Assassin's Creed Origins Review: 6 Ups & 5 Downs

4. A MAMMOTH Skill Tree & Streamlined Animation Set

I can't stress how refreshing it is to have a skill tree in an action game that actually gives you new abilities and worthwhile unlocks. So many games - especially in 2017 - have fallen back on "+0.5% damage" or "+2% XP with each kill" that really don't make any demonstrable difference to gameplay.

Not the case in Origins, as from beginning to end you'll make Bayek into a far more formidable and accomplished fighter. Everything from chaining stealth and combat kills to slow motion in-air arrow firing, stun-kicks, shield-charges, fatality finishers, sleep darts, poison arrows, charged precision shots and MUCH more - there is a ton of stuff to rank up and unlock.

This coming from a game that once made us "acquire" the ability to stab a wounded enemy on the ground in AC Unity, is a ginormous and welcome step up.

Also worth noting is how much traversal animations and the general connective tissue of climbing sequences have been streamlined. No longer are you holding the right trigger and A/X to get a character into the right "mode" for climbing - instead this is pure Uncharted/Horizon: Just hit X when you want to leap anywhere and keep tapping it to mantle or climb. The animation system will do the rest.