One of the many selling points of Assassin’s Creed Mirage, besides its return to the series’ roots, is its leaner price tag compared to other major releases. It retails for a cool $50 USD, quite a bit more affordable than the $70 asking prices that are becoming more and more common in the world of big-budget gaming.
With this lowered price point, however, comes a bit of suspicion. If the old adage “you get what you pay for” is true, does that mean Mirage is somehow lesser? The precise reason behind the price cut is fairly simple and definitely doesn’t indicate any glaring problems with the game itself.
Why is Assassin’s Creed Mirage cheaper?
The easiest answer to this question is that Mirage is cheaper because it isn’t quite as huge or content-stuffed as a full-fledged, triple-A Assassin’s Creed game, which may be a positive depending on how you feel about the series’ recent entries. Odyssey and Valhalla were so massive that it was easy to feel burnt out before even reaching the halfway point, and Mirage, luckily, faces no such problems. It’s the very first major release from France’s Ubisoft Bordeaux, which up until now has been relegated to live service support and DLC, like the Wrath of the Druids expansion for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
Mirage feels very much like an experiment—a way to test the waters to see if demand for the classic Assassin’s Creed formula is still there—so it makes sense that Ubisoft wouldn’t want to allocate a huge amount of money or dedicate one of their larger studios, like Ubisoft Montreal, to its creation. Interestingly, Mirage started life as a DLC for Valhalla, with that game’s protagonist, Eivor, venturing to Baghdad rather than Basim. Some trappings of that approach remain, such as the shorter length, smaller setting, and even a few animations carried over from Valhalla. For fans of the recent RPG-inspired turn the series has taken recently, Codename Red is still on the horizon, so don’t despair.
That’s not to say you should overlook Mirage, though—if anything, the reduced price is even more of a reason to check it out. Ultimately, the game is everything it says it is: a leaner, more focused experience made for fans of the less sprawling early games in the series. If you have fond memories of ducking through the back alleys of Damascus or blending into the crowds of Venice, Mirage will most definitely scratch that itch without the added trouble of digging your old PS3 out of your basement.
