If you’ve always wanted to visit the vast Sahara Desert and discover pyramids and hidden tombs, let Assassin’s Creed Origins take you there. You’ll quickly get to know the landscapes and history as the video game transports you to Ptolemaic Egypt during the year 48 B.C. It’s an excellent game for history fans and travel enthusiasts; here’s why you should play Assassin’s Creed Origins.
Your journey begins during a time when Cleopatra is seeking to take the throne from her younger brother Ptolemy. Origins follows the way of the Assassin’s Creed collection, playing as assassins during some fascinating time period in history. You’ll take on the role of an assassin named Bayek, a Medjay ranger who hunts down members of the Order who have killed his late son. The premise of the game is the assassin’s conflict with the Templars (the Order of the Ancients) in Ptolemic-era Egypt.
Also in typical Assassin’s Creed style, Origins is essentially a series of stories, an almost cinematic experience with superb graphics, that make up the gameplay. Uncover sand-covered tombs, ancient cultures, local Egyptians, and dozens of wildlife as you sneak, loot, and battle your way across the landscapes and cities of ancient Egypt.
Expect to explore plenty of ancient Egypt along the way.
A major reason to play Assassin’s Creed Origins is for the experience of exploring Egypt – and there’s plenty to see. The country offers a variety of beautiful sandy deserts, rugged cliffs, tranquil escapes, and swamps with crocodiles. Plus, there’s cityscapes like Alexandria and Giza, too. If you did nothing else in this game, you could still spend seemingly endless hours just getting to know the country.
But playing as the character Bayek makes the game all the more enjoyable. Each activity and landmark feel like an insightful experience – a solid opportunity to learn about this period in history. Origins is like a virtual history book for that. Here’s some of the best places you’ll get to visit while playing Assassin’s Creed Origins.
Combining fine details, amazing quests, and a chance to get to know ancient Egyptian city life, Alexandria is easily one of the best places in Origins. You’ll see the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, along with the exquisite Great Library, plus plenty of open water, boats, and busy streets. Most places you visit here have already been destroyed, so it’s a very interesting way to walk through the past. Plus, Alexandria is also where you’ll have a chance to meet Cleopatra at her home as well as the Roman Julius Caesar, who plays a greater role in the game than Cleopatra.
, your journey will also take you to Memphis at the mouth of the Nile River. Once the capital of the Old Kingdom, it is a beige-colored city with hundreds of palm trees and several pyramids in the distance. The city is also polluted and there’s poison in the air. Historically, Memphis was thriving with trade, commerce, and religion. It was also believed to be protected by Ptah, the god of craftsmen and architecture.
Giza is next up on the list of places to see in Assassin’s Creed Origins. As one of Egypt’s most famous cities, it’s exciting to visit Giza in the game for several reasons. It was a necropolis for the pharaohs, dominated by three large pyramids (which you can still see today) in the desert. Though the game is set well after the initial construction of the pyramids, including The Great Pyramid which once stood as the tallest structure in the world for more than 3,800 years, the pyramids are still in good shape, gleaming white, and capped in gold. Expect to visit many tombs during your time at the Pyramids of Giza.
Beyond just the pyramids, Giza is also home to The Great Sphinx. You can read hieroglyphic texts on it and even enter a hidden tomb. It’s definitely worth discovering while playing Origins.
Beyond Giza, there are more pyramids to see like the Bent Pyramid of Sneferu located in the necropolis of Dahshur. It was built in 2600 B.C. and is the fourth oldest in the world. Though it’s not in fantastic shape today, exploring it in 48 B.C. is a treat.
Cyrene, which is actually in present day Libya, is another place to visit in the game. This ancient Greek city is one of the more lush and green locations of Origins, located in the Green Mountains. Historically, it’s the most important of Ancient Egypt’s five Greek cities of the region. Here you’ll find more Greek culture than Egyptian and a chance to see gladiator arenas and fighting. This is similar to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, which explores Ancient Greece.
You’ll also eventually head to the mummification city called Nitria in the Saqqara Nome. There seems to be a lot of construction going on in the city. Here you’ll encounter Nefertari who is portrayed as the chief healer of Nitria. Historically, Nefertari is the favorite wife of the great pharaoh Ramesses II and one of the most celebrated Egyptians queens of ancient Egypt.
Beyond the sites you’ll see playing Origins, you’ll also see plenty of wildlife like crocodiles and hippos in the Nile and lions, gazelle, and hyenas wandering the sand dunes and hills of Egypt. There’s also plenty of flamingos, egrets, fish, cats, and other animals along the way.
Check out the Discovery Tour to further explore ancient Egyptian history.
Like with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Origins also comes with the educational free-roaming ability to explore more of the country, its history, and culture. There are 75 tours included in the Discovery Tour spanning five themes: Egypt, Romans, Pyramids, Daily Life, and Alexandria.
Over the four years it took to create the game, the team at Ubisoft worked with Egyptologists and uncovered hundreds of images from museums and libraries and the Discovery Tour helps bring it all together.
You’ll be able to roam freely throughout each tour, but there are virtual guides along the way. The Discovery Tour takes away the action and storyline and gives you a chance to look at Egypt in more detail. Plus, the tours are a great way to learn more about history in a fun way as you play as Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, or even simply Egyptian, Greek and Roman adults and children.
One of the most interesting tours will take to the Great Pyramid of Giza. It explains how the developers pieced together the layout of the pyramid from inside without first-hand evidence, instead relying primarily on theories from archaeologists.
If you’ve been eager to explore Egypt, playing Assassin’s Creed Origins is a great way to do that. Its story will keep you entertained and its life-like graphics and details will keep you engaged and curious.