Chapter 836: The Assassination
After that, Lin Mu entered the ancient tomb within the pyramid.
This segment didn’t hold any special significance; it was still meant for some simple tutorials, like climbing, grabbing torches, and scavenging items.
What surprised Lin Mu greatly was that the game’s climbing system was very polished, basically similar to *Uncharted*. As long as there were protrusions on the wall, you could climb up.
Moreover, the game handled the treasures scattered on the ground very cleverly. In the game, most of the treasures on the ground were just set dressing, not actual items. In other games, explorers would enter a tomb, struggle to scavenge a few coins, yet completely ignore the treasures lying around—this was highly unrealistic and always drew complaints from players.
But *Assassin’s Creed: Origins* was different. Although Bayek similarly “scavenged the entire tomb for a few coins and some odds and ends while ignoring the treasures everywhere,” the game provided a reasonable explanation for Bayek’s behavior through its story setting: Bayek was a protector, and these belongings belonged to the dead, so he couldn’t touch them.
After going out and taking down a few minor enemies, Bayek successfully regrouped with Hopzafa, and they rode camels toward the Siwa Oasis.
“So this is the effect from the camel motion capture? Hmm… if I didn’t know the motion capture studio had a real camel, I’d definitely complain that this movement looks fake…”
Lin Mu deliberately turned his head to the right while riding the camel to watch its running motion. He had never seen a camel run before, at most catching glimpses in movies of camels walking in the desert. The way a camel ran felt amusing, and Lin Mu couldn’t help but watch for a while.
Endless desert, date palm trees, villages burned to ruins…
The surrounding scenery was very realistic, with a high degree of fidelity, making Lin Mu feel a bit captivated.
Especially when he reached a small hill, the camera pulled back, and Lin Mu got to see the full view of the Siwa Oasis.
Beneath the sprawling yellow mountains, a great river flowed through the Siwa Oasis. On both banks of the river lay a lush oasis, with faint white water towers standing among it. In the distance, a bustling city-state was vaguely visible.
“So… so beautiful!”
Lin Mu couldn’t help but exclaim. The scene’s fidelity was incredibly high, making him feel like he had truly traveled through time!
Although Lin Mu had participated in the game’s development and seen the concept art from the art team, this was the first time he experienced the complete scene in the game.
In the VR perspective, everything around him felt as if it truly existed. Those highly detailed scenes and visuals formed a unified whole. Even the swirling yellow sand, the roadside trees, and the Egyptian laborers at work all gave an intensely realistic feeling.
Countless details stacked together to create an Egyptian world that was both real and illusory.
Bayek continued forward, and through his dialogue with Hopzafa, more of the historical background emerged. Under Ptolemy’s rule, Egypt was in turmoil. In the Siwa Oasis, everyone lived under the shadow of a tyrannical reign, and everything was lifeless. The Sacred Ibis, who now ruled the Siwa Oasis, was a member of the Order of the Ancients and the target of Bayek’s assassination.
After a cutscene and an archery tutorial, a squad of Egyptian soldiers, tracking the cause of Rudjek’s death, searched Hopzafa’s home. Bayek had to eliminate these men for Hopzafa.
“So this is the stealth assassination element Chen Mo mentioned earlier? As the core gameplay, it only appears now?”
Lin Mu was a bit surprised. He had long known that the game was called *Assassin’s Creed* because it was primarily about stealth and assassination. Yet the previous two fights were close-quarters brawls, which didn’t quite match the game’s title…
In fact, *Assassin’s Creed: Origins* adopted this design for multiple reasons. From a historical perspective, the game told the story of the Assassin Brotherhood’s birth. Bayek was a protector and an undeniable warrior; assassination was just one of his many skills. From a gameplay perspective, the souls-like combat was meant to give players more options and operability, but assassination remained the most efficient and quickest way to fight.
For example, many heavily armored outpost commanders would make the battle extremely difficult if players chose to confront them head-on. The commanders carried large shields, dealt high damage, and if you weren’t careful, they’d attract a swarm of minor enemies, leaving you surrounded. However, if players assassinated them, even heavily armored commanders were instantly killed, avoiding all that trouble.
In other words, in *Assassin’s Creed: Origins*, assassination was still the most effective way for players to clear levels more conveniently. But for players who really didn’t like stealth, they could also go on a rampage and brute-force their way through. Whether this approach was good or bad, at least it suited the story background and overall gameplay design of *Assassin’s Creed: Origins*.
“Alright, let’s try assassination.”
Lin Mu controlled Bayek, carefully creeping toward the soldier.
The soldier was still peering into the house, completely unaware of the danger behind him.
Chen Mo’s *Assassin’s Creed: Origins* had enhanced the AI of characters. Some enemies would periodically look around, no longer standing dumbly in one spot facing a single direction like before. However, overall, considering player difficulty, the AI was lowered in easy mode, only becoming smarter on higher difficulties.
In fact, *The Last of Us* also had similar assassination mechanics, but *Assassin’s Creed*’s assassinations were smoother and more satisfying. No matter the enemy, grabbing them from behind resulted in instant death, and the assassination animations varied—maybe a muffled throat slit, a heavy punch to the head, or a back throw followed by a stomp…
Lin Mu felt like a killer lurking in the shadows, sending enemies to their deaths before they even saw him.
Besides assassination, players could also use bows and arrows. A headshot that instantly killed wouldn’t alert other enemies, but a missed shot would make them notice Bayek’s position, making it impossible to hide again.
Lin Mu wanted to try archery, but he accidentally missed, drawing a swarm of enemies…
No choice, he had to go on a rampage and kill them all.
“Man, this protagonist is ridiculously strong! Too bad the stealth failed…”
Lin Mu looked at the bodies scattered on the ground and comforted himself, “It’s fine, the result is pretty much the same. No living person saw me, so it’s not a failed stealth…”
After that, to assassinate a new target, Bayek had to craft a new chest piece and complete a series of tasks. At this stage, the game introduced more gameplay tutorials.