when I first heard that the new
Assassin's Creed game would be set in
classical Greece part of my very soul
ascended to an ethereal plane of a
higher existence and I saw the ghost of
Thucydides himself shedding a single
tear of joy
I'm only nude slightly exaggerating but
the fact is your friendly neighborhood
blue was very excited
fast forward to me playing this game and
it's everything I ever wanted and more
so today I thought it would be fun for
us all to take a look at this game to
figure out how historically realistic it
is the short answer is very but for the
long answer let's do some history but
Before we jump in huge thanks to audible
for sponsoring this video
stick around to the end to find out how
you can learn a whole lot more about
ancient Greece for free with audible and
well Ubisoft is not sponsoring this
video they are helping me give away one
free copy of Assassin's Creed Odyssey
which is also very exciting so stay
tuned for that too all right I've got to
say right off that this game world is
the best recreation of ancient Greece
that you will find anywhere the cities
the countryside the buildings the people
the ideas it's all truly Greek the best
compliment I can give this game is that
it makes you feel like spider-man oh
wait wrong game sorry when you're
playing this game you are in a full true
recreation of ancient Greece and the
web-swinging is fantastic dammit wrong
game ok sorry
I could gush for hours about all the
little details they had no need to
include but did anyway if you want to
see me go slack-jawed in awe or giggle
like a child at some parts of this game
I'd recommend checking out my Assassin's
Creed Odyssey livestreams which I've
linked in the description and I'm sure
have been flooding your sub box for the
past month sorry for this video I'll
paint with broad strokes to show you
what this game gets right and what it
gets wrong the first and perhaps most
important accomplishment here is the
world while lots of distances are
stretched and shrunk you can see all of
Greece represented here and everything
is in the right place I like to describe
it as true to the weight of the Greek
world if not the exact scale so although
Athens might dominate the Attica
Peninsula if you hop on a horse and head
northeast you'll run into the plains of
Marathon then if you follow the road
south along the coast you'll round Cape
tsuneo just like you would in real life
and the whole game is like this the
world is filled with recreations of real
monuments and buildings in addition to
the Golden Age works you'd expect such
as the Parthenon in the Oracles temple
at Delphi you can also find sunken
minoan ruins and busted up Mycenaean
palaces for famous Trojan War heroes
like Odysseus and Ajax
they go out of their way to show you how
layered the Greek world was even as far
back as this and the best part is that
the game app itself has a database
function where you can read all about
the locations you're encountering just
by hovering the cursor over it which is
a really clever way to integrate the
often praised but clunky and less often
used database from past games and
speaking of the map a new mechanic
they've added is the conquest system
where you can sabotage more efforts to
tip the balance between Athens and
Sparta and help territory change hands
well this is pretty much completely
history breaking it's very clearly for
the sake of gameplay and I'm honestly
glad they did it that way because it's
just more fun to have a hand in the
movements of the war in real life Athens
owned the Aegean Sea and Sparta held on
to the Greek mainland and those borders
didn't budge for 30 years that's not the
most interesting for a game so I get it
and speaking of the Aegean Sea let's
talk about those new naval warfare
mechanics in addition to how pretty all
of the ships look I really appreciate
the strong emphasis on ramming and
boarding enemy ships triremes were
indeed the maritime powerhouses of the
day and that accurately reflects the way
that they did combat I really think it's
done quite well but the fact is that
triremes liked to sit high in the water
with minimal drag to be as fast as
possible so when you also have two dozen
archers and spearmen atop your decks
those ships would have tipped over in a
heartbeat I appreciate that they give
combat an extra dimension for the sake
of gameplay which is important in an
interactive video game but it's worth
mentioning specifically where the game
diverges from the reality but there is
another problem with the navies that is
sparta is shown as having won in this
game when the fact of the matter is they
couldn't navigate a bathtub without
drowning they didn't have the money or
the resources for it they were terrible
at building the ships and they didn't
have the population available to row
