Which, by the way, is a perfect name for what is essentially an in-depth slider fest where you can alter everything from Bayek's movements speed to enemy health, the number of animals you can train, switching out Bayek entirely for another character, and dozens of more parameters.

Because it's all part of the Animus one could even say that this tool-set is canonical. On the plus side this is the closest thing we've seen to full on mod tools for an Assassin's Creed game yet. On the downside the Animus Control Panel is limited to the PC version. Probably because some of these changes could break the game or severely impact performance on console.



The Animus Control Panel is a free update to the PC version of Assassin's Creed Origins dropping today.

The last announced (and known) DLC for Assassin's Creed Origins, which takes us out of realistic Egypt and into the more mystical side of it all, is now available.

Hopefully this isn't the last of Bayek's adventures in this incredible game-world Ubisoft has created. But we're not aware of anything else beyond this coming.

Here's the official line, and expect our review incoming shortly:

In the Curse of the Pharaohs, players will take on an all-new storyline, set four years after the events of Assassin’s Creed Origins, and continue Bayek’s journey as he travels to the ancient capital city of Thebes to investigate a curse that is plaguing the region. The expansion immerses players in Egyptian mythology, challenging them to battle famous pharaohs and mystical beasts as they investigate the temples of Karnak and Luxor as well as well the secret tombs of the Valley of the Kings. This new content will increase the level cap to 55 and introduce new crafting levels, resources and abilities. Players will also be able to acquire new outfits and gear, including rare and legendary weapons, all themed around classic Egyptian mythology.

If you haven't jumped into Origins yet, read our review to learn why you need to. And check out the Curse of the Pharaohs launch video below.

Also slightly delayed from March 6 to March 13. Following up from the excellent, but brief, Hidden Ones DLC earlier this month the next chapter of the Assassin's Creed Origins story gets a little crazy. In a good way, with undead pharaohs popping up throughout Egypt. An Bayek venturing into the afterlife, where boats sail through tall grass.

It looks and sounds pretty amazing.



This expansion also introduces new real-world locations in Egypt to explore like Thebes (with the Karnak and Luxor temples) and the Valley of the Kings. The story as highlighted in the trailer above sees Bayek investigating the theft of artifacts stolen by grave robbers which then leads to confrontations with angry pharoahs both in Egypt and then the afterlife. So yeah, pretty crazy. But in a good way.

Allegedly this feature has been asked of Ubisoft around their Assassin's Creed series for a while, but it wasn't until the series found its founding feet in Ancient Egypt that it seemed reasonable to pull off.

So overnight The Discovery Tour by Assassin's Creed: Ancient Egypt came to life and for any history nuts out there (like me), it's a truly glorious way to take a peek back in time, using modern day gaming.

In many ways, ACO is the perfect vehicle for this endeavour -- if only because the technology to recreate Ancient Egypt lends itself to now being able to take interactive, player-driven tours through said recreation. And all while learning about the city of Alexandria, the importance of Siwa -- Bayek's home, or to go as in-depth as you can here on the Pyramids.

Ubisoft’s Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt is a new educational and entertaining tool which lets anyone explore the entire interactive 3D recreation of Ancient Egypt in Assassin’s Creed Origins free of conflict, time pressure or gameplay constraints. The Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt releases from tomorrow on PS4, Xbox and PC at no cost for all owners of the Assassin’s Creed Origins game. It will also be available independently from the game on PC via the Uplay and Steam platforms.

From Alexandria to Memphis, the Nile Delta to the Sand Sea, the Giza plateau to the Faiyum Oasis, the Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt lets visitors either explore the rich world of Ancient Egypt at their will or follow the 75 themed tours devised by Ubisoft’s creative teams in collaboration with History experts and Egyptologists. “With the Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt, we give the chance to everyone interested in Ancient Egypt to enjoy the beauty of it and realize that video games can be a source of inspiring knowledge” explains Jean Guesdon, Creative Director of Assassin’s Creed Origins and the Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt.

Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt is a unique experience at the intersection of entertainment and learning. Interactivity, specific to the world of videogames, is at the heart of the experience, creating strong engagement with the content. This makes the Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt a completely new type of edutainment tool. “We’ve been in touch with teachers from the very first instalment of Assassin’s Creed games about ten years back. Many of them already used the games during their History classes but soon came to realize that what they needed was an easily accessible educative tool based in our historical reconstructions,” explains Maxime Durand, in-house Historian at Ubisoft Montreal. “With the Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt you can visualize and understand thousands of things from Egyptian history in their actual context. As both a game and a learning tool, it is quite a unique asset for teachers to integrate as part of their history classes.”

