Assassin’s Creed fans tend to fall into one of two camps: those who enjoy the heavy combat and RPG mechanics of recent entries such as ‘Odyssey’ and ‘Valhalla’, and those who yearn for the stripped-back stealthy sandboxes of ‘Unity’ or ‘Brotherhood’. ‘Mirage’ is very much a paean to those earlier games, wisely discarding vast amounts of feature creep.

Its campaign, set in 9th-century Baghdad, is nothing special but its depiction of the Islamic Golden Age is divine. The city’s streets are teeming with life (characterised for the first time by authentic Arabic voices) and its connection with the natural world is beautifully realised, something that ‘Origins’ also achieved with its lush portrayal of Ptolemaic Egypt. The game’s insistence on stealth is initially disconcerting: when a sneaking player is discovered it leaves them widely exposed, and enemies are too strong to tackle in groups. Parkour has also been weakened (another victory for the purists), making traversal trickier and sometimes more cumbersome.

But, as is always the case with Assassin’s Creed, the setting really makes it stand out. A built-in codex features a treasure trove of historical research, all of which has fed into this version’s immaculate creation and, while its various systemic changes will annoy some, there’s no denying that its representation of historical Baghdad is a joy to explore. 
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is out now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.