them the only reason Sparta won the war
in the end was because they borrowed a
navy from the person's about 20 years
after this game takes place the reality
in 431 BC was that the Aegean itself
practically counted as a temple to
Athena there were so many Athenians
running around it all the time so rather
than say this ad infinitum I'm just
gonna put a Spartan trireme on screen
whenever something is happening for the
sake of gameplay because just like a
Spartan trireme it makes the game better
but it's entirely made up okay deal this
next topic involves a spoiler from the
first five minutes of the game so
warning a gas but anyway the game opens
half a century ago with the Battle of
Thermopylae where you play as kingly a
knight
fighting the Persians it's a really
slick sequence that instantly gets you
into the setting and even though it's
not directly addressed they show the
simultaneous battle of our division
between the athenian and persian navies
which is a really nice detail and i was
giddy to see Leonidas mowing down
Persians with both points of his spear
because Greek Spears were bladed on both
ends no one seems to realize that but
they had this in the game so I really
like that the only problem here is that
there's not a phalanx in sight and that
carries over to the conquest battles
between Athens and Sparta that you can
participate in across the game world you
can jump right into a massive brawl
between hundreds of soldiers but it's
just that a brawl in reality Athens
wouldn't dare fight Sparta head-on and
they especially wouldn't abandon the
entire concept of phalanx were free just
two Oh fine you're right fair enough I
just feel like there's something they
could have done to bridge the gap
between full phalanx and battle Royales
so I would have liked to see that and
speaking of battles I was really
impressed by the portrayal of how Athens
was handling the fact that Sparta was
camped right outside their walls
constantly besieging them this was a big
factor for most of the war the Spartans
were ravaging Athenian farms left and
right so it's fantastic to actually hear
Pericles advocating for staying safe
behind the walls while his counterpart
Cleon and the others want to take the
fight to Sparta one side quest for the
general demosthenes has used stealth
thing around Spartan camps to take out
their generals in a manner that's
quintessentially demosthenes and I
thought it was a really great way to
merge gameplay character and world
building if you ask me moments like this
is where AC Odyssey really shines the
true to history personalities of the
main players in forming the accurate
portrayal of strategic situations in the
early phase of the war experienced
directly through gameplay and all
contained within a gorgeously accurate
Greek setting you've got it all it's
perfect
I don't want to spoil this next bit
because it's honestly best that you see
for yourself
but after arriving in Athens you're
treated to one of the most notorious
parties in the Greek world a symposium
at the House of Pericles from front to
back this entire sequence is a joy
you're able to chat with historical big
shots like famous playwrights squabbling
Sophists my boy Socrates recreating a
discussion pulled directly from the
pages of Plato's Republic which almost
brought a tear to my eye and a guest
appearance from everyone's favorite
historical sweetheart Alcibiades my only
complaint and this is an honest
complaint is that Alcibiades is not
honestly he doesn't do it for me here
really expected more more chiseled
features but that's neither here nor
there so the good thing is that in
addition to his characterization is a
complete sex fiend he's constantly
scheming when you see him in true
Alcibiades fashion I love it also
conversations with the famously shoeless
philosopher Socrates teased entire
Platonic dialogues worth of
philosophical discussion those two are
standout characters since you spend so
much time with them but even still for
the most part the portrayals of famous
historical figures are true to who they
were even if they're not all super deep
in the case of Cleon even though you
don't really see him a whole lot
I loved how he was trying to beat
Pericles through the merits of his
strategies rather than any underhand
tactics and last but not least the
Spartan general brass siddhis is the
biggest badass on the face of the earth
it's not quite the same as having you
know Leonardo da Vinci from the Ezio
days but it's definitely a step up from
Caesar and Cleopatra from AC origins and
I'm grateful for that and speaking of
characters arguably the two biggest
characters in the game are the cities
Athens and Sparta themselves Athens is
this huge naval superpower that sprawls
across the Aegean and Sparta is this
hulking behemoth with its claws dug into
