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

Assassin's Creed Mirage is adding 'Animus glitches' back into the series, and fans are happy to see the old feature returning.

New info surrounding Ubisoft's new game hit the airwaves earlier this week from previews, and one particular moment in a video from Access the Animus caught fans' attention. It turns out Assassin's Creed Mirage revives the classic Animus glitches for the latest game in the series, represented by a visual glitch when executing the 'Assassin Focus' ability.

They added an Animus glitch effect to the Assassin Focus ability from r/assassinscreed

— They added an Animus glitch effect to the Assassin Focus ability

The Animus glitches are as old as the Assassin's Creed series itself. Back in the first Assassin's Creed, you'd need to keep a lookout for visual glitches throughout the game - dubbed 'Animus glitches - and press a button whenever you saw one. This let players change the camera's view in a scene, and netting them all in one playthrough would bag you a tough Achievement/Trophy.

Article continues below

Animus Glitches actually became a fully-functioning feature in later games. In Assassin's Creed Valhalla for example, you could find 'Animus Glitches' dotted all over the in-game map, and activating one would lead you to a puzzle. Assassin's Creed Origins even used Animus glitches to let you battle the manifestations of ancient Egyptian Gods.

"They really listened. Respect to Devs," reads the top-voted comment underneath the Reddit post, which gives you a good idea of how others are feeling. "It really does look better with the glitch effect and does look like a glitch in the animus like it’s supposed to," reads another comment. It's a fair point - if we're playing Mirage through a literal Animus in Ubisoft's game, glitches probably would pop up like this.

Assassin's Creed Mirage finally launches next month on October 5. You can read our extensive Assassin's Creed Mirage preview to see why we reckon it deftly brings parkour and stealth into the modern age.

You can also read our upcoming Assassin's Creed games guide for a look at all the other titles Ubisoft currently has on the go.

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.