Assassin's Creed Origins took a new vector for the development of the franchise. Some gamers claim it spoiled the series; others say it brought it to a whole new level. In my opinion, neither is completely true.

Pros:

- The large, detailed, various map: Alexandria, Memphis, Giza, and a bunch of other places to visit: great Nile, lakes, deserts, mountains, pyramids, tombs. The process of exploration is the best the game has to offer.

- A superb depiction of the various conflicts between the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Different areas of the map are under the control of different factions; there is a lot of drama about issues such as xenophobia, slavery, etc.

- Side quests. They are neither good nor bad, mostly average in quality. But definitely better than in most of the previous games in the series.

- The graphics. Some animations are too abrupt (mounting a horse/a camel, for example), but overall the graphics feel natural; it helps to create the believable, immersive world.

- Parkour. It is different than in the other games of the series, but still good. It is simpler and more casual now; the player can climb almost on every surface, even without explicit convexes, which is more convenient but less realistic at the same time.

- Weapons, shields, clothes. There are a lot in all categories; collecting legendary items is a nice addition to the exploration.

Cons:

- The main storyline is quite short and has no artistic value at all. The plot, the direction, and the characters are far worse than in most previous games of the series.

- Finishing the map becomes really boring because it is filled with a few types of typical activities: killing dangerous animals, capturing outposts, freeing prisoners of the oppressive regime, etc. Most of the playthrough time is dedicated to it.

- The physics. Driving horses and camels is implemented okay, but the chariots are almost uncontrollable. I suppose they took the physics of the carriages from Syndicate but somehow made it worse.

- The fighting system. One of the worst in the series. It is a great feature to be able to manually (middle mouse button) target or untarget enemies, but controls are awkward, especially dodging. The complex geometry of battles (anyone is able to climb everywhere) also bitters the experience, producing many AI bugs. All the bosses (except Roman war elephants) can be beaten by just consecutively pressing dodge and hit buttons.

- The level system. It is quite frustrating seeing enemies with skull level (almost unbeatable, especially on the Nightmare difficulty) in the beginning of the game.

- Unnecessary storyline in modern times. I don't really understand why the devs still continue it. Thank God, there are no Abstergo buildings to infiltrate or computers to hack for 100% achievements.

- The in-game purchases in the single-player game. I don't need to explain it, right?

Overall, Assassin's Creed Origins delivers a unique experience since Egypt is a country with a long and great history, but I'm sure I will never play this game again because of its tiring repetitiveness.

♥♥♥♥ ubisoft connect

Requires an account, but the account creation doesn't work. I've spent 30 minutes trying to play a game I bought. What a waste.