Justin’s E3 Pick — Assassin’s Creed: Origins (with special mentions)

I’ve been waiting. And waiting. I’ll admit, I got pretty used to having a new Assassin’s Creed game every year. It was nice. Sure, things were getting stale in some ways; they had all but dropped the future storyline on its head after AC3, but I still looked forward the getting my hands on a new AC game every October/November. When they took a year off, I was a bit disappointed, but I felt it was honestly in the best interest of the franchise. After reading some news earlier this year, it didn’t seem like we would be getting a new AC release for the second year in a row, and I began to get a bit disheartened. So when AC: Origins was announced at E3, I was beyond thrilled. “How thrilled?” you ask. Well, I already pre-ordered the collector’s edition.

Here’s why I’m excited (in 5 quick points)

1. Ubisoft took a year off – This gives me great hope for the game in terms of story, direction, and gameplay. They did what they needed to do, and I think we’re definitely getting a more quality game as a result.
2. We’re going backward in time – The AC games have been steadily moving forward in time, further complicating things with more and varied guns and some sticky time periods (the forays into the World Wars in Syndicate started pushing the boundaries a bit). I’ve been saying for years that the game needs to go back to its roots further in the past for a number of reasons, mostly because of my next point.
3. I think we’re going to start getting back to the story built up in the first 5 games – AC did A LOT of setup in those early games, including glimpses of a past featuring Adam and Eve, talks about the beginnings of the brotherhood, and a focus on identifying the descendant of Eve. While the new game isn’t going back as far as I’d like it to in order to address some of these things, I’m thrilled we’re going back to a much earlier time period. This makes me feel really good about the story that’s been set-up and where we might be moving in the future.
4. Ancient Egypt – I mean, this is a really cool time period that I’ve always been interested in, so the ability to play as an assassin in this time period and in this location is something that I think is going to be really cool and fascinating.
5. The Subtitle – Origins. A word that holds much promise, much intrigue, and much excitement. We’ve seen the Brotherhood of Assassins evolve quite a bit throughout the series, and I think we’re ready to see the start of it.

All in all, I think It’s going to be a fantastic new addition to the series, and I’m pumped to see where we go from here.

Special Mentions: 

Upgraded Re-release that I’m most excited about: SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS. Need I say more?

The game that I know nothing about that I’m most excited for: Monster Hunter. I literally know nothing but the name, but they have my attention.