On the Radar: Assassin's Creed Mirage - A deep dive into the series' return to its roots with Ubisoft Bordeaux

GamesRadar+'s 'On the Radar' hub header image for Assassin's Creed Mirage, featuring a number of screenshots of Baghdad, hero Basim, his mentor Roshan, and other characters.
(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Welcome to On The Radar: the home for in-depth conversations around the world's biggest games on 12DOVE. We've spent some time with Ubisoft Bordeaux to bring you this celebration of Assassin's Creed Mirage.

For the upcoming Assasin's Creed adventure, we traveled to Ubisoft Bordeaux, the studio that's heading up the new project.

The game follows Basim Ibn Ishaq, a character we were introduced to with Assassin's Creed Valhalla who has quite a complicated narrative. But, this is his origin story, a tale of rags to riches as Basim goes from street thief to master assassin in the ranks of the Hidden Ones.

Fast Facts: Assassin's Creed Mirage

The pack shot for Assassin's Creed Mirage featuring Basim

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Release date: October 4, 2023
Platform(s): PS5, Xbox Series X, PC, Xbox One, PS4
Developer: Ubisoft Bordeaux
Publisher: Ubisoft

We spent some time walking the streets of Baghdad, tumbling across rooftops, and speaking to the creative minds behind this return to roots experience. The team at Ubisoft Bordeaux is incredibly passionate about taking Assassin's Creed back to its stealth-focused origins for this adventure, particularly when the last few years have seen the series moving to a larger, more player-choice-driven RPG structure with the likes of Assassin's Creed Origins and Assassin's Creed Odyssey alongside Assassin's Creed Valhalla.

Assassin's Creed Mirage is a huge endeavor for Ubisoft Montreal. This is a studio that has spent its time creating amazing DLC like Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Wrath of the Druids and supporting on huge Ubisoft projects, but Assassin's Creed Mirage marks the first time the studio has taken charge as lead developer.

For the next week, we'll be bringing you deep dives into the team's vision - from creating the city itself, our hero Basim and the characters who help define him like his mentor Roshan, and even the now-iconic logo. Be sure to keep this page bookmarked and return all throughout the week for more explorations of Assassin's Creed Mirage leading up to the review embargo on October 4.


Creating Baghdad

Baghdad city and surroundings in Assassin's Creed Mirage

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Assassin's Creed Mirage's recreation of 9th Century Baghdad is so accurate it made a historian cry

We sat down with art director Jean-Luc Sala and other members of the Ubisoft Bordeaux team to talk about making 9th-century Baghdad, the circular city, from scratch.


Introducing the Alamut - the lorehunters' paradise

The Alamut in Assassin's Creed Mirage

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Assassin's Creed Mirage's narrative director fought to include the Alamut because it's so important for the lore

We're about to step foot in the Alamut for the very first time in the Assassin's Creed series. Here's why heading into the legendary fortress is so exciting for lore fans.


Going behind the Basim

Basim in Assassin's Creed Mirage

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

How rejecting racism, reconnecting with Arabic culture, and a chance phone call helped bring Assassin's Creed Mirage's Basim to life

We chatted to actor Lee Majdoub, the man behind the voice of the up-and-coming Assassin's Creed hero.


Introducing Roshan, Basim's mentor and devout Hidden One

Roshan in Assassin's Creed Mirage

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Shohreh Aghdashloo on her role of Roshan in Assassin's Creed Mirage: "What a great example for women today"

As soon as the iconic Shohreh Aghdashloo was announced as the voice of Roshan in Assassin's Creed Mirage, we knew they were onto something special. Now, speaking to Aghdashloo herself on the role, we're even more convinced. Aghdashloo even goes as far as to say that Mirage is doing more to represent the fight for women's rights in the Middle East than other modern media.


Creating the iconic Mirage logo

Assassin's Creed Mirage logo

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

How the Assassin's Creed Mirage logo and its celebration of Arabic calligraphy came to life

Art director, Jean-Luc Sala, knew that the logo was the perfect opportunity to really draw attention to just how beautiful the Arabic calligraphy is, and boy was he right. 

There's more to the Assassin's Creed Mirage logo than meets the eye

There's more to the Assassin's Creed Mirage logo than meets the eye

Ahem, Eagle-eyed fans noticed that the logo has more than just beautiful calligraphy - it's a message too.


Celebrating Arabic in Assassin's Creed Mirage

Assassin's Creed Mirage isn't even out yet but it's already received praise for its Arabic depictions. Whether that's the accurate depiction of the Islamic call to prayer, which is one of the most important parts of worship for Muslims, or the Baghdad city trailer that showing off its Arabic dub. You can watch that above too. You could say Assassin's Creed Mirage takes the series full circle with its complete Arabic dub.


