Fighting as Kassandra or Alexios builds on the combat systems pioneered by Assassin's Creed Origins, with your chosen mercenary using a variety of weapons and fighting styles to dispatch groups of enemies with light and hard attacks. That said, combat, gear, and character abilities have all been hugely retooled and revamped, making for a very different experience. Origins fans picking up a spear, for example, might be surprised to find their mercenary executing balletic Spartan jabs instead of Bayek's wide swings. They might be even more surprised to draw a sword and see their mercenary fighting with the broken Spear of Leonidas as a left-hand weapon, instead of a shield.
One of the biggest differences is that you'll no longer be able to hold a shoulder button to block incoming attacks; instead, tapping the button at the right moment parries them, and you'll rely on quick dodges or longer dodge rolls to escape most damage. Meanwhile, holding down the former block button now pulls up a customizable quick menu, letting you unleash one of four special abilities that you can select ahead of time.
"The special abilities are a way of expanding what abilities have always been, which is a way to customize your play style," says Game Director Scott Phillips. "We push it even farther, because we use the broken Spear of Leonidas to access even bigger and better abilities. You're going to have to build up adrenaline within fights or within assassinations in order to fire off one of these abilities, but the way players mix and match them, it's been real exciting to see how people create their own style out of it."
These abilities are grouped into Hunter, Assassin, and Warrior trees, representing ranged, stealth, and melee combat skills respectively –and most of the abilities can be upgraded for additional perks. Some of these are familiar; the different bow functions from Assassin's Creed Origins, for example, are now abilities that can be applied to whatever bow you're holding, letting you fire off remote-control Predator shots and multi-arrow spread shots without juggling gear.
There are plenty of new abilities, too, like the Spartan Kick, which works exactly how you think it does and can send enemies flying; Rush Assassination, which lets you silently throw the Spear of Leonidas at a distant enemy and immediately, stealthily sprint up to them to pull it out; and the Shield Breaker, which lets you hook an enemy's shield and bash them with it as you hurl it away. You can even heal during combat or infuse your weapons with fire or poison effects, so long as you've got enough adrenaline and have the ability unlocked and ready. And that's just for starters; work your way up the skill tree, and you'll unlock things like arrows that can pass through shields and walls, or the ability to become functionally invisible.
You'll also have a range of passive skills, which enable familiar abilities like stealth assassination, as well as new ones like the ability to knock out and recruit enemies. And then there's Leap of Faith, which now not only lets you perform a classic swan dive from high places, but protects you from dying if you take a bad fall. Upgrade the ability, and the Spear of Leonidas' power will keep you from ever taking falling damage again.
Odyssey's approach to gear is another big change; while you'll still be able to continually find new weapons in the world and quickly switch between two at a time, you'll now collect a constant stream of new armor as well. Your head, arms, torso, waist, and feet all require individual pieces of armor, and you'll want to pay attention to the buffs they and your weapons can grant. For example, a chest plate that grants a 5% bonus to your Assassin attacks might be more useful to you than a seemingly identical piece that boosts Warrior damage. And while it's not available in the demo, you can also add new perks to your equipment with engravings, which can be found throughout the world and applied by a blacksmith.
Again, however, it's the Spear of Leonidas that truly sets Assassin's Creed Odyssey apart. "We've seen First Civilization artifacts throughout the Assassin's Creed franchise," says Phillips. "The Apple of Eden is one iconic piece of this ancient civilization, and the Spear of Leonidas is our way to bring it into the story, and into the gameplay, and of giving the player access to those First Civ elements that they've never had broad access to. In the past, you've maybe had the Apple of Eden for a little bit; we give this to you for the entire game, and you upgrade it, you make it better. You get to get more abilities because of it, and because of its connection to you, which we're going to develop throughout the story.
"So it's an exciting way to meet the lore of the First Civ with that Greek setting and mythology," adds Phillips. "2,500 years ago is the oldest we've ever gone in Assassin's Creed, and it's where that connection to the First Civilization is the strongest it's ever been in the franchise."
"The game is really about order and chaos, and explaining the origin of this fight that came to be between the Assassins and the Templars later on," says Senior Producer Marc-Alexis Côté. "So the game doesn't feature the Hidden Blade. For the first time, you'll be playing a character who is not an Assassin... but this frees us to tell a story that's different, that's going to feel fresher and more involving for our players, because they'll be able to steer that story where they want, and make it their own odyssey."
Your combat skills aren't confined to facing off against close-quarters enemies on foot. About half of Assassin's Creed Odyssey's open world is water, which you can explore by swimming, diving, piloting small boats, or sailing at the helm of your ship, the Adrestia, and cutting through picturesque waves while fending off attacks from pirates (or raiding other vessels, if you don't mind getting a price put on your head). If you've played the naval segments of Assassin's Creed Origins, piloting your ship will feel familiar, as will aiming volleys of arrows at enemy ships. They aren't your only armament, either; you can throw javelins at close range for greater damage, and the demo also gave us fire arrows that not only do massive harm, but have the added effect of preventing enemies from moving or attacking if the fire spreads across their ship.
You can also order your rowers to give the Adrestia a sharp burst of speed. Not only is this great for chasing down targets, but it's essential for ramming enemy ships – and if you ram a vessel as your finishing blow, you'll cleave its hull into several large, splintered chunks that sink separately under the waves.
If, on the other hand, you don't want to just smash your opponent, disabling an enemy ship will let you board it and fight its crew for their treasure. Your crew – which can be built up and customized with warriors you meet throughout the world – will join in as well to help you thin the enemy's ranks. If you want to do the job a little more gruesomely, knocking the defenders overboard tends to attract hungry sharks – and if you want to attract several sharks at a time, sinking the enemy ship will trigger a full-on, surface-breaching feeding frenzy.
Sharks aren't too picky about who they attack, though, which makes them a frequent concern when you're exploring below the waves. So long as you're not in the middle of naval combat, you're free to dive underwater at any time. Close to shore, where the water is clearer, we found shipwrecks, sunken ruins, caves, and other underwater treasure hoards to dive and scavenge. In the open ocean, however, visibility is limited and the water goes much deeper. And while your mercenary has the lung capacity to touch bottom and the strength to fight whatever slithers out of the gloom down there, the constant threats of drowning and/or being pursued by a big chompy fish make this ill-advised unless you're after something specific.
Land and sea combat will be available to try in the Assassin's Creed Odyssey demo at E3 2018. If you're at the show, you can try it by visiting us in South Hall, booth #1623. Assassin's Creed Odyssey will launch on October 5th for PS4, Xbox One, and PC; stay tuned for more updates.
