Assassin’s Creed Odyssey takes us back in time even more than its well-received predecessor, Origins. After learning about the origins of the Assassin Brotherhood, Layla Hassan, a former member of the sinister organization Abstergo, discovers the lost work of Herodotus. In it, the Father of History describes the existence of an download games free pc artifact from the Isu, andancient civilization that is the precursors of the human race in the AC reality. The game focuses on the character chosen at the beginning of the game – Kassandra or Alexios, wielding the Spear of Leonidas, their famous grandfather.
Although the game begins with a quick tutorial set during the Battle of Thermopylae between the Persian army and three hundred Spartans under the command of Leonidas, the plot of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey focuses on much later events. The actual action begins in 431 BC, on the threshold of the war for hegemony over Hellas. Kassandra or Alexios become involved in a bloody showdown between the Athenians and the Spartans. However, choosing one side of the conflict is not as important as unmasking the Cult of Cosmos, the organization that secretly rules Hellas. Fighting subsequent representatives of the Cult is also an opportunity to discover the family history of the hero or heroine, whom we meet at the beginning of the game as orphaned exiles from Sparta.
It sounds quite cliché, and it is. The plot of the reviewed Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is a collection of clichés typical of fantasy set in historical realities. Here we have a sinister cult hiding under masks, conspiracy theories taken from Daniken’s books and a family saga full of quite obvious plot twists. Genericity, however, is a neutral feature rather than a disadvantage in this case. The whole story was told very efficiently. The scriptwriters do not conduct the action from point A to point B, but they skillfully use retardation and other techniques to diversify the conventional plot. As a result, we get a coherent story of the protagonist, who changes from a provincial gray man into a hero writing his own Odyssey with the pen of a sword. It may be based on well-known patterns, but it definitely cannot be called common.
Travels with Herodotus
The action of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is set in the center of Hellas during the Peloponnesian War. Literally. The area available for exploration covers 130 km², which corresponds to the real area of modern Greece and is a huge number. Suffice it to say that this hugeness puts Odyssey in sixth place in the ranking of the largest sandboxes, right after The Witcher 3. The game map is 60% larger than the one in Origins!
The game world is the biggest advantage of the new part of AC. Accurate mapping of the topography and architecture learned through archaeological research allowed us to create a world in which you can set foot anywhere. Once again – literally. The parkour and acrobatic skills typical of the heroes of the series make it possible to extract all the juices from the abundance of this area. Climbing mountains, breaking through forests, climbing statues and the roofs of huge temples… During the game, we often stop, fascinated by a beautiful landscape or a small architectural detail.
Visiting subsequent lands and islands involves entering the atmosphere of the presented world. Creating an atmosphere consistent with the ideas of a given era has always been one of Ubisoft’s strengths, and this time is no different. Of course, purists could criticize a lot of details, the most obvious of which are probably the language issues – the Greek used today has been mixed with the ancient Greek in the overheard conversations of passers-by, the pronunciation is exclusively modern, and in the case of many words (including the most frequently repeated – misthios) we are dealing with with anachronisms. However, the creators’ intention was not to please the clingy fanatics of antiquity, but to evoke an appropriate atmosphere, associated as closely as possible with the world of antiquity. It worked out great!