I spent roughly two hours in this thing last night and it's honestly the way forward for any game's of historical nature, or even games where technology, modernity or the like, feature heavily from the real-world.

And it's free. So, you know, get on it! (And check out the trailer embedded below.)

New Game +, the mode that lets players begin a game anew with all of the upgrades and skills and items acquired over the course of a singe play-through. Also, it's a great way to tackle a harder difficulty mode with the option of going in at an advantage. When a redditor posed the question to Ubisoft about such a mode coming to Assassin's Creed Origins, they responded.

With "New Game + is coming. We'll have more information to share soon." This is great news for those that simply want to spend more time in the gorgeously depicted Egypt of Assassin's Creed Origins, and even better for those with the Season Pass who can then go on to replay content with all new gear and items.

The first expansion, called Hidden Ones, was released last week. With more Assassin's Creed Origins content on the way, including the highly anticipated museum mode, New Game + makes a lot of sense.

One of last year's biggest, most visually impressive games in Assassin's Creed Origins will be getting its first bout of downloadable content on January 24 for all platforms, while Ubisoft has also revealed details and release dates around more post-release content.

DLC 1 -- The Hidden Ones (January 24):

This story-driven expansion builds upon the growth of the Brotherhood, taking players four years after the events of Assassin’s Creed Origins as they clash with an occupying Roman force in a new region of the world, the Sinai. This expansion will increase the level cap to 45, allowing players to continue to upgrade and customize their character. Players will have access to four new legendary weapons, a new outfit, two new mounts and multiple new weapons as well as two new levels for all crafted gear. The Hidden Ones DLC is available for all season pass owners or can be purchased separately for $13.95AUD on January 23, 2018.

The level cap increase is going to be one of the more popular parts of this additional content as well as an all-new open-world space to explore, and at a budget price with hours of new gameplay, it's not a bad deal at all.

DLC 2 -- The Curse of the Pharaohs (March 6):

This new expansion offers players a completely new storyline to delve into as they travel to Thebes to investigate an ancient curse that is plaguing the region. The Curse of the Pharaohs focuses on Egyptian mythology, pitting players against famous pharaohs and Egyptian beasts as they investigate the cause of the curse that has brought the dead pharaohs back to life. This new piece of content will increase the level cap to 55 and give players access to new outfits and gear, including rare and legendary weapons, all themed around classic Egyptian mythology. The Curse of the Pharaohs DLC will be available for season pass owners or can be purchased separately for $29.95AUD on March 6, 2018.

Additionally (and something I'm personally pretty excited about), the non-combat Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt update will be landing next month on February 20:

This new educational mode of the game lets everyone, from players to history-enthusiasts and non-gamers, choose between free roaming the beautiful world of Ancient Egypt to learn more about its history and daily life or embarking on guided tours curated by historians and Egyptologists. People can discover and explore a world free of conflict, time pressure or gameplay constraints, where storyline and quests are not active and the world of Ancient Egypt evolves into a combat-free living museum.

It's a pretty cool concept considering how much research went into creating such a visceral and visually-stunning game-world, and as a history buff, having actual Egyptologists and Historians giving us the guided tours is a new kind of educational tool. This add-on will set you back AUD$29.95, however, you can opt to buy into the Season Pass for AUD$59.95 which gives you a bit of a saving on buying them all separately.

Read our in-depth review here if you still haven't gotten the game, and watch a trailer (pre-release) with some (visual) details on all of the above below. We also have a batch of new screens after the trailer.

It's been out a bit over a week now, but we got our review copy a bit late and, well, with so much content, wanted to get our review right. So, here's what we think of Assassin's Creed Origins -- the game that makes Xbox One X shine and crafts the beginning of the Brotherhood vs Templars.

Here's an excerpt from our in-depth review:

But heading back to the “synchronisation” point mentioned above, the last place the game tends to fall apart is in its future sections. I’m not going to spoil any narrative here, but Assassin’s Creed’s biggest design flaw is that it ever had the animus component at all. It’s largely detrimental to the experience and hamstrings narrative on a massive scale. Desmond’s story is still being played out here, a bit, but it just feels superfluous and unnecessary in the grand scheme of everything else the team has designed. It’s also obnoxious -- sniveling rule-breaking Americans over-exerting their penchant for ‘mischief’ in order to craft some sort of parallel good versus evil story to play out in the future, so that what you’re doing in the past makes some sort of ‘sense’. Except it already makes sense, and breaking our digital fourth wall with a fifth wall, which is more like a third wheel, really, is kind of nonsense in the end.

