Platform: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Date of publication: October 27, 2017
Engine: AnvilNext
Assassin’s Creed: Origins is a video game developed at Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. Initially known by the working title of Assassin’s Creed: Empire, Origins represents the tenth installment of the Assassin’s Creed series. It is available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows as of Oct. 27, 2017.[1] The game, which was unveiled on June 11, 2017 at E3 at Los Angeles, tells the story of the origins of the Brotherhood of Assassins. The game will feature a new combat system that is more complex than its predecessors. Viewpoints for finding targets have been replaced by the use of an eagle, Senu. The game has typical features of RPGs, such as the ability to upgrade weapons and character to make them level up, however, it is classified as an adventure video game as the protagonist is defined and not customizable.
In the present, Layla Hassan, a researcher at Abstergo, has developed a modified version of the Animus that allows those who use it not to need the same genetic makeup as the subject whose memories they relive; contravening the orders of Sophia Rikkin, the woman goes to the Egypt, where instead of tracking down an artifact from the First Civilization she locates the tomb of two murderers, and aided remotely by her friend and colleague Deanna experiments with the machinery by reliving their memories.
She thus discovers the story of Bayek of Siwa and his wife Aya, two Egyptian spouses, both warriors, who lived in the first century B.C. Bayek, one of the last remaining medjay , protects the prosperous oasis of Siwa; one day he and his son Khemu are kidnapped by a group of five masked men, who try to force the man to open a secret crypt hidden under the temple of Amon in Siwa. Bayek’s refusal is followed by a scuffle during which little Khemu is accidentally killed. Bayek and Aya vow revenge against the mysterious men and separate to search for and eliminate them.
A year later Bayek managed to track down and kill a member of the masked group, Rudjek, known as the Heron; back in Siwa he discovers that the priest of the Medunamun temple is actually another adept, the Ibis. After assassinating him, Bayek went to Alexandria, where he found his wife Aya, who had allied herself with Cleopatra and through her support tracked down and killed two other members of the group, the Vulture and the Ram. Only one living member remains, known as the Serpent; the two manage to discover his secret identity: he is Eudorus, a Greek scribe . Bayek tracks him to the baths in Alexandria and kills him with a weapon handed to him by Aya, the first Blade Celata, at the cost of his ring finger which is amputated during the scuffle. ( hence the ritual of cutting off such a ring finger as Altair will do to use the blade). Before he dies, however, Eudoro instills doubt in Bayek that he is not the last member of the group of mystery men. Bayek thus meets Cleopatra, who reveals to him that indeed Eudoro had the Hippopotamus as his call sign; the Serpent is actually the collective name of a secret society known as Order of the Ancients, whose members have taken over all of Egypt and ousted her by using the new pharaoh, her brother Ptolemy XIII, as a puppet for their own evil purposes. The five men killed by Bayek and Aya were actually the lowest-ranking followers, while four others of higher lineage controlled as many areas of the Kingdom by holding the population in check with brutal and terrifying methods. Bayek therefore agrees to become Cleopatra’s medjay and travels throughout Egypt, helping the oppressed people and obtaining information about the identity of the four adepts, known as the Scarab, the Hyena, the Crocodile, and the Lizard. The warrior will be able to locate and assassinate them all, each time liberating the regions they controlled. Aya, meanwhile, travels to Greece to convince Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus to ally with Cleopatra.
Once their respective missions are accomplished, Bayek and Aya receive the news that none of those they killed were actually guilty of Khemu’s death: there are in fact other members of the Order, of even higher rank, who have infiltrated the ranks of Ptolemy’s personal guard: the Scorpion and the Jackal. Bayek discovers that the latter is actually Lucius Septimius, leader of the Gabinians, but he cannot stop him from killing Pompey. Having no more allies, Cleopatra decided to meet directly with Julius Caesar and with the help of Bayek and Aya managed to sneak into his court wrapped in a carpet. Caesar, seduced by Cleopatra, became her ally and turned his back on Ptolemy: thus the Alexandrian Civil War broke out. During the clashes Bayek and Aya actively help Caesar and Cleopatra; the medjay manages to track down the Scorpion, under whose mask the advisor Potinus is hiding, foils his plans and kills him. However, Caesar prevents him from assassinating Septimius as well. Aya instead gave up killing Ptolemy, who nevertheless died being devoured by a crocodile while trying to escape by sailing on the Nile.
Once the war is over, Cleopatra regains the throne and becomes the new pharaoh of Egypt; however, she and Caesar, now also romantically linked, cut ties with Bayek and Aya and take Septimius as their advisor. This makes the two realize that the rulers have themselves allied with the Ancients. The two medjays then decide to recruit the people they helped during their missions to form the Occult Sect, a new order to defend the people and their free will. Bayek meanwhile realizes that the Order of the Ancients had set its sights on the tomb of Alexander the Great, and together with Aya he goes there but only to find Apollodorus mortally wounded and killed by Caesar’s lieutenant, Flavius. These are actually the Lion, head of the Order of the Ancients and material culprit in Khemu’s death. Flavius has taken possession of the Scepter and Orb contained in the tomb, which are actually artifacts of the First Civilization; thanks to them he is able to penetrate the Siwa crypt and steal its secrets. Bayek and Aya go there but too late: Flavius has slaughtered all the medjays defending her. Bayek, officially the last surviving medjay, then goes to Cyrene where he finally succeeds in confronting Flavius, made stronger by the powers of the Apple of Eden, and defeats him, finally avenging the death of Khemu and all the people killed by the Order.
Bayek returns to Aya, who has meanwhile allied with Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus to defeat Caesar. Upon the woman’s departure for Rome, the couple realize that their love has been sacrificed in the name of the Occult’s mission. The two say goodbye, however, vowing to find each other in death and to continue to protect the world from evil. Bayek drops an amulet that belonged to Khemu, the skull of an eagle, imprinting in the sand a design that would later become the symbol of the Assassins, suggesting that the Occults are the ancestors of this order. Aya travels to Rome, where she confronts Septimius and then assassinates Caesar; she later travels to Cleopatra to kill her, but seeing little Caesarion she takes pity and spares her, cautioning her, however, to be a good ruler or she will return to finish the job. Aya changed his name to Amunet and settled in Rome, where he founded a section of the Occults; Bayek in Egypt also continued his mission, recruiting new followers and defending the oppressed.
In the present, Layla is tracked down and attacked by members of the Abstergo, who have noticed her absence; thanks to the abilities obtained through the osmosis effect Layla is able to defend herself, but Deanna is captured and killed. Layla vows revenge and re-enters the animus, determined to complete her mission; upon completion she is joined by William Miles, father of Desmond, who offers her protection in exchange for helping the Assassins. Layla agrees to cooperate but not to join the Order, and the two leave together for Alexandria.
