I spent hours upon hours slaying bandits, diving for sunken treasure and galloping across a stunning Greek island, looting everything in sight.
And then, approximately five hours into the game, the opening credits rolled.
That's when you realise how dauntingly large Ubisoft's newest Assassin's Creed game - appropriately titled Odyssey- really is. Which is exactly what you want for an action packed role-play adventure.
Assassin's Creed: Odyssey.
Odyssey is set in the stunning backdrop of Ancient Greece amid the 431 BC Peloponnesian War and boy, did they do a magnificent job capturing it. From the rolling mountains and beautiful Greek island sunsets, this game is eye candy at its best. If you find yourself yelling, "This is Sparta!" like Gerard Butler at your TV, no one would blame you.
But that's far from all there is. One of the most exciting additions to the Assassin's Creed series includes the option to play as a female character. Players choose between the dauntless Kassandra or the bold Alexios, both strong and cunning mercenaries.
Choice seems to be a theme in Odyssey with the game delving heavily into a surprisingly emotional story that gives you multi-choice dialogue options that change the way your story progresses.
Between that and your preferred style of play, whether as a bow-and-arrow-wielding hunter, a powerful warrior or a stealthy assassin, each experience of Odyssey becomes unique. You won't have the same journey as friends also playing the game. There are nine different endings, depending on which path you take.
Odyssey keeps things interesting, mixing up ruffian encounters with tomb raids, conflicts on the high seas and even full war on the battlefield. Other mercenaries also come after you if you have a bounty on your head, with the option to dodge them at every turn, pay them off or defeat them to boost your own mercenary rep.
However, other aspects prove to be rather tedious. While levelling up is crucial and the endless amount of side missions available in the open-world game can be enjoyable, it can slow down the pace of the main story, meaning you often have to grind out tasks until you're strong enough to find out what happens next in the saga.
This can be especially frustrating in the early stages of the game before the ability to heal mid-battle is available. Until then your only option is to run, hide, or make sure you're a damn good fighter.
Otherwise Odyssey is a rich, exciting and truly massive game that seems to have taken notes from the good and bad of previous Assassin's Creed games.
Assassin's Creed: Odyssey Star rating: 4/5 Platform: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows Rating: R16 Release date: Out now Verdict: A game of epic proportions and endless choices.
