Following numerous leaks over the previous few weeks, Ubisoft officially revealed that Assassin’s Creed Mirage is real. As expected, Ubisoft revealed a lot more about Mirage during today’s Ubisoft Forward showcase, including the game’s protagonist, setting, and more. 

If you’ve been paying attention to leaks and rumors, you likely already had a good idea of what Mirage will be, doubly so after today’s presentation. Basim Ibn Ishaq, the master assassin from Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, is in the lead role this time around. However, he’s not the polished warrior you might remember him as because Mirage takes place years before Valhalla. In this game, he’s a young thief, and his playground is the luscious and diverse streets of Baghdad, Iraq. Set in 861, a period when Baghdad was the epicenter of science, art, and trade in the world, Basim will stumble upon the Hidden Ones. 

He’ll be taken under the wing of mentor Roshan, voiced by Emmy-winning actress Shohreh Aghdashloo, who will help him grow from street thief to apprentice to master assassin. 

Ubisoft’s presentation also revealed that Mirage represents a return to the roots of Assassin’s Creed, inspired heavily by the first game that started it all. Gone are the multicolored loot, giant sprawling maps, and dozens of questlines and side quests. Mirage is a linear action-adventure game set in the ultra-dense city of Baghdad, where the series’ three main pillars – stealth, parkour, and assassination – take the spotlight once more. 

To accompany this return to form, Mirage features all-new parkour animation, including the new Pole Vault move and returning favorites like the corner swing. Basim can still climb basically everything as Bayek, Kassandra, and Eivor could, but his parkour will be the smoothest and most fluid in the series in years. This will help him traverse the streets and archer-riddled rooftops of Baghdad’s four main districts, including the industrial Karkh and the lush gardens of the Round City. 

As Basim progresses through the ranks of the Hidden Ones, he’ll unlock more skills to help him in his fight against the Order of the Ancients (and his nightmarish visions and mysterious background). He’ll also upgrade his arsenal with throwing knives, blow darts, smoke bombs, mines, noisemakers, and, of course, the hidden blade (but not before losing a finger or two). 

Assassin’s Creed Unity’s black box missions are back too, which will give Mirage some of the more open-endedness of previous Assassin’s Creeds. Much like the first Assassin’s Creed, players will pick up target assignments at the Hidden Ones’ in-construction Alamut Castle, a Persian fortress in the extended lore making its first in-game appearance. Basim will need to use Enkidu, his Aquila Heliaca eagle, as his eyes in the skies. He’ll need to keep an eye out for specialized archers on the rooftops of Baghdad that can shoot Enkidu down, though. 

Assassin’s Creed Mirage does not yet have a release date, but Ubisoft says it’s due out sometime next year. 

Are you excited about Assassin’s Creed Mirage? Let us know in the comments below!