I get it, it has to happen because Petrice Désilets designed it that way, and maybe that’s his parting gift to the company he had such a publicised falling out with, but I wish the future in Assassin’s Creed never actually happened. The history side of the game is the game, and it’s all we’ve ever really needed; all we’ve ever really wanted.

Click here for our Assassin's Creed Origins review.

"Season Pass". It's not nearly as endearing a phrase as "multipass", but it is par for the course in modern gaming. Ubisoft has revealed its Season Pass info for the hotly-anticipated Assassin's Creed Origins, which includes some free shit.

So, the video embedded below highlights everything a little bit better than our mere words, but it's good to see a host of post-release content in the pipeline. But it also raises the question around this much planning for post-release content and just why, if it's already in the pipeline, it's simply not part of the base release of the game. Then we laugh and remember what year it is and that in Australia we're still being price-gauged for digital content based on our 'economy', despite a clear lack of physical logistics holding up said price standard. Because, you know, digital.

Anyway...

The Hidden Ones (DLC 1) – This expansion takes place years after the events of Assassin’s Creed Origins in a new region occupied by a Roman force. Bayek and the new Assassins will clash with the Romans as the Brotherhood continues to grow, and players will have a new level cap. Slated for release in January 2018.

The Curse of the Pharaohs (DLC 2) – The second expansion focuses on Egyptian mythology, pitting players against undead pharaohs and famed Egyptian monsters. Bayek will need to explore a mystical new realm and discover the root of the curse that has brought these creatures to life. This expansion will also raise the level cap again and introduce new skills for Bayek. Scheduled for a March 2018 launch.

The Roman Centurion and Horus packs – These exclusive item packs will grant Season Pass holders a new outfit, weapons, shield, and mount when they become available in November of this year.

500 Helix Credits and an exclusive rare weapon, the Calamity Blade – Both available at launch.

To gain access to all of the above, players will need to own the Season Pass, which is included in Assassin’s Creed Origins Gold Edition and is also available for purchase separately.
Free Content

There is also a bevy of new additions coming to the game after launch that will be free for all players, including:

The Trial of the Gods – Face off against the Egyptian gods in boss battles during special timed events, and receive valuable rewards for victory. Kicks off 15 days after launch.

The Nomad’s Bazaar – Track down a wandering merchant who will give you daily quests to pursue and reward you with exotic mystery rewards. Available at launch.

Photo Mode – Capture the beauty of the Egyptian landscape, indulge your inner wildlife photographer, and discover interesting photos taken by other players. Available at launch.

Discovery Tour – This new game mode turns the world of Assassin’s Creed Origins into a combat-free living museum. Read more about this mode and the educational guided tours in our previous coverage. Available in early 2018.

Horde Mode – Hone your skills with blade and bow against endless waves of enemies in the Gladiator Arena, see how your scores stack up, and challenge your friends asynchronously. Available in early 2018.

Which is the sort of tech that you normally find on consoles that developers use to hit specific frame-rate targets. So let's say the target is 30 fps, that means that the resolution could switch from 900p to 1080p to even 720p depending on what's happening on screen to avoid dips in frame-rate. With the PC specs for Assassin's Creed Origins revealed today, it's great to see that Ubisoft has added this feature to the PC release.

Not only that but in-game bench-marking tools will be there at launch, with Ubisoft noting, "The PC platform overall is really important to us, that is why the PC version was developed in parallel with all the other versions by the main team in Montreal, in collaboration with our PC-dedicated team in Ubisoft Kiev. This approach was adopted while the game features were being designed, making PC and mouse-and-keyboard controls a full part of the equation from the get-go."

Here be the specs.

MINIMUM CONFIGURATION
OS: Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64-bit versions only)
PROCESSOR: Intel Core i5-2400s @ 2.5 GHz or AMD FX-6350 @ 3.9 GHz or equivalent
VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 or AMD R9 270 (2048 MB VRAM with Shader Model 5.0 or better)
SYSTEM RAM: 6GB
Resolution: 720p
Video Preset: Lowest

RECOMMENDED CONFIGURATION
OS: Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64-bit versions only)
PROCESSOR: Intel Core i7- 3770 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD FX-8350 @ 4.0 GHz
VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 or AMD R9 280X (3GB VRAM with Shader Model 5.0 or better)
SYSTEM RAM: 8GB
Resolution: 1080p
Video Preset: High

Assassin’s Creed Origins will be released for PC, PS4, and Xbox One on October 27.

Dubbed a 'Gameplay Trailer' what we see here sits clearly on the cinematic side of things, but if all of this incredible footage is taken from in-game in-engine cinematic sequences then, well, wow. We already know that the scope of the game is huge, so this new look at the mysterious Order of the Ancients just cements how big this new Assassin's Creed is going to be.



