The story of Bayek and Aya in the new AC game was honestly quite enjoyable. I loved exploring Egypt and seeing the beautiful landscape, even the desert was amazing. It’s so awesome to live in the era where video games and art continue to merge together. It is no longer acceptable to throw a game together without any thought to the environment and atmosphere. Games have to have some sort of aesthetic, especially if it is an open-world game where one can explore all areas the game has to offer. Running up to an ancient pyramid and watching it get closer and take up more of my screen as it gets bigger and bigger is a necessary detail that reminds us players that a ton of heart and work go in to making this game. But I’m getting off topic, the other side of this multi-sided die is the story aspect.

Bayek is a Medjay, an order of warriors who serve the pharaoh and protect the people. He lives during the time of Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy, and Egypt is on the brink of civil war. Bayek and his son Khemu are captured by The Order of the Ancients in attempt to locate an orb. In an escape attempt, Khemu steals a dagger and Bayek frees himself, then attacks their captors. While doing this, he inadvertently stabs and kills his son. It was heartbreaking to hear Bayek cry out and then begin his downfall on his quest for revenge. We then follow him and his wife, Aya, on their journey through Egypt, taking out members of the Order that are not only responsible for their son’s death, but also are oppressing the country through various means of violence and manipulation. All the while, Bayek is consumed with thoughts of his son, and we see him bond with children all over the land, which reinforces his loving and fatherly nature and reminds us his loss. There are a few truly moving scenes involving these children, and even scenes with his son that had me close to tears. The story in the Animus was honestly a great one. Now of course, if there are Assassins, there have to be Templars and Abstergo, right? What about them?

Well, that’s where the game falters. Granted, I haven’t gotten all of the achievements yet, nor have I unlocked all of the mechanisms, but I have finished the game. So unless there is some sort of major revelation in the post-game, the Templar/Abstergo threat is almost nonexistent. Our present-day counterpart is a woman named Layla, a rogue Abstergo employee who is testing her own version of the Animus out in the field, specifically in Bayek and Aya’s tomb. We cut back to her a couple of times when she needs to exit the Animus and we get a little exposition about what’s going on with Abstergo, via a few conversations with a friend of her’s and by reading files on her laptop. Only once was there an altercation with the forces of evil that is Abstergo, and it was over fairly quickly. Normally when we’re outside the Animus, that’s the time where we learn what Abstergo’s plans are and what these mystical devices and items left by Those Who Came Before are all about. There were two items we saw while in Egypt, an Orb and a Staff, and I have no idea for what purpose they serve. The end-game bosses used them, and that was about it. World domination and immortality had something to do with them, but I don’t know. Now, the fact that Layla was rogue does play into the fact that we might not have all the info about these objects, but she never addresses it when she comes out of the Animus. No, “Wow! This information has to be kept from Abstergo, or we’re all doomed!” or “So this is what they were looking for.” Nothing. I don’t consider this a nitpick, this is a big deal and its super disappointing.

In the end, AC: Origins is a fun time with a lot of passion and emotion behind it. It’s lovely and feels real, but the faults can’t be ignored. I would give this game a 3.2/5. Play it, but wait for it to go on sale. What do you think? Did you like the game or did you have major problems with it? Let me know!