(Open Box) Assassin's Creed Odyssey Day 1 Edition, Ubisoft, Xbox One, 887256036041

The Assassin's Creed series has outdone themselves yet again with Assassin's Creed Odyssey! Set during the Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens, players not only get to choose the gender of their character (either Alexios or Kassandra), but also what city they support! By destroying enemy supplies, pillaging, and deposing national leaders, players can turn the tide of war for either city. Moreover, performing these actions will trigger a conquest battle with hundreds of Greek soldiers, captains, and mercenaries. Conquer an area for the city-state of your choosing and reap the fruit of enemy territory! Odyssey also introduces a notoriety system, similar to that in other open-world games like GTA V. Essentially, you have the freedom to choose who you want to be: from a mercenary with a conflicted conscious to a ruthless psychopath, to everything in-between. However, should you choose to kill innocents, your reputation will degrade over time and you'll be chased by increasingly difficult bounty hunters who seek a price on your head. Odyssey also employs an open dialogue system, whereby players influence in-game outcomes, such as in-game side missions, through dialogue options. Players experience their freedom in arguably the Assassins' Creed series' most realistic open world. With your eagle you can explore ancient Greece's colorful, picturesque, island landscape; it's white-stone isles, autumnal forests, and arid deserts. Similar to Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, players can once again recruit a crew, board, ram, and sink other ships! After conquering the Mediterranean, players can also conquer and tame wildlife for their bidding, such as attacking or causing a diversion in an enemy camp. Fighting dynamics have also never been so seamless in the series. Players have access to a broad assortment of ancient Greek weapons, with a different combo attack against enemies. Lighter weapons will stun an enemy on the first blow, while heavier ones will knock them down. Weapons also have a ranking system, which means players can upgrade their simple blade into a legendary flaming sword! Newly introduced are hotkey buttons (e.g. Xbox D-pad) which host customizable weapons, inventory items, and attacks. Odyssey also integrates an ability hierarchy system similar to that of Assassin's Creeds Origins. As you rank up, you will unlock outstanding abilities such as directing the flow of your arrow after it's been shot. Overall Assassin's Creed Odyssey is an epic must-play. It expands upon the open-world of Origins, while offering an incredible unparalleled story of Ancient Greece! I am writing this review as part of a contest.

It has taken years and years of "almost-there" iterations, but they finally did it--this Assassin's Creed game takes the cake, as it so rightfully deserves. Assassin's Creed Odyssey is exactly what you would expect from the title--an adventure through ancient Greece of Epic proportion that Homer himself would be proud of. In fact, ACO borrows more than just the setting of Homer's Odyssey, but also touches on similar mythical legends, characters, places, and more. Set along a fictional Mediterranean Coast, ACO makes use of previous game mechanics that made it so revolutionary while adding an entirely new level of complexity and customization. As with every iteration of the game, the running, jumping, and climbing mechanics are smoother than the last and in this case, are finally entirely seamless. The same can be said about the fighting mechanics, but these have also drastically changed since Origins. ACO now boasts an extensive inventory and upgrades menu that allow the player to customize weapons and wardrobe, as well as upgrade attacks and abilities. This allows players to have personalized hotkey buttons for different attacks and inventory items--something that has not been seen before in Assassin's Creed games. Speaking of never-before-seen game mechanics, Assassin's Creed Odyssey has a lot of them, as it emerges as a full-fledged RPG. Being such, ACO now boasts dialog choices that effect the outcome of the game, dynamic weather and Biome patterns that break up the monotony of landscapes, and notoriety levels, such as in the GTA franchise. While all of these components are drastically different than former AC games, there is still plenty that keeps Assassins Creed grounded. As with all Assassins Creed games, Odyssey takes place in a nonfictional time with historical characters and events. Since this game is set in ancient Greece, the battle between Sparta and Athens is raging on, and the player is encouraged to fight along one side or the other, or both! Another key aspect derived from past games is that of the sailing system. Since ancient Greece is comprised of hundreds of small islands, your ship is the main mode of transit, while it also acts as your home base. As in previous games, the player is able to recruit crew for their home base, or ship, and must do so if they expect to survive the high seas. Fun (I mean really fun) Fact: ships now have the ability to smash other ships in half and sink them!!! Over all, this is an absolutely phenomenal game which takes every groundbreaking Assassin's Creed component and dumps them into an unbelievably vivid open world--think Skyrim on steroids. With stunning graphics, seamless game play, 30+ hours of cut scenes, and a setting and story to match, this is undoubtedly the best Assassin's Creed game by far, and quite possibly one of the best RPGs to date. Good work Ubisoft, keep it up! This review was written as part of a contest.