In addition to the war elephants we get to see glimpses of gladiatorial combat and more Ancient Egyptian iconography than we got to see in nine seasons of Stargate.

At Gamescom we were blown away by our latest hands-on with Assassin's Creed Origins. And now with the latest story trailer from Ubisoft it's not hard to see why. Featuring stunning in-engine footage it's a treasure trove of awesome history. Rome, Egypt, famous generals and leaders, war at a grand scale, fighting in the gladiatorial pits. And to top it all off, chariot racing!

And it all looks incredible.



Seriously, just wow. The scope of this new Assassin's Creed looks massive. Especially now with a story featuring both Cleopatra and the might of the Roman Empire. Plus, we get some glimpses of protagonist Bayek's personal journey, relationships, and of course assassinations.

Assassin's Creed Origins launches October 27 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

AusGamers own Stephen J. Farrelly is currently in Cologne, Germany for Gamescom 2017. With the J here standing for Jerk, because he left the rest of us here in Australia. Anyway, moments ago he got to spend considerable time with the latest build of Assassin's Creed Origins. The impressive and long awaited return of Ubisoft's flaghsip open-world franchise. And it sounds awesome.

At the beginning of our hands-on, I’m standing on a raft just outside of the city state of Memphis. It is a sprawling city replete with incredible architecture, lush greenery, farms and homesteads. There’s wildlife everywhere. And so, naturally the first jerk thing I do is fire off an arrow at a flamingo. I nail it and it falls to water’s surface in a pool of blood. But before I can even jump into the water and collect my prize, its carcass is snatched up by the claws of an eagle who’d watched the event unfold to claim an easy meal. I immediately thought to myself, “Okay, this is going to be interesting”.

Click Here to Read Our Latest Hands-On with Assassin's Creed Origins

Recently we had the chance to have a lengthy sit down and chat with Assassin’s Creed Origins game director Ashraf Ismail, where we talked about everything from the seamless open-world Egypt created for the game to how this new entry is essentially an RPG. Plus, the revelation that protagonist Bayek will succumb to the desert heat in interesting ways. And the existence of underwater tombs!


On possibly going insane in the desert heat.

AusGamers:I climbed to the highest point that I could just to kind of have a look at the lay of the land. I loved the heat shimmer effect, and [other] things like that were really fantastic.

Ashraf: Should we… I’m going to reveal something here.

AusGamers: Okay.

Ashraf: So we have this thing called ‘Desert Overheat’, which is a system that is meant to... the idea is when you are being consumed by the heat that you see, like, a lot of effects. [So] you start really falling into some kind of haze. We had to tone it down for the demo because that wasn't the purpose of the demo. We left a little bit of it on, which was that shimmer.

When it's on and you're in the middle of the desert and you're lost in the desert, it's fucking awesome.


Underwater Tomb Raiding

AusGamers: So, I realised, well I didn't realise, one of the first things I did was jump in the water and go swimming because in the trailer that you
showed [the water] was beautiful. And the animations down there are incredible as well. And I realised I could use my weapon underwater. So can you talk a little bit to what we would be able to do with the swimming. Is that to fight crocodile attacks? (Laughs.)

Ashraf: Yeah, yeah. So when it came to the underwater… I'll say this for vehicles, for horses, for camels: effectively what we wanted is that whatever you're doing in the world, it's consistent. The controls remain the same. Attack is an attack wherever you are. So [you] pressing the button and it works. In terms of the underwater specifically, Egypt was actually lush with water at that time period, and so it was natural for us that we needed to be able to seamlessly go through it.

And that there are opportunities and advantages for those people to explore the underwater. So there are underwater tombs. There are sunken temples. There are wells that you use to sneak into forts. So there's a lot that can be done with the water. Ubisoft Singapore worked on the water in terms of the tech and it's stunning. The shots are beautiful.

Click Here to Read Our Full Assassin's Creed Origins Interview

A case of special editions gone too far? Or, not far enough. Limited to 1,000 units, the price relates to the 73cm highly detailed, and resin, Bayek and Senu figurine. With Senu being the eagle. This version of Assassin's Creed Origins joins the Standard, Deluxe, Gold, God's, and Dawn of the Creed Editions. So yeah, maybe a case of special editions gone too far.

Even so, we want one.



Now, this version is limited and only available via the Ubisoft Store. And normally we'd be a little snarky about something like this (well, more so) but with a game that looks this impressive, we're willing to throw caution into the wind.


But, not enough to cough up $1,249.50.