Highlights
Assassin's Creed Mirage is a smaller-scale entry in the franchise that aims to recreate the original Assassin's Creed formula.
The game effectively provides a timeless Assassin's Creed experience, with an emphasis on stealth gameplay and a singular protagonist and setting. The parallels between Assassin's Creed Mirage and the inaugural installment of the franchise may potentially set the stage for a revamped version of Assassin's Creed 1, building upon its foundations and updating its mechanics.
It has been 15 years since the debut of the Assassin's Creed franchise, and it has undergone significant changes while also staying true to its roots. Although each new installment introduces a different setting and the franchise embraced RPG elements in 2017, every game in the series still retains the core essence that has been present since its inception. This is particularly evident in the latest release, Assassin's Creed Mirage.
Right from the beginning, Assassin's Creed Mirage has been marketed as a return to the original formula, offering a smaller-scale experience. From the stealth mechanics to the parkour system, combat, and even the design of the maps, almost every aspect of Assassin's Creed Mirage has been simplified to evoke a sense of nostalgia among fans. In fact, this unintentional move by Ubisoft may have inadvertently laid the groundwork for a potential remake of the very first Assassin's Creed game.
How Assassin's Creed Mirage Could Lead to an Assassin's Creed 1 Remake
Assassin's Creed Mirage was specifically designed to provide fans with a traditional Assassin's Creed experience reminiscent of the original game. Despite the positive reception of recent RPG installments, there was a demand from long-time fans for a more compact adventure, which is exactly what Mirage offers. While incorporating some newer elements such as gear customization, skill trees, and skill-based combat, the game refocuses on stealth gameplay and simplifies the narrative to a single protagonist and location.
Assassin's Creed Mirage successfully achieves its intended goal. While its storyline may not be the most captivating, and it may not have the best parkour or the most captivating characters, the game satisfies the longing of many fans for a return to the essence of the Assassin's Creed series. It truly feels like a classic Assassin's Creed game, both in its strengths and weaknesses. This strong connection to the original game could potentially lead to a remake in the near future.
Assassin's Creed Mirage serves as a contemporary rendition of a classic Assassin's Creed game, laying the foundation for a potential remake of the franchise's inaugural title. Speculated for quite some time, a remake of the original 2007 Assassin's Creed was considered ambitious by certain fans due to the extensive revamping required for its mechanics. To create a modernized gaming experience that still captured the essence of the original, elements such as stealth, combat, and parkour would need to be reconstructed entirely. Fortunately, Assassin's Creed Mirage has performed the majority of this task, introducing modern parkour, stealth, and combat mechanics to the series while preserving the core formula of the original games.
Given that Assassin's Creed Mirage has already established a significant portion of the gameplay framework, Ubisoft could easily transfer these elements to a remake of Assassin's Creed 1 and enhance them with updated visuals. The inclusion of an old-school filter in Assassin's Creed Mirage offers players the option to view the game through the same color palette and art style seen in the first Assassin's Creed. Although some effort would still be required to bring it all together, an Assassin's Creed remake already possesses all the necessary components, awaiting integration.
Assassin's Creed Mirage is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.