Ever wanted to scale the Pyramid of Khufu? How about the Great Sphinx of Giza? The Lighthouse of Alexandria? Well, you’re in luck: This weekend, Assassin’s Creed Origins is totally free-to-play on UPlay. If you missed it the first time around, now’s your chance to play the best Assassin’s Creed.
Princess Peach’s Leading Role And More New Releases
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Ubisoft’s 2017 entry in the popular stealth-action franchise brought players to Ancient Egypt, at the twilight of the Ptolemaic period. (Yes, of course Cleopatra plays a role. As does Julius Caesar.) You play as a man named Bayek. At certain points in the game, you’ll play as Bayek’s wife, Aya. The two of them are on a quest to avenge their son, Khemu, who (spoilers?) dies in the game’s opening moments. On the way, a certain order centered around a certain creed comes to fruition.
If you get a kick out of the series’ modern-day segments, you’re bound to be disappointed. There’s not a whole lot in Origins, and the segments that do exist don’t exactly push the envelope. The truly cool, new stuff is all in the gameplay. Origins did more to overhaul the gameplay than any other franchise entry. For starters, the RPG elements introduced in 2015’s Assassin’s Creed Syndicate were expanded into full-blown skill trees. The gear system is as robust as something you’d see in Destiny 2 or Borderlands 3. It’s also set on a staggeringly large map. Where Assassin’s Creeds before largely centered on densely packed ancient metropolises, Origins offered up an entire country for sneaking and stabbing.
But the true draw of Origins, as with all Assassin’s Creed games, is the historical tourism. The Nile and its surrounding hamlets are lush with life and color. Grecian marble shimmers off the Mediterranean coast. Origins also introduced an educational mode called Discovery Tour. In that mode, combat and missions are disabled, replaced with historian-guided tours of famous relics.
You can also climb a not-on-fire Library of Alexandria. Try doing that in another game.
Assassins Creed Origins is free on UPlay until 4:00 p.m. (your time) on June 21. After that, if you want to continue your save file, you’ll have to purchase a copy.
