REVIEW: Assassin's Creed Origins Discovery Tour

Assassin's Creed Origins | Ubisoft

ASSASSIN'S CREED ORIGINS MARVELOUS DISCOVERY TOUR

Time for a magical discovery tour and it's potential for a new form if interactive education.

by Felipe Parada

You ever want to explore Ancient Egypt in its entirety but can't afford the flight and hotel? Well now you can thanks to Ubisoft and their tireless efforts to create the most realistic video game world in existence. The highly anticipated 1.30 patch has finally hit and has given us the new Discovery Tour Mode along with story-based DLC, times bosses and New Game + mode. I've been really looking forward to these new modes and what it can offer but is it something that enhance an already stellar experience? Absolutely. Today I will be focusing on Discovery Tour Mode and how Ubisoft managed to offer a new way to experience games.

It is clearly apparent that Assassin’s Creed: Origins want to teach you a little bit about about the history of Ancient Egypt. This is a perfect idea considering Ubisoft uses real historical people, settings and events as the basis for it's Assassin's Creed franchise. There is so much care that went into developing those settings and keeping them historically accurate demands a high level of dedication. I never thought I would want my games to be educational but Ubisoft has managed to take one of its most cherished franchises and turn it into an interactive textbook.

Discovery Tour Mode turns Ancient Egypt into a new educational tool which gives you the freedom of exploring the region in its entirety. The new mode is conflict free, free of time pressure and any type of gameplay restraints. It is a nice change of pace from running around and assassinating enemy NPC's. Figuring out where to begin can be a bit overwhelming but the Ubisoft team does a great job of providing you with the tools and freedom to explore Egypt how you want.

Assassin's Creed Origins | Ubisoft

You have the option of exploring entirely on your own, or you can follow 75 themed tours that have been expertly crafted by the Ubisoft team who have worked closely with experts on the time period. To begin the tour, you simply follow the glowing golden line on the ground. The golden line serves as your objective marker as you uncover each station of a tour. Just like in an actual museum tour, audio commentary will play in the background as you are given information on each station. You are free to look around and explore the area while you listen to the commentary. I was afraid that it would get a little boring but it is very well done.

I honestly didn't know what to think of this additional mode when it was first announced. I always make time to visit a couple of museums every year. Since I live so close to New York City it is easy for me to jump on the ferry, cross the river and hit as many museums as possible. I can't tell you how many times I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art just to see the "Arms and Armor" exhibit. Seriously, if you haven't checked it out, you really should. But after playing this new exploration mode, I though about how this new, and extremely accessible form interactive education will change how we interact with museums.

This form of interactive education is not new. The Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey has these type of exhibits all over the place but now we are able to experience this interactivity from the comfort of our own home. Accessibility is key in today's ever evolving world. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Ubisoft has changed the game, yet again (pun intended).

Assassin's Creed Origins | Ubisoft

Many of us are overlooking the importance of this new Discovery Tour Mode and the potential it has. Being able to explore a virtual world when we want and how we want is crucial to the development of gaming and education as a whole. Just imagine if you throw in VR to the equation and you would have the formula for your own virtual classroom at home. Sure the world is at our fingertips but now we have the ability to actually go there and view the world from a different perspective.

I understand it will be difficult for other developers to incorporate this mode into their games. Many developers use fictional locations as the settings for their story but maybe it can be used to further explore the lore for that game. I would love to visit Star Wars' Mos Eisley or take a post apocalyptic tour through Tom Clancy's The Divisions version of a snowy New York City. The possibilities are endless.

I really plan on exploring ALL of Ancient Egypt in Assassin's Creed Origins. I'm really learning a lot, and I think that's the important thing. It's very rare that a game can be both fun, realistic and educational but Assassin's Creed Origin managed to find a good balance. Who knows if Ubisoft will add this new mode in all of it's games but the Assassin's Creed series is a good starting point considering how historically accurate it is. I also think that this new mode should be considered in other games, even if they are fictional.

Were any of you able to discover Egypt in new and exciting ways? Let us know what you experienced in the comments below.