‘Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey’ boasts two main characters, ship-to-ship combat

By Jayce Wagner Published June 11, 2018

Assassin's Creed Odyssey review — Image used with permission by copyright holder

At its E3 2018 event, publisher Ubisoft showed off its latest and greatest, including a sneak peek at the upcoming Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. During the show, Ubisoft not only ran a detailed gameplay preview, but provided some on-stage commentary detailing exactly what players can expect from this Ancient Greece-set action role-playing game.

“Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey is more than an adventure — it’s truly a role-playing journey. You will explore, on land and sea, one of the most iconic periods in human history,” said Jonathan Dumont, creative director at Ubisoft Montreal.

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When the title of the game leaked earlier this year, we suspected it’d be set in Ancient Greece, following on the heels of the previous game, Assassin’s Creed: Origins, and sticking with the “Ancient World” theme it established. It’s important to point out that, as Kotaku reports, this game actually precedes Origins by about four centuries, taking place during the Peloponnesian War.

On the surface, the gameplay appears very similar, with a few shared icons, UI elements, and menus left over from Origins. That’s not a bad thing, but Odyssey clearly boasts a number of improvements over Origins, most notably the choice players are given right at the beginning.

“We’ve continued to transform AC into an epic RPG experience, shaped by your actions and choices. The first choice you’ll make at the start of the game is to choose your character: Alexios, or Kassandra,” Dumont saidd.

That’s right, in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, you’ll be able to choose to play as one of two Spartan warriors, Alexios or Kassandra. In addition, Odyssey appears to borrow heavily from one of the most popular entries in the Assassin’s Creed series: Black Flag.

Since the game is set in Ancient Greece, it only makes sense that you’d spend a large portion of your time at sea, captaining a war ship in the glittering waters of the Aegean Sea. From what we can see in the trailer, it’s clear that ship-to-ship combat is a big part of Odyssey, with significant portions of the game taking place amid the picturesque islands of Ancient Greece.

For a closer look at the game, check out our hands-on preview.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

A staff writer for the Computing section, Jayce covers a little bit of everything -- hardware, gaming, and occasionally VR.

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Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ blend of old and new is a recipe for success

Yasuke in Assassin's Creed Shadows fighting an enemy. He's dressed in his samurai armor.

Assassin's Creed Shadows was officially revealed a couple of weeks ago in a beefy cinematic trailer showing off its dual protagonists, Yasuke and Naoe. It's a big moment for fans of the series, as Shadows is finally the Feudal Japan Assassin's Creed game fans have been asking for since it was teased back in the very first entry in the franchise in 2007.

Does it live up to that long wait? Ahead of today's Ubisoft Forward stream, I saw an extended gameplay presentation for Assassin's Creed Shadows that gave me a much better sense of what to expect this fall. The team behind it is looking to blend newer series entries like Valhalla, Odyssey, and Origins into the more traditional Assassin's Creed titles from over a decade ago. And that seems like it could be a winning formula.
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During the presentation, I saw both of Shadows' playable characters in action -- and they're quite different from one another. Yasuke's Samurai stature and hulking physique command respect from villagers when he walks by. They bow to him, move out of his way, and clearly show signs of admiration. His combat skills also match this, giving him access to actions like a shoulder charge to break down doors or knock enemies off balance.

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Yasuke in Assassin's Creed Shadows fighting an enemy. He's dressed in his samurai armor.

Ubisoft unveiled Assassin's Creed Shadows last week, giving us our first real glimpse at the first Assassin's Creed game to be set in Japan. Its Feudal Japan setting is something that fans of Assassin's Creed have craved for a long time, and while it's awesome that Ubisoft is finally delivering that concept, some other games did beat it to the punch. Many other developers have noticed how fruitful a historical Japan setting can be, from its feudal era all the way until the West started to intervene in the Edo period. As a result, there are quite a few games that I can recommend you check out while you're waiting for Assassin's Creed Shadows' November 15 launch.

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No, Assassin’s Creed Shadows won’t be online only

Yasuke in Assassin's Creed Shadows fighting an enemy. He's dressed in his samurai armor.

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The Assassin's Creed team posted a statement on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday to clarify that the game would only need an online connection to install, and then can be played completely offline after.