Ubisoft has officially revealed Assassin's Creed Mirage at the its Forward 2022 event, giving us our first look at the next Assassin's Creed game with a pre-rendered trailer. Mirage is set in Baghdad during the 9th Century CE, 300 years before and 850-some kilometers away from the original Assassin's Creed, but just 20 years before AC Valhalla.
Assassin's Creed Mirage looks to be a return to Assassin's Creed's origin as a stealth-focused series set in a sprawling urban environment. Mirage will focus on Basim Ibn Ishaq, the man known as Loki in Valhalla. Mirage will show Basim's initiation as an Assassin and journey thereafter.
In the trailer, we see a supercut of Basim's life before, and after, joining the order of Assassins. Narrated by Roshan, his mentor, it depicts him as a thief in the streets of Baghdad and, later, as an Assassin taking down corrupt enemies of the Order. It's very clear that this will be a prequel to Valhalla, elaborating on Basim's life and deepening the character.
The primary speaker in the trailer is the inimitable voice of Shohreh Aghdashloo, who you might remember from The Expanse, Mass Effect, and Destiny. She'll be Roshan, a primary character and Basim's initiator into the Assassin community. Roshan is Persian, as is Aghdashloo, who was born in Tehran.
The trailer shows off plenty of fights and parkour, climaxing with the removal of Basim's finger to complete his initiation as a hidden one. Ubisoft also posted a longer developer trailer breakdown alongside the trailer's premier.
Mirage holds a lot of hope for those that want AC to be a stealth-focused series again, with PC Gamer's Imogen Mellor writing: "I feel like I haven't had a proper AC experience in years."
Mirage was once rumored to be a DLC for Valhalla, following leaks earlier this year, but a more recent leak that was subsequently all-but-confirmed by Ubisoft pointed towards Mirage instead being the next main-line game in the series. It's not the only Assassin's Creed game on the way: There's one set in Japan coming, as well as a witchy one, and Assassin's Creed Infinity is still in development.
