Assassin’s Creed: Mirage offers stealth action in 9th century Baghdad

A haystack appears – perfect timing! With a quick jump, our hero Basim escapes the sword-wielding guards. Assassin’s Creed: Mirage wastes no time; the secret action in ninth-century Baghdad begins immediately. We witness Basim’s transformation from street thief to nimble member of the Hidden Ones, moving through the shadows with cat-like grace.

Anyone who has played the predecessor Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla will immediately recognize Basim, Eivor’s mentor. Now he becomes a hero in the latest part of the series and – plagued by nightmares – fights against the mysterious Order of the Elders.

In around 20 to 25 hours, you will experience an exciting sequence of action and cinematic sequences and sneak through street canyons, bushes and narrow valleys.

By completing successful missions, you can develop new skills and specialize in one of three game types (Phantom, Trickster or Predator), each offering slightly different approaches.

Back to the roots

Compared to its opulent predecessors “Odyssey” and “Valhalla,” “Mirage” is much more straightforward: no long present-day sequences, hardly any confusing talk about stored memories.

Instead, the focus is on sneaking around and stealth – which is really fun after a bit of practice and offers various ways to solve a mission.

For example, blowing things up, distracting guards with a whistle, or dealing with a freed big cat. Stealth is important, as Basim will not fare well in close combat against a group of heavily armored guards.

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage, which is already available for PC and console, has now also been released for the iPad. The graphics and performance are no less impressive than the versions for other platforms.

You can also pair your tablet with a gamepad for more precise control and to avoid hitting innocent passersby when you want to look around. In general, Mirage would have benefited from a little finer control.

Smaller but fine and full of beautiful details

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage is a small step back to the beginning of the series. The game is tighter, with less running and more sneaking, climbing, stealing and assassinating. There is also a pretty exciting backstory.

If you take a close look at the whole thing, you will find not only many lovely details in the game world but also top-class voice actors. In short: fans will get their money’s worth and beginners may even become fans of the series.

It’s a bit of a shame, however, that despite the graphic splendor, the animation of Basim’s face in particular is quite expressionless.

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage is available for PC, Xbox One/Series, PlayStation 4/5, and iPhone/iPad (with A17/M1 processor or newer) for around $50.

You can buy additional weapons and costumes in the game with real money. However, this is not necessary to complete the game.