Assassin’s Creed Odyssey: An Epic Journey through Ancient Greece
Assassin’s Creed is one of the most successful video game franchises of all time. Originally a spin off from Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the game has pioneered new gameplay elements such as stealth and parkour in an open-world environment. Games within the franchise have covered a variety of historical themes including pirates, Ancient Egypt and most recently the Viking invasion of Britain.
Since the launch of the first game in 2007, which had some clunky gameplay mechanisms, Ubisoft has perfected the format to create a seamless experience with amazingly detailed worlds to explore. In 2018’s Odyssey, there is an incredible level of detail both visually and in terms of historical research. This game truly brings Ancient Greece to life – from its awe-inspiring buildings to the clothing, art, weapons and religious practices.
Alexios & Kassandra
Playing as either Alexios or Kassandra, you are a Greek mercenary and a descendant of the Spartan king Leonidas I. The game is set in 431–422 BC during the Peloponnesian War, which was fought between the city-states of Greece. You can either fight for the Delian League, led by Athens, or the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta.
While the story itself is fictional, the history and politics surrounding it have been meticulously researched. Odyssey maps most of Ancient Greece and its islands. Starting off in Kephallonia, you can visit all of the major towns and cities including Athens at its peak, as well as a huge range of historical sites such as the Sanctuary of Delphi, and all of the famous temples and tombs honouring Greek gods and warriors.
Climbing Greek Gods
As usual in Assassin’s Creed games you can climb just about anything, and one of the most thrilling parts of the game is the use of Ikaros, an eagle that can give you a bird’s eye view of your surroundings. To enable fast travel to certain locations, you must climb to the very highest peak of that area. You can transform into Ikaros and swoop away at any point, which is helpful if you’ve just fallen off the tip of Zeus’ thunderbolt and want to avoid certain death.
Kicking Off
Abilities are unlocked as you progress through the game and one of the best has to be the Spartan Kick. In this satisfying move you can entice an enemy to the edge of a cliff and send them flying with a powerful kick.
Greek Art & the Male Form
In the temples, courtyards and gardens you can find brightly coloured frescoes, mosaics and statues, with some impressively embossed with gold leaf. There is still academic debate whether marble statues would have been painted, and unfortunately we can only imagine how the frescoes in particular would have really looked as very few examples survive, but I’d like to think this is a good approximation.
Ancient Greek art is of course renowned for its development of naturalistic but idealised portrayals of the human (and particularly the male) body, with nude male figures featuring prominently on pottery and in sculpture. This is referenced playfully in the game with the exaggeratedly enlarged statues of Greek gods all over the place. These are much larger, by the way, than any that are likely to have existed in reality.
Getting Around
Naval combat continues to be a feature of the game and it’s fairly easy to get the hang of. You can also sail smaller vessels when travelling shorter distances. Your main form of transport is by horse, which is much less sensitive than in some games where you can be easily thrown off. Besides it being fun to fly, Ikaros is a useful tool for finding enemies before a stealth attack.
