasized the importance of parkour in the game's marketing, with each game in the series attempting to refine and improve freerunning since its inception. However, the shift towards a traditional RPG approach with AC Origins and beyond has resulted in a noticeable decline in the iconic parkour design. With Assassin's Creed Mirage promising to offer an authentic experience from the series' roots, players are eagerly anticipating how parkour will function within the game. While the trailers released so far offer a glimpse of freerunning gameplay, it remains to be seen how parkour will work in AC Mirage. As the game strives to emulate the classic style of Assassin's Creed, it is crucial for its parkour to be executed flawlessly, or else it may struggle to find its footing and disappoint fans.

Assassin's Creed Freerunning Has Become A Slow Crawl

Assassin's Creed has always been known for its impressive use of parkour, which has only improved with each successive game in the franchise. From the hooked blade in AC 2 to the zip-lines in AC Revelations, the series has constantly found ways to elevate this aspect of gameplay. While the freerunning system isn't perfect, it does an excellent job of capturing the feeling of freedom that comes with parkour. However, as the games became more expansive and less dense, as seen in AC 3 and AC Black Flag, incorporating parkour became more challenging. This problem persisted in the latest Assassin's Creed games, which have moved towards RPG-style gameplay and scaled back some of the series' most basic essentials like vaulting. Although players can still run, jump, and climb, it pales in comparison to the original Assassin's Creed freerunning experience. Before the announcement of AC Mirage, it seemed as though the beloved aspect of the game might be gone forever.

Assassin's Creed Mirage Needs To Commit To Classic Parkour

For AC Mirage to truly revive classic parkour, it must not only draw inspiration from past Assassin's Creed games, but also focus on improving and refining the mechanics that made them so beloved. While it has been revealed that the game will be borrowing from AC Unity, which received criticism for prioritizing cinematic flair over solid mechanics, AC Mirage should take care to avoid repeating those mistakes. The latest trailers for the game have already shown glimpses of familiar mechanics, but it will be crucial for the developers to ensure that they feel satisfying and engaging to use, and that players are adequately rewarded for mastering them. Ultimately, AC Mirage should strive for a more nuanced and immersive parkour experience than the simplistic "just go forward" approach of recent titles like AC Origins and AC Valhalla.

Assassin's Creed Mirage is set to release on October 12, 2023, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.