Game Review: Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
I guess I’m a relatively late comer to the Assassin’s Creed franchise; I’m sure they’re close to ten games in the series by now, but Odyssey is the first one that I’ve ever played. Of course, I haven’t been living under a rock – I’m aware of the ideas behind the games, with their mix of real time combat, lightly sprinkled with historical references, and parkour-like interaction with different elements of the scenery, as well as its emphasis on stealth kills, but I’ve never actually played one.
When the summer holidays rolled around, and I was anticipating having a little time on my hands, I investigated the Playstation Store, and found that it was on sale for $20. That, plus the temptation of a game that has some connection with the Peloponnesian War (beloved of all Ancient History students) was more than enough to convince me to buy it… and more than 60 hours later, it’s probably fair to say that it’s captured – and retained – my interest.
The story ostensibly follows a Spartan outcast (either Cassandra or Alexios) as you travel the Aegean in pursuit of your family, shadowy cults, people of historical renown and mythic creatures. It’s the historic and mythical touches that really make the game for me. Your character can undertake a foreshortened version of the labours of Hercules, slaying beasts like the Nemean Lion – and a very angry Hyena! – as well as varios Cyclopes. In addition, you get to mee the whole range of historical figures – from Pericles of Athens, to Demosthenes, to Alcibiades, to Herodotus and of course Socrates – who presents some interesting versions of his famous ethical challenges and riddles for the main character to solve.
The rest of the game is lots of fun, even if it is not particularly new or revolutionary – I mean, after all, why ruin a working formula? Combat is a lot of fun, and the linkage between deploying various special attacks and the animations involved works smoothly. The stealth attacks are a lot of fun, too, as you leap from tall buildings and plunge the Spear of Leonidas through the back of unsuspecting soldiers, politicians and whoever else has earned your wrath. I really enjoyed the element of ship battles, too – the Aegean is absolutely swarming with pirates, as well as Athenian and Spartan triremes, and there’s a really visceral enjoyment of crunching your ship into the midships of another trireme, and seeing sailors go flying off the deck. Boarding is fun too – with a nod to 300, one of the special moves is a Spartan Kick – and it can be really effective – kicking enemies off boats, or even off tall buildings to plunge to their deaths.
The final point to make about the game is that it’s absolutely vast. It’s divided into smaller sections, such as islands, or a section of the Greece mainland, and there is so much to explore, it’s easy to foresee the game taking 100 hours or more.
Great fun – with a historical bent!