Credits
The time has come to say goodbye to Assassin's Creed Origins with the second of its DLCs, after The Hidden One . The Curse of the Pharaohs is now with us and we could not have dreamed of a better farewell for the return through the big door of the franchise of Ubisoft , who continues to play clueless with " there will be no Assassin's Creed this year because we want more content for Origins " Indeed, Origins is already outstanding enough as it is, but the combination of its style of play with the most attractive historical epoch seems to be still in place for a while.
Contents / Gameplay
Whatever the future holds, The Curse of the Pharaohs ensures that we have no doubt about future additional content. If they are like this second expansion, the answer is a resounding yes. Many already anticipated it with final impression a few weeks ago, but with all the extra content at our disposal we can confirm it; this second DLC is an expansion with full matching flavor .
As it happened with The Hidden , we are really facing a new epilogue, this time four years after the events of the main game . Bayek receives a new mission in which we verify how the dead are returning from the beyond and their new destination will be Thebes (we can also direct there directly). The passage of time from the original delivery will give rise to ludonarrativas dissonances as Reda, the merchant, is still a kid and do not spend the years for him. One of the main changes with respect to The Hidden , which will be appreciated by those who do not have that DLC, is the fact that it allows us to start a game at level 45 - the one necessary to be able to progress with possibilities of success among the wide range of missions that we will provide this downloadable content - with predetermined equipment.
The game will raise the level limit again to 55 for Bayek , which will mean that we need a good amount of experience points to achieve such a figure. On the contrary that happened with the Hidden ones, now we will not have to invest the points of extra skill obtained with each additional level in increasing the verticals of warrior, clairvoyant or hunter, but new skills arrive for our protagonist centered mainly in contributing greater qualities to the arcs and in the Hereafter. Of course, if we are among those who want to complete everything to the fullest, the exaggerated number of experience points of the game will make 55 feel quite short for the whole experience it offers.
Plot
At the plot level, Bayek follows the trail of a strange curse that causes dusty shadows to return to the world of the living. The complex plot of desecration of tombs, revenges of the gods and pharaohs and black market will take us to places as tempting as Luxor or the Valley of the Kings (thanks to the enormous size of the main game map, we had forgotten such emblematic areas) . However, that will only be the icing on the cake in terms of mapping.
The Curse of the Pharaohs takes place between the world of the living and the dead. This leads into a playable level in the inclusion of four large areas of Beyond completely independent with their own secondary missions, forts, treasures, dens and others. Even artistic level are so unique and unrepeatable that after passing the Duat and reach these exclusive areas the base game will seem "ugly" compared to the maximum expression in artistic design of the Ubisoft game, which was already touching the perfection with the content included in the disk. We will spend a lot of time engaged in Photo Mode in this expansion.
The arrival of Bayek to the world of the dead will also have its transformation into the design of several of the common elements. The human soldiers are replaced by warriors of Anubis willing to do what their god commanded. The fauna almost disappears (just a few gazelles) and giant scorpions and bats with human heads appear. The papyri give way to the stelae for the treasure hunt. The DLC is the total inclination of Assassin's Creed Origins to the side of mythology in the peculiar balance of what was Ancient Egypt . Here there will be no historical conflicts of substance, or political plots or important figures of the time. Everything is summarized in the particular relationship between gods, pharaohs and what united them. So much, that it could well be this content also launched independently as in days of Freedom Cry for Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.
As it happened in The Hidden Ones, we will also have to collect materials to improve our six pieces of equipment with new levels that allow us to face enemies within the range of level 45-55 as those presented by the expansion. On this occasion there will be a new ingredient that we will need for divine improvements, called stellar powder . In addition to collecting in some places on the stage, you get scorpions and new enemies that appear in different places at different times, known as Shadows of the Pharaohs ..
Graphics/ Sound
The Curse of the Pharaohs is the most critical point in terms of artistic design . It knows how to perfectly capture the representations of different elements that made up the Egyptian mythology and brings it own personal touch to the mix. The new scenarios are proof of the total creative freedom of the Ubisoft artists and present us with magnificent scenarios that will make us rub our eyes on more than one occasion. This DLC is the spearhead of what the graphics engine can achieve. At the level of sound we will have a more than satisfactory dubbing (they repeat the voices of the base game), which is marred by a somewhat defective lip sync.
Additional Info
The " Curse of the Pharaohs " is a complement to the adaptation of the phylakes, here called "Shades of Anubis". They are enemies composed of dust that emerge from the world of the dead in search of revenge and perform improvised sacrificial rituals. They add new rules to the fighting, since we must finish them before they make all the sacrifices or they will return again to the beyond. These shadows will eventually give way to the most powerful enemies in the game as heads of end in each of the areas of the Hereafter.
As said before The Curse of the Pharaohs could well be a complete game, since it is full of tasks in both worlds , earthly and underworld. The complex relationship between main and secondary missions and the different locations mean that the number of hours needed to make the most of the expansion varies, but you are assured to have content for more than 45 hours .
Conclusion
The Curse of the Pharaohs is an expansion of indisputable value and whose volume of content we may not have seen from Blood & Wine for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. It could have stayed in the earthly and would have given us a few hours of fun as the first DLC, The Hidden Ones, but the direction of this expansion goes further. To the Beyond It is the four great zones of the underworld that contribute something never seen before in Origins and delve deeply into the mythology of Ancient Egypt, having focused the previous contents too much on politics and history.
Happy Gaming!!!!
Nice work. Structured well and the writing flows. Well done!
Am so honored, am glad you like it 😁