For a time, it was widely rumored that the upcoming Assassin’s Creed: Mirage would lead directly to (or package) a full-blown remake of the original game. It’s easy to see how the idea gained traction – Phantom was sold to us from the beginning as a back-to-basics reset for the series, reminiscent of the original game’s city-based gameplay, and set in the same “global area”.
So, it seems like a wise choice. Assets that reconstructed 9th century Baghdad could certainly be repurposed for replicas of 12th century Damascus. Which makes sense, if you don’t mind that the two places are as far apart in space and time as modern Paris and, er, Cromwellian Liverpool. In any case, last year Ubisoft employees seemed keen to pour cold water on the prospect. Perhaps the project was shelved. Or, perhaps, Assassin’s Creed: Phantom was enough of a remake on its own, so a separate, more defined project was deemed unnecessary.
The thing about video game remakes, yes, they’re great for newbies to get started, but not necessarily all that fun for veteran fans. Take, for example, the recent PS5 remake of The Last of Us. It’s a fresh and modern take on the original story, and it does a great job of attracting new audiences — some from the TV show, some who were too young to get in a decade ago — into the world’s most discussed Fandom – 7/10 to death.
But for those of us who were there back then, it offered little more than an opportunity to refurbish the old place. Between the original, the remake, and the TV show that took most of its beats directly from, the ground has been actively trampled into a slushy sludge. And it’s not the only video game remake to offer an original copy of an existing story, retelling it with more polygons and shaders: the phenomenon has glossed over everything from b Level schlock to games like MGS3: Snake Eater and System Shock. The remake is substantive, but dare not alter the substance itself (even when there is little to no substance).
Well, it strikes me that, as an Assassin’s Creed fan from the start, Phantom: Pre-Remastered reminds me of a game I fell in love with years ago, with a similar look and feel, and revived its classic systems and mechanics to fit modern sensibilities, but it moved the story forward and freed itself from having to repeat less engaging elements.
Despite some prequel trilogy-style re-evaluations of it recently, the truth is that AC1 was considered a disappointment when it was released. The repetitive investigation missions make it tiring after the third mission, and it doesn’t help that just about every system feels awful, from “why is he just kneeling on the wall” parkour to the extremely annoying tailgating and pickpocketing depending on your In the mood Xbox was in, it was either too easy or heinously impossible. You could argue that a lot of this is a matter of technique, but the game’s dark, overexposed mid-2000s TV show palette and well-documented pacing issues (“Another modern scene? Really?”) certainly aren’t .
For the record, I loved the original game, and I think it deserves to sit alongside series classics like its direct sequel, or everyone’s favorite pirate simulator, Black Flag, or the impeccably beautiful Origins. Each AC has its own quirks and weaknesses that make it unique, and AC1’s flaws are an integral part of its identity. They certainly didn’t stop it from becoming a beloved classic.
But they don’t have to be duplicates. With Mirage, Ubisoft absolves itself of any obligation to do so. Instead, so far, it looks like it’s going to be a feisty celebration of the series as a whole: a thunderous return to old city-based gameplay, with crowds pushing through and skybox-piercing towers jumping off. Back to the wonderful Middle East, which remains the series’ most fascinating playground: from the tumult of Ottoman Constantinople, to the majesty of Ptolemaic Egypt, to the war-weary kingdoms of Syria and Jerusalem during the Crusades. However, it’s a direct spinoff of the latest game in the series, with all the benefits of endless improvements and trial-and-error evolutions that happened along the way.
As such, it’s still up in the air whether Ubisoft will offer fans a remake of the original Marmite. It would be foolish on us to rule it out entirely, but given what’s been said, it doesn’t look like it’s actively working at the moment. Mirage, though, is far more exciting than that: bringing the original game’s glorious, intoxicating spirit to the new Earth Vessel. A gorgeous and rich color palette, incredible architecture in one of the most vibrant world cities in history, and an all-new story and characters to keep the series moving forward.
If I had a binary choice between what Mirage has to offer and a tedious, grueling recreation of something I’ve already played, with better graphics (but not necessarily better art direction), I’d choose Mirage . Also, as my friends and twitter followers are tired of me pointing out, you can play the first Assassin’s Creed on a Series X/S console at a glorious 60fps render rate, as I explain in the video I sneakily embedded at the top of this post As in, there’s never been a better time to revisit it. It’s as clunky as ever, but it looks absolutely gorgeous–almost like a remake–and it’s fascinating to see how much of what we tend to associate with modern AssCreeds has actually always been there. If you haven’t tried it, you should give this form a try yourself.
I guess, unless you don’t have a new Xbox one. I have no idea. What exactly do you want from me? Anyway, I’m shocked someone is reading this.
