Summary
An action game lives or dies by its combat. Whether it’s an open-world adventure game, a first-person military shooter, or a VR zombie slasher, every good action video game needs to have its fair share of satisfying combat mechanics. Even if action isn’t the main selling point, any video game that puts players in a combat scenario needs to make that encounter feel fun and rewarding, and evenstealth-focused gameslikeAssassin’s Creed Mirageare no exception to the rule.
Combat has always been present intheAssassin’s Creedfranchise, but it was never the biggest focus back in the original set of games. Trying to hearken back to those days,Assassin’s Creed Miragefollows a similar formula, paring back the combat mechanics of the recent RPG entries of the series, and putting the focus back on stealth and parkour. But whileAssassin’s Creed Miragemay not be as mechanically rich as its recent RPG predecessors when it comes to its combat, it can’t help itself from making some big improvements to the originalAssassin’s Creedcombat formula regardless.
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How Assassin’s Creed Mirage Improves on the Original Series' Combat Formula
Inthe original 2007Assassin’s Creed, combat was pretty rare. Though the firstAssassin’s Creedtechnically allowed players to enter open combat and face off against guards in sword duels, those mechanics didn’t feel all that great, and the difficulty of the enemy AI paired with that led toAssassin’s Creed’s combat being a sort of punishment, encouraging players to instead use the game’s stealth mechanics more effectively to avoid encounters altogether.
WhenAssassin’s Creed 2released a few years later, combat was overhauled, and encounters felt a bit more rewarding, though the emphasis was still firmly on stealth. As each newAssassin’s Creedentry released, that balance would shift, and combat quickly became the more integral part of the experience. By the timetheAssassin’s CreedRPGsdebuted in 2017 withOrigins, combat had essentially become the primary focus of the series' gameplay loop, introducing a whole slew of new mechanics like a parry, dodge roll, and gear system.
Assassin’s Creed Miragetries to strike a balance between these two approaches, and in the process improves on the originalAssassin’s Creedcombat formula in quite a few ways. Rather than discard it completely,Miragetakes its RPG predecessors' combat systems and pares them back in an attempt to return the series to its stealthier roots.Miragedoes this by making combat much more skill-based than it was in the originalAssassin’s Creedseries. When players inevitably find themselves in open combat inAssassin’s Creed Mirage, they’ll find that a big focus has been placed on skillful parries and counters. Gone are the days of just holding down the trigger and pressing square at the right time to instantly kill four guards; players now have to time their parries and strike effectively.
The same also applies toAssassin’s Creed Mirage’sdodge roll. A feature that wasn’t present in the original set ofAssassin’s Creedgames,Mirage’s dodge roll is a vital part of combat, especially when fighting larger groups of enemies. Along with the parrying system,Mirage’s dodge roll mechanic ensures that players feel truly challenged during a combat encounter, acting as a subtle way of encouraging more stealthy play. So whileAssassin’s Creed Mirage’s combatis definitely less involved than that of its RPG predecessors, it’s still miles above what the original 2007 game offered, and much more skill-based and rewarding than that of most original formulaAssassin’s Creedtitles.
Assassin’s Creed Mirageis available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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