Meet Ubisoft Bordeaux, the team behind the Mirage

Basim looking over a sunset in Baghdad in Assassin's Creed Mirage

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

How the passion for the series let Ubisoft Bordeaux take the lead on Assassin's Creed Mirage

Discover the story behind Assassin's Creed Mirage going from a Valhalla DLC to a fully-fledged game, and the team behind that vision.


Assassin's Creed Mirage gameplay is a return to the series' roots

Assassin's Creed Mirage

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

An exploration of the original Assassin's Creed, an overture rooted in method acting

We've got a wonderful retrospective look at the original Assassin's Creed here from our friends over at Edge Magazine, and why it remains such an iconic start to the series.

Assassin's Creed Mirage revives visual effects from the series' earliest days

Assassin's Creed Mirage revives visual effects from the series' earliest days

Animus glitches are back, and fans couldn't be happier. It's a visual flourish when executing the 'Assassin Focus' ability and is meant to represent Basim moving so fast it literally breaks the simulation.

Assassin's Creed Mirage is focusing on stealth and I'm ready to feel like an assassin again

Assassin's Creed Mirage is focusing on stealth and I'm ready to feel like an assassin again

Our own Heather Wald is excited that all of the ingredients of old-school Assassin's Creed are on display front and center with Assassin's Creed Mirage.

Assassin's Creed Mirage parkour is "closer to the Ezio games"

Assassin's Creed Mirage parkour is "closer to the Ezio games"

"In Mirage, parkour is easy to learn and to master," says senior game deisgn Marco Maresca, "it's all about keeping the flow and momentum going, with the design centered around verticality."

Assassin's Creed Mirage ties new unlocks to the story instead of XP

Assassin's Creed Mirage ties new unlocks to the story instead of XP

To really tell Basim's story, you level up with story unlocks rather than XP alone.


The final Assassin's Creed Mirage preview

Basim looking out over Baghdad in Assassin's Creed Mirage

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Assassin’s Creed Mirage parkour feels like coming home, and that’s exactly what I’d hoped for

We spent three hours with Assassin's Creed Mirage ahead of the game's release, starting with some early missions before Basim joins the Hidden Ones, through to taking our first tentative steps under the hood. This was followed by a small jump in time to a narrative-drive black box mission where we were tasked with discovering the identity of someone known as The Treasurer.


Dive in further to the world of Assassin's Creed Mirage

The Assassin's Creed Mirage map is roughly the same size as Revelations' Constantinople

The Assassin's Creed Mirage map is roughly the same size as Revelations' Constantinople

Assassin's Creed Mirage is returning the series to its roots with a scaled-back, stealth-focused adventure, and the map is more compact to reflect that.

Assassin's Creed Mirage can be beaten in 20-30 hours, making it five times shorter than Valhalla

Assassin's Creed Mirage can be beaten in 20-30 hours, making it five times shorter than Valhalla

That should be encouraging to fans of the more traditional entries in Ubisoft’s series. Fan favorites Assassin’s Creed 2 and Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag can be beaten in about 20-25 hours. 

A new Assassin's Creed Mirage art book offers a gorgeous behind-the-scenes look at the game's richly-realized world

A new Assassin's Creed Mirage art book offers a gorgeous behind-the-scenes look at the game's richly-realized world

It's not on sale yet, but it will launch in April 2024 and you can pre-order it now for $49.99 or the Deluxe version is $99.99.

This official Assassin's Creed Mirage shirt has haptic feedback to let you feel every in-game injury

This official Assassin's Creed Mirage shirt has haptic feedback to let you feel every in-game injury

This collaboration between Ubisoft and gaming manufacturer OWO lets you feel all the impact Basim experiences. We've all wondered what landing an eagle dive feels like, right?

Pre-order Assassin's Creed Mirage

Pre-order Assassin's Creed Mirage

You can choose from three editions, including the Collector's Case. Pre-ordering any edition of Assassin's Creed Mirage does get you the base game and the Forty Thieves quest line.

Upcoming Assassin's Creed games

Upcoming Assassin's Creed games

See what's next after we take a jaunt to Baghdad with Assassin's Creed Mirage, including next year's big RPG, the Japanese-set Assassin's Creed Red.

Sam Loveridge
Global Editor-in-Chief, 12DOVE

Sam Loveridge is the Global Editor-in-Chief of GamesRadar, and joined the team in August 2017. Sam came to GamesRadar after working at TrustedReviews, Digital Spy, and Fandom, following the completion of an MA in Journalism. In her time, she's also had appearances on The Guardian, BBC, and more. Her experience has seen her cover console and PC games, along with gaming hardware, for a decade, and for GamesRadar, she's in charge of the site's overall direction, managing the team, and making sure it's the best it can be. Her gaming passions lie with weird simulation games, big open-world RPGs, and beautifully crafted indies. She plays across all platforms, and specializes in titles like Pokemon, Assassin's Creed, The Sims, and more. Basically, she loves all games that aren't sports or fighting titles! In her spare time, Sam likes to live like Stardew Valley by cooking and baking, growing vegetables, and enjoying life in the countryside.