Assassin's Creed: Origins The Hidden Ones Review

"A Hidden Creed"

Campaign

The first downloadable content for Assassin’s Creed Origins, The Hidden Ones, takes place four years after the ending of the campaign of the main story. Bayek receives a letter from Tahira imploring him to come to Sinai to help with the revolt against the occupying Romans. She explains that she has lost two Hidden Ones in missions against the Romans already and assumes responsibility for their demise. The Hidden Ones Bureau has also allied with the local rebels to aid them in pushing the Romans out of Sinai.

Once Bayek arrives at the Sinai Bureau, Tahira explains more of the situation. She introduces him to the Rebel leader, Gamilat, and tells about how their main target is the Roman general, Rufio. He is back in Rome, so their targets become the three lieutenants that are left in charge. Bayek accepts the responsibility for eliminating the lieutenants to bring the general back to Sinai. After completing his missions, Bayek finds that he drew attention to the Bureau attracting new enemies and old friends into the fray.

The game recommends that Bayek should be level forty before attempting The Hidden Ones DLC and I support that recommendation. One could probably get away with a level in the upper thirties, but it would be difficult since the lowest level enemy that I saw was thirty-nine. The main story is interesting being in the same vein as other recent Assassin’s Creed titles where the Brotherhood aids in rebelling against an oppressive regime. The map is about a fifth of the size of the main map with the same encounters as the main game.

There are numerous enemy forts and camps, stone circles, animal lairs, papyrus scrolls and new Phylakes called the Shadow of the Scarab. An overwhelming number of soldiers occupy the larger forts and I would always try to booby trap the braziers to prevent reinforcements from coming. Things that I noticed were that the carbon crystals used for upgrading Bayek’s equipment are abundant, as more upgrade slots open in the new DLC. Treasures, especially the underwater ones, are more cleverly hidden in this chapter too.

The Conclusion

Assassin’s Creed Origins has been worth the wait and the new DLC is on par with the main game. While the gameplay is not different from the main game. The story is exciting, and rewards are better with new weapons and mounts as mission rewards. The Hidden Ones adds hours of gameplay to this expansive title and is one of the best add-ons to an Assassin’s Creed game.

Assassin's Creed: Origins Review on Xbox One X
Review Code Provided by Ubisoft

Rating Overall: 9.0