Assassin’s Creed Mirage will be targeting the “core pillars” of the series’ early games

Old-school fans of Assassin’s Creed 2 rejoice. Assassin’s Creed: Mirage’s creative director Stéphane Boudon confirms a new direction for this upcoming 2023 release. Despite the open-world expansion of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Valhalla, the franchise seems to be returning to its roots. With the community craving a smaller-scope, character-driven story, Assassin’s Creed: Mirage takes the players to Baghdad to tell Basim’s story, from street urchin to master assassin.

Much like Altair and Ezio, Assassin’s Creed: Mirage is planned to take place in one city, letting the developers create a more diverse, rich, and immersive experience. In this case, the lush history of 9th century Baghdad. Your player character will be Basim, a major influence in Valhalla’s storyline who had already become a master assassin. Mirage will jump back in time to before Basim mastered his craft, when he was but a poor boy on the streets of Baghdad.

While stealth was an option in games like Valhalla and Odyssey, Mirage re-centers stealth as your main mode of engaging with any enemy.

As Basim, players will spend much more time interacting with large crowds and making precise stealth decisions to survive missions. For example, stealth tools like crowd-blending will return. However, Boudon and his team plan to use more modern technology to make these stealth tactics “more difficult to master and less predictable but way more immersive.”

It’s not just the way you move around Baghdad that will go back to old Assassin’s Creed ways, though. You should also be prepared to play around with a whole host of assassin’s tools, from smoke bombs to throwing knives. Boudon said the tools have “specific upgrades that will allow you to reinvent them to perfectly fit your playstyle.”

If you enjoyed the open-world RPG style of Odyssey and Valhalla, don’t fear. This return to stealth and older franchise staples is simply one part of a new diversification of Assassin’s Creed games. The upcoming Assassin’s Creed Red, set in Japan, will include a wide-open world to explore just like with Kassandra and Eivor. There are also mystery projects like Assassin’s Creed Hexe that seem to have a completely different, darker tone.

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage is reported to release in August of 2023, but there’s a wide range of even more AC content to look forward to, as well.