Assassin’s Creed Mirage sets up Basim’s origins in Baghdad, decades before Valhalla

Set in Baghdad decades before the events of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Assassins Creed Mirage stars Basim Ibn Ishaq as he grows from a street thief into a master assassin. Ubisoft shared a closer look at the new Assassin’s Creed game during a Ubisoft Forward event on Saturday.

Basim was first introduced in Valhalla as a mentor of sorts for the game’s protagonist, Eivor. Mirage will serve as his coming-of-age story, where he’ll learn the ways of the assassin under mentor Roshan, played by The Expanse’s Shohreh Aghdashloo.

Ubisoft Bordeaux is leading development on Mirage, which is expected out in 2023 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. During Ubisoft Forward, the publisher reiterated that Mirage will take the franchise “back to its roots,” both physically and thematically — though Baghdad is a new location, the franchise is returning to the Middle East with a renewed focus as a more linear, stealth-based game.

Mirage is set across four districts within Baghdad, including Karkh and the Round City set in the city’s golden age of 861. But players will also get to visit Alamut, the storied assassin fortress that’s under construction during Mirage.

What Ubisoft didn’t mention is anything related to what happened in Valhalla — i.e., where we found out Basim is the reincarnation of Norse god Loki who was able to restore his body and wake up in 2020 wearing a killer wolf shirt.

As for gameplay, Ubisoft said Basim’s eagle will be important for stealth, giving players options on how to approach various situations. The assassin is also able to slow down time to mark targets for rapid-fire assassinations, alongside other new moves like a pole vault to jump wide gaps. In general, Basim’s pace is faster, more agile, and supports the core gameplay loop of sneaking in for a kill and getting out of there without getting caught.

Though Ubisoft made it clear that this game is an homage to the original Assassin’s Creed, the developers also said in a press briefing that there’s a little bit of all Assassin’s Creed games in Mirage.

When Assassins Creed Mirage arrives in 2023 — there’s no exact release date just yet — it’ll have three special editions: standard, for $50, deluxe for $60, and a collector’s edition for $150.