Since its release last fall, Assassin’s Creed Origins has drawn a number of players into its detailed environments bringing ancient Egypt to life, and for those looking to dig a little deeper into the history and culture of Egypt, the upcoming Discovery Tour Mode will bring players to it closer than ever.
Ubisoft detailed more of the Discovery Tour Mode that will be coming to Assassin’s Creed Origins next week with Ubisoft Montreal’s production coordinator and historical researcher Maxime Durand, who has worked on many of the series’ titles to focus on their historical accuracy and attention to period details.
Durand shared more on the Discovery Tour Mode and its history, which dates back all the way to the franchise’s beginnings with the original Assassin’s Creed and its blending of history within a fictional universe. The Discovery Tour Mode allowed the series’ team to engage with history in a more active way, and wanted the mode to include guided tours that would be “the ideal length” to use in classrooms.
Overall, about five to six historians and Egyptologists contributed to the development and content of Discovery Tour Mode alongside the numerous historians and historical advisors that contributed to the base game. Durand also highlighted that in addition to the different tours and stations featuring historical details and facts about the Egyptian setting, various “Behind-the-Scenes” modules will also be available to give viewers the game designers’ perspectives on implementing Egyptian history into the game, and to explain some of the discrepancies or inspirations that took place while making the game.
The tours themselves were curated by historians and then adapted and written by the development team to be “very accessible,” while also being “compelling and short and very visually attractive.” One of the primary aims that Ubisoft wanted to provide was to make “the Discovery Tour to be accessible for anyone,” whether that be for teachers, students, or players simply looking to understand more of the history that takes place behind the events of the game or to experience Egyptian culture as a whole.
The tours themselves unfold much like missions in the main game, where players enter into the map and follow a path that leads them to different “stations.” At each station, players will can activate them to know more about a certain landmark or area, which then goes into detail on the specific historical background or details of that section of the tour, which is lead by an audio guide and narration. Many of the stations are also accompanied by different archival images and artifacts used “from museums or libraries around the world” to supplement what players are seeing in-game.
Likewise, Durand also emphasized that players have complete freedom to explore and see whatever they want, wherever they want, as no enemies or adversaries will attack players in Discovery Tour Mode. Players can also fast-travel to various points in the map or to go to specific stations, and Durand also stated that the team went to tweaking and implementing some new UI changes and other visual features specifically for the Discovery Tour Mode. Finally, three new Achievements/Trophies will also be available in the mode for players to discover while they are embarking on the tours and learning more about Egyptian history.
Assassin’s Creed Origins is available now for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and its upcoming Discovery Tour Mode will be available on February 20th, 2018 as a free update on all systems, or as a standalone download on PC for $19.99. For more on the new feature, you can check out the image gallery below:
