Since the release of Black Flag, arguably the last great entry in the Assassin's Creed franchise, the property as a whole has laboured. Intrigue washed over me when rumours of a Ptolemaic Egypt set origin story started doing the rounds, and I'm so pleased to say that Origins is the shot in the arm...

Assassin's Creed is back. No, I don't mean that in reference to the year break we had from the franchise, I mean that this is the return to glory you have been hoping for. With fans and critics complaining about a paint by numbers feel to the later AC games, a lack of polish and worlds full of...

Places you want to explore; Bayek is an amazing character; Combat is satisfying and fun the whole way through; No mini-map means your eyes are on the world

Some animation issues in combat; Wildlife wondering into dramatic cutscenes

Squeezing through a gap in the rocks, an ancient tomb or temple is revealed. The flickering firelight of the torch glances off huge, black onyx statues and gold hieroglyphs, whilst the milk white walls display colourful pictographs of gods and goddesses with stylised palm fronds and lotus motifs.

After the double trouble that was Assassin's Creed: Unity and Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, two games with design issues and technical problems (more so in Unity), coupled with franchise fatigue, Ubisoft needed Origins to mark a triumphant return for Assassin's Creed.

The first thing you notice when playing is the upgrade in graphics, the environment is stunning! I have completed the game fully at the time of this review and I have to say, it is the most enjoyable in the series since the Ezio saga.

Bought this the other month. Visuals are stunning and combat mechanics have been revitalised to give this latest release in the franchise a breath of fresh air! Map is huge and the graphical attention to detail is stunning.

Releasing on a year-on-year basis and despite having some launch issues with later games, the Assassin's Creed series was always pretty much well received overall. However, with its last proper release, Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (2015), Ubisoft decided that the series was to take a break (at least...

Huge open world full of meaningful activities; Gripping story and characters that have you invested; One of the most visually impressive games out there; Rewarding levelling up and crafting system

Can lack combat challenge at times (but you can now change the difficulty

"It doesn't do enough to distinguish itself from its competitors, resulting in an overall experience that feels bland and left me longing for a more capable action RPG experience." © 2017 Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal. All rights reserved.

Emotional and engrossing script; compelling leads; gorgeous scenery; and good quest design

Disappointing implementation of RPG mechanics; uninspired combat; and atrocious level-gating for main quests

ARK: Survival Evolved was probably the harshest introduction to a game that I've ever experienced. With little in the way of a tutorial or mission markers, I was dropped onto an island with nothing but my wits and scavenging abilities and tasked with surviving in a harsh and unforgiving environment.

Like so many big-budget extravaganzas, Assassin's Creed Origins is an attempt to perfectly triangulate the three corners of open-world game design: environment simulation, storytelling and gameplay.