the Greek mainland we know they're at
war but the game doesn't really ever say
why which is disappointing
full disclosure despite playing for
several hours over two straight weeks I
haven't reached the late-game yet so
this is a really big game and things may
change as I go along
but at roughly the mid game I still
sadly don't get a sense of what
distinguishes these two since Sparta
magically has a Navy and Athens can
magically hold its own in all these open
land battles both of which are
historically untenable by the way you
really don't get a sense of why this war
lasted so long in real life Athens
insatiable imperialism provoked the
conflict and then both sides wanted to
string the other out Sparta wanted to
starve Athens but the naval supply chain
and Pericles defensive strategy stopped
that from happening
meanwhile Athens hoped that Sparta would
eventually give up and go home rather
than try to take all of Athens holdings
in the Aegean through outright conquest
they both thought that if they just
waited long enough the war would end in
their favor the plot more or less blames
the length of the war on this mysterious
cult operating in the shadows which I
feel cheapens the narrative all around
and
sad thing is that the themes at play
here in the history are perfect for an
assassin's Creed game the whole idea is
freedom versus order and chaos versus
oppression in the history neither Athens
or Sparta is really the good guy Athens
extended democratic rights to all of its
allies but it did sir through extortion
and outright oppression while freedom of
speech was a staple of Athenian society
most women were cooped up on the second
floor of the house
by contrast Spartan women had much more
autonomy and Sparta's allies were much
freer but at the same time their kings
ran an oligarchic government and Sparta
enslaved an entire population called the
helots to power their economy the themes
of Assassin's Creed are practically
bursting for the pages of the history
books so I feel like I shouldn't need to
dig that hard or wait till the ends to
find these themes at play in the story I
was over 30 hours in before I heard one
character described Athens as an empire
and it was a really good scene too so I
just want more of that I'm holding out
hope for more of those themes when I get
to Sparta and if the rest of the game
proves me wrong I'll gladly add a card
in the top-right corner of the screen
saying so ok enough geopolitics let's
talk about something less inflammatory
and nitpicky like the fact that you can
play as a woman in this game now as the
playable character it's perfectly
natural that we can tank dozens of stab
wounds fall the entire height of the
Acropolis without a scratch and fight a
literal Medusa
but having boobs is just too darn
unrealistic right look I get it
women had very few rights in ancient
Greece so when we're talking realism the
idea of a woman having the opportunity
to go out and do the stuff cassandra
does seems like maybe kind of a stretch
but honestly between the warlike nature
of the definitely female Athena numerous
accounts of predominantly female
Huntress clans dedicated to Artemis and
the entire history of the Amazonian
women it wasn't unheard of for badass
sword swinging warriors to also be
ladies so it's silly to act like it's
impossible within the context of the
game unusual sure but unrealistic yeah
ok for real this time moving on one
detail that they did a really great job
with was the voice acting almost all of
the characters including the
protagonists are voiced by Greek actors
and it's great to hear authentic Greek
pronunciations of words and names to
give some extra flavor to the world I
wish we had full Greek audio
localization for maximum immersion but I
understand why the financials of that
one didn't work out still it would have
been very easy to make everyone BBC
British again but I
really appreciate them going the
extra-mile here it's great to hear
pretty clean stock in the Agora about
that pesky Spartan polemarchus and while
we're talking about stuff that this game
does really well I'd like to gush about
the presentation of cities in this game
the Greek world was built on the polis
system so it's cool to see how different
cities come through Athens of course is
drenched in marble and splendor despite
actively being under siege it's also
really nice to see the distinction
between fabulous Public Works the houses
of the super wealthy the districts of
the pottery and sculpture artisans who
make all that stuff happen in the first
place and the flooded neighborhoods of
the Athenian poor Megara by contrast is
completely run-down since it was a
flashpoint of conflict on the peninsula
between Attica and the Peloponnese and
it's an overgrown wreck in there
really well done Corinth by contrast
