Assassin's Creed Mirage marks the first time Ubisoft Bordeaux has led development on a full game release. It's a relatively small studio, as far as Ubisoft's teams go, and it seems fitting the team was chosen to build the leaner and more focused Mirage - after previously putting together Valhalla's Wrath of the Druids. Mirage was, of course, originally set to be DLC for Valhalla as well, before the project was expanded and became a standalone adventure for that game's mysterious Assassin character Basim Ibn Ishaq, set in the Assassin's Creed franchise's original stomping grounds.
Baghdad really is the perfect setting for Mirage's vision - to return to the roots of the Assassin's Creed series with an homage to its original game. And, after playing it myself, I can say Bordeaux has done a great job of doing just that. There's a return to stealth and scouting as a focus which really recreated that feeling of classic Assassin's Creed gameplay, especially now that social blending is back and, thanks to the tightly-packed, busy streets of Baghdad's Round City and its surrounding towns, parkour is once again at the forefront of the action when it comes to avoiding combat and just generally getting from place to place - although there is also the option to fast travel to previously synchronised viewpoints if you're feeling lazy.
The Round City itself is impressive as well, and it's not like the classic desert city you might imagine. There's canals, acres of greenery and multiple districts with distinct buildings and architecture that are immediately reminiscent of the first game. The Round City is so called because it is encircled by a gigantic round wall, which has 4 different gates Basim can use to enter or exit it. Each gate leads to a different outer district, such as Karkh, a market town that marks the mid-way point of the Silk Road that's full of crowds and traders, and Hariyah, a district that's dedicated to workers and industry with fabric dyeing factories, brick factories full of workers, a prison and the Grand Mosque. Finally there's also Abbasiyah, an area that holds The House of Wisdom - a place full of scholars who study maths and philosophy.