One of the video game industry’s biggest franchises in the last decade has to be Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed. From the game’s earliest inception that explored the Crusades to the very popular Ezio Trilogy that explored Renaissance Italy, the franchise has been a steady mixture of history meets action-fueled conspiracies and ancient wars between two warring factions. From pirates and Victorian England to the American Revolution, the war between the Templars and the Assassins has given fans around the world a story and a franchise worth investing in. That all changes in AC Odyssey.
The latest iteration of the game comes in the form of the upcoming and highly anticipated hit AC Odyssey. A sequel to the very popular AC Origins, which explored the days of Ancient Egypt and the forming of the Assassin Order, this game promises to explore the days of Ancient Greece. With a heavy focus on more RPG style elements, the game will explore the game universe’s secret history behind the Peloponnesian War, fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective armies. Playing as a mercenary named either Alexios or Kassandra (depending on your gender choice), you are a descendant of the great Spartan King Leonidas I, wielding a piece of his powerful yet broken sword that will grant the player special abilities in the game.
AC Odyssey is already proving to be quite different from past games in the franchise. While updating classics like the naval combat system, the creators also decided to include new elements, such as dialogue branches for more choice in how you develop your character, as well as NPC relationships with your character of any gender. You’ll be able to update your weapons and character of course, and you’ll participate in a new War System, which will allow you to take mercenary contracts and participate in large scale battles that will tip the balance between one faction or another in the war.
All of this is stuff we’ve come to know over the last couple of months since it’s debut at E3 2018, and yet today Ubisoft announced a brand new mechanic that will give players an infinite amount of gameplay well past the main game’s events. It’s called a bounty system. Much like the Phylakes in AC Origins, AC Odyssey will feature elite mercenaries sent out to hunt you. However since you aren’t playing as an assassin in this game, the developers for the first time are allowing players to take out any NPC’s, including civilians. This is what puts a bounty on your head, and will force you to battle these elites before they can capture or kill you. Each elite is unique and different, with different skill levels and abilities that can be randomly generated when a bounty is placed on you. Now you can either become the hunter or the hunted in the world of Assassin’s Creed, which will allow players to explore Ancient Greece and continue the action packed gameplay well past the main events of the story.
What do you guys think? Does the new gameplay mechanic in AC Odyssey interest you, or are you looking for more classic AC gameplay mechanics to make a return? Let us know in the comments below!
Check out the original news release here!
Looking for more gaming news? Check out our coverage of Red Dead Redemption 2‘s gameplay trailer here!
Take a tour of Assassin’s Creed’s Athens down below!
