For the past few weeks, our class was focused on classical Greece, and the game we played to reflect this was Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. Odyssey takes place during the Peloponnesian War between Sparta, Athens, and their respective allies. While you don’t take a direct stance in the war, the freedom the game gives you allows you to aid whichever side you choose, whenever you want. The game’s story is focused on Alexios/Kassandra’s family (from here I will simply use Alexios, as he is the character I play as), and the war is mostly in the background of the narrative. Odyssey, taking place in one of Greece’s most tumultuous time periods, has you meet many important figures, including Socrates, Herodotus, Aristophanes, Sophocles, and the Spartan Commander Lysander.
The game’s scripted moments, such as cutscenes and mandatory dialogue, are typically fairly accurate to history and often demonstrate key characteristics of the historical figures involved. Socrates, for example, is just as inquisitive as one familiar with him would expect. The player is given dialogue options in-game, and in one conversation with Socrates, I attempted to lie to him. He quickly made a fool of me by using my own words against me. Such interactions are plentiful, such as the bickering of Greece’s famous playwrights Aristophanes and Sophocles, or the quiet wisdom and wonder of Herodotus.
The gameplay found in Odyssey, however, should not be taken as historically inspired. Moments such as this do not reflect actual combat practices of the time, obviously. They do, however, lead to some hilarious endings to the game’s tougher opponents. The equipment in the game does reflect ancient gear, but liberties obviously must be taken to ensure the game has unique equipment to collect.
Assassin’s Creed in general has always been a historically themed series, but like any historical video game, they must be regarded as such: a game. While it certainly has its fair share of historically accurate facts and characters, it is best used as a supplement to a student’s curriculum.
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