Is Mirage a new high or low for the franchise? Here’s what the critics think.

By Matt Poskitt

Published: Wednesday, 04 October 2023 at 16:12 PM

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Assassin’s Creed Mirage is one of the biggest releases of the year, allowing players to explore ninth-century Baghdad for the first time, alongside returning to the classic stealth formula that helped the series become the success it is today. Is it any good, though?

Set to release on 5th October 2023, Mirage will be available to play across PlayStation, Xbox and PC before coming to iOS devices sometime in 2024.

For those looking to jump in right away, critics are now rolling out their reviews so we can get an idea of what the experience will entail.

Plenty of positivity looks to be pointed towards the classic gameplay, even if the story might not be the most groundbreaking and the required knowledge from other games needed to get the most out of Mirage is a slight hindrance.

Remember, though, these reviews are just somebody’s opinion – so if they love, like, dislike or hate the game, it doesn’t mean you will too.

At the least, it should give you a general idea of what to expect from gameplay quality from a technical perspective and the aspects that did or did not work for reviewers.

It’s a video game, at the end of the day, try not to take it too seriously. Anyway, head below for a selection of Assassins’s Creed Mirage reviews and quotes.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage review round-up

Okay, let’s start this review round-up by looking at one of the biggest names in the industry in IGN, which awarded Mirage an 8/10 score. Writing for the site, Jarrett Green stated: “Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s back-to-basics approach is a successful first step in returning to the stealthy style that launched this series.”

Matt Miller of GameInformer concurred, writing: “Not everything is perfect, but the ‘less is more’ design philosophy goes a long way to making this one of the most consistently engaging titles within the series for some time.” They similarly allocated an 8/10 score.

GameSpot, on the other hand, was a little less enthusiastic, explaining that while Mirage’s “focus on social stealth and detective work makes for a compelling dive into ninth-century Baghdad”, the game requires “knowledge from previous games to be interesting”. As a result, Jordan Ramèe felt a 6/10 score was more appropriate.

To the UK now, and The Guardian assigned Mirage 4/5 stars, with writer Julian Benson stating that “Ubisoft has made a more focused Assassin’s Creed, one that those with limited time have a hope of completing”.

That score was replicated by Eurogamer‘s Christian Donlan, who expressed their admiration for how the city is utilised: “I love, perhaps more than anything, that this game shows you Baghdad at its most powerful, influential, its most culture-creating and knowledge-expanding, and then leaves you to think about that.”