Assassin's Creed Mirage hits PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Amazon Luna, and PC this week (and it's coming to iOS for certain devices next year, too). We've been covering it for a few weeks now as part of Game Informer's exclusive cover story coverage during September – check out our Mirage hub here for exclusive features, interviews, previews, and more – but everyone can play the game this week.
Ahead of its release, we spoke to Basim voice actor Lee Majdoub about his entry into video game acting, what he brings to the character, and more. We also spoke to Mirage narrative director Sarah Beaulieu during the same interview to gain more insight into what fans of the series' lore can expect and more. We also spoke to Roshan voice actor Shohreh Aghdashloo and you can check that out here.
Enjoy our interview with Lee Majdoub and Sarah Beaulieu below!
An Interview With Lee Majdoub And Sarah Beaulieu
Game Informer's Wesley LeBlanc: What's it been like playing a returning character in this series? I know you're new to the role, but Basim was a big part of the previous Assassin's Creed, and now he's leading Mirage. So I'm curious: what's that been like stepping into those shoes?
Lee Majdoub: I don't want to say it was daunting, but it was definitely a thought about like, "Okay, what's the challenge going to be?" But I think the freedom was that the Basim that you see in Valhalla is quite different and many years after the Basim that we meet in Mirage for different reasons that we won't speak about. So when they told me about that, and the focus was on the earlier years of Basim, and joining the Hidden Ones and his journey to try and figure out who he is, and his quest for understanding where he belongs in the world, that really pulled me in. I got really stoked on that. I thought we did have the advantage for sure, a lot more freedom than you typically would if you were revisiting a character.
For you, Sarah, what's it been like helping bring this character as the protagonist of Mirage and then working with Lee to bring that character to life with a new take?
Sarah Beaulieu: Well, as he just said, Basim from Valhalla is not Basim from Mirage. So the first step was just figuring out what we wanted to tell about this guy and, as I often say, the last scene came up first, the last scene from Mirage. And that was the focus point of his evolution. Mirage is very much more condensed than Valhalla is. And even though you can still wander the city and do a lot of stuff in it, you still have a very linear beginning and a very linear ending. And seeing the character evolving in that semi-open world, as we call it, was pretty challenging because we still needed as a player to feel Basim evolving and changing through the game until the end of it. It's a very definitive ending, you don't have any direct choices. You're going in one direction.
First, we wanted to find what was positive about Basim as a character because people know him from Valhalla, and they know him as a bad character. Something that Lee brought very early was the light that we needed, and some of the things that – I didn't say this to you ever [talking to Majdoub] – but one of the things that made me choose Lee as an actor for the role was the fact that you have very kind eyes, and that's nothing to do with the voice, but I knew you were able to bring the light that we needed to see in the character right away from the beginning of the game and through the game. And so the character becomes quite likable for the players right away.
Assassin's Creed fans love Assassin's Creed, and the protagonists are a big part of that. People get these characters tattooed on them, they have art in their houses – players remember the protagonists. What's it been like joining the ranks of people like Ezio and Edward Kenway and all of these other beloved characters?
Majdoub: It's really cool. I was just telling the team today because they were showing me some stuff and some footage – I got to play a little bit. I think there's still a little bit of, like, I don't know what to call it, but disassociation. It still doesn't feel quite real. I hear my voice, and I remember what we recorded and what we did, and the conversations we had. And then when I see it on the screen, I'm like, "I just really want to play that Assassin's Creed game." You know what I mean? Like, that guy's cool. I really want to jump into the story. But it definitely is a dream come true.
I'm a big video game guy. I've been working really hard to kind of get my foot into the video game industry and then to get an opportunity like this on a franchise like Assassin's Creed and to tell this story, and it'd be in Baghdad, and it's just layer upon layer upon layer. And the whole team, everybody involved from top to bottom, is so invested. You could tell that everyone cares, and everyone has a personal connection to Mirage. It's really cool. It's really cool to see that much love go into it.
This is the first Assassin's Creed game in a while that's bringing us back to the Middle Eastern roots of Assassin's Creed. You're Lebanese, so I'm curious; what it's been like getting to see this Middle Eastern culture come to life in such a massive franchise with you playing the star of it?
Majdoubb: It's a lot. I was telling Sarah today because I thought we had talked about it, but we hadn't: I had a very turbulent journey in my teens and 20s as far as identifying with being Middle Eastern and some of the prejudices and everything that came along in life. So a big part of my life was cutting myself off from that part of it. I was like, "No, I don't want to speak the language anymore. I don't want to do anything like that. I'm not associated with it." I had a lot of shame with it. And so then in like the last five years, as part of my personal journey, I was like, "I need to find that love again because all I'm feeling is resentment and it's unfounded." So my journey was getting back and falling in love with being Lebanese.
Funny enough, eight or nine months before Mirage came, I reached out to my mom, and I was like, "Mom, I want to learn the language again. Can you help me with that?" So my mom and I spent like two, three times a week on the phone as I learned Arabic again. I learned to read and write at a grade three level, a grade four level [Majdoub says with laughter], but you know, I speak it way better. Then Mirage came along – there are these moments in your life that happen where it's like, "Okay, how isn't there something larger than me that's at work here in some way, shape, or form, you know what I mean?"
And to get that opportunity to show a Middle Eastern culture in that light, in a positive light that we haven't really seen in a very long time, to play a character that's so multi-layered – it's just really cool. It's hard to describe in words. It just feels like it's more than just telling a story. It feels like there's a definite personal connection to it, especially with a guy like Basim that is struggling with his identity. He is trying to figure out who he is. There are so many parallels in that sense of "I want to do better in life." Basim is trying to do better in life. He's trying to make his life better and make other's lives better, with the thieves and the kids and everything. He just wants a better life for them all. It was quite cool. You don't get to see that often.
And Sarah, for you, I was actually at Ubisoft Bordeaux recently for our cover story –
Beaulieu: I know, it was awesome!
Majdoub: I followed along with your cover story and watched your videos – I'm a fan!