again is lush and absolutely stunning
while being corrupt to the core the
whole city is practically an offering to
their patron goddess Aphrodite Argos is
a very old city that's been built up
over the course of centuries so it's
surrounded by mycenean ruins on every
front and Sparta is well kind of small
especially considering how important it
was Spartans are famously short with
their words and stubborn with their
architecture the different areas of the
game world are exploding with
personality and the art design reflects
the different local approaches to that
Greek style
richer areas have marble temples and
flowing silk banners whereas poorer
areas are just built out of wood and in
some places the roof tiles are flaking
off the odyssey team did a damn good job
of making it all look beautiful and
unique while keeping an accurate that's
not easy the last big thing I want to
talk about is mercenaries in the game
Greece is filled with mercenaries
looking to work for any side that will
pay them and that's your character's
motivation for flip-flopping between
Athens and Sparta at the whim of the
player they'll both pay you and it's a
little bit of a lame coppa but it's also
hmm errant the boat as a point in Greek
history mercenaries were hired out from
various parts of Greece as complete
groups and we have loads of
documentation about mercenary bands of
roadie and slingers or Cretan archers in
wartime but it's unlikely that a
standing army would let some Rando walk
up and fight in a battle so be aware
that the mercenary system for both the
player and the NPC's you run into is
pretty much pulled from thin air also
the Spartan kick is a completely
ineffective combat technique in real
life and your character really should
have a shield if they're going to now I
know I just wanted to say it okay all
told those are the key takeaways here
the war the combat the battles the
geopolitics are all tweaked for the
player at the expense of realism but
that's why this is a game and not a
movie and a fun game at that there are
other areas that the Odyssey team had
much more freedom to tackle accurately
without having to compromise for the
requirements of gameplay or the
narrative and in every single one of
those aspects they absolutely nailed it
the world the locations the characters
the architecture the landscapes the
seascapes all are breathtaking and all
are lifted right from history and placed
squarely in the palm of every single
player I'll say it again Assassin's
Creed Odyssey is ancient Greece and
speaking of Odysseys I've got the scoop
on an easy and entertaining way to learn
all about ancient Greece and it's thanks
to our partners at audible who are
sponsoring the channel today with an
astonishingly huge catalog of audio
books to choose from audible is the
place to go for all your literary needs
for me working on this channel involves
a lot of reading and if you're in
college I can imagine you're doing the
same so I love being able to fire up an
audiobook while I'm commuting to and
from the library or just have it playing
in the background while I'm making some
breakfast it's also really great for
vacations as I learned this past summer
and for those of you who listen to me on
double-speed because I don't talk quite
as fast as red doesn't I'm sorry about
that you'll be glad to know that you can
speed up or slow down the narration to
fit your perfect pace audible members
get a credit for any audio book
completely free every month as well as
additional discounts in the store to get
you started audible is offering all of
you a 30-day free trial and that free
audiobook if you sign up with our link
on audible.com slash overly sarcastic or
text overly sarcastic to 500 500
since we're on the topic of ancient
Greece I was going to keep it on brand
and recommend this audiobook of
Thucydides history of the Peloponnesian
War but then I found out that you can
listen to Sir Ian McKellen himself
narrate the Odyssey and I'm morally
obligated to recommend that to you not
only is it a really good translation of
the book but also it's Ian McKellen guys
come on
so head over to audible.com slash overly
sarcastic to have Gandalf himself tell
you all about the world's worst
Navigator for free or text overly
sarcastic to 500 500 now you see the
trick is that you
to this while you spend hours upon hours
playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey and
then you got maximal immersion going on
that's really what you want
and speaking of well video games huge
thanks to Ubisoft for helping me do a
giveaway today if you're one of our
wonderful patrons and it's never too
late to join simply leave a comment on
the patreon post for this very video
which i've linked below and i'll be
picking a winner at random next week
best of luck
[Music]