Take a guided tour through Assassin’s Creed’s Ancient Egypt, out now as a free update and paid standalone

The much talked about Discovery Tour mode for Assassin’s Creed Origins is now live, opening up the massive sandbox of Ancient Egypt for combat-free exploration and guided tours. It’s available as a free update to current owners across all platforms, though a standalone PC version also exists on Uplay and Steam.

Titled Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt, the mode does away with the combat and story while retaining full access to mounts, boats, the eagle Senu, and all the free-climbing the series is known for. Players wanting a little more structure can instead turn to Ubisoft’s themed tours, created in conjunction with historians and Egyptologists.

Jean Guesdon, creative director for both the game and the tour, said the project lets “everyone interested in Ancient Egypt to enjoy the beauty of it and realize that video games can be a source of inspiring knowledge.”

Ubisoft Montreal’s in-house historian, Maxime Durand, explained that the mode was made to better equip teachers who were already using the games in classes.

“We’ve been in touch with teachers from the very first installment of Assassin’s Creed games about ten years back. Many of them already used the games during their gistory classes but soon came to realize that what they needed was an easily accessible educative tool based in our historical reconstructions.

“With the Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt you can visualize and understand thousands of things from Egyptian history in their actual context. As both a game and a learning tool, it is quite a unique asset for teachers to integrate as part of their history classes.”

There are 75 themed tours in total, grouped as follows:

• Egypt
  • The Major Regions of Egypt
  • Bringer of Life, The River Nile
  • Deserts of Egypt
  • The Qattara Depression
  • Siwa
  • The Faiyum
  • The City of Memphis
  • Rediscovering Egypt
  • Natron
  • Fauna of Ancient Egypt
  • Flora of Ancient Egypt
  • Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs
  • Jean-François Champollion
  • The Founding of Cyrene
  • The Agora & Thermal Baths
  • The Temple of Zeus in Cyrene
  • Important Monuments of Cyrene
  • The Acropolis of Cyrene
  • The Gladiator Arena
  • Major Exports of Cyrene

• Pyramids
  • The Origin of the Pyramid
  • The Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser
  • Inside Djoser’s Step Pyramid
  • Sneferu’s First Pyramid
  • The Bent Pyramid of Dahshur
  • The Red Pyramid of Dahshur
  • Hawara Pyramid
  • Pyramids  of the Middle Kingdom
  • An Overview of the Giza Necropolis
  • The Riddles of the Sphinx
  • Khufu’s Funerary Complex
  • The Secrets of the Great Pyramid
  • The Great Pyramid: Subterranean Chamber
  • The Great Pyramid of Giza: Upper Chambers
  • Jean-Pierre Houdin’s Theories
  • Khafre’s Funerary Complex
  • Menkaure’s Funerary Complex

• Daily Life
  • Osiris, the first Mummy
  • Mummies of Ancient Egypt
  • The Importance of Mummies
  • Amulette & Rituals
  • Temple & Rituals of Ancient Egypt
  • Temples and Priests
  • Building Ancient Egypt
  • Workers & Transport
  • Agriculture & Seasons
  • Ancient Egypt Cultivation
  • Domesticated Animals of Ancient Egypt
  • Ancient Egypt Medecine
  • Leather & Linen in Ancient Egypt
  • Ancient Egypt Fashions
  • Artisans of Ancient Egypt
  • Evolution of Pottery in Ancient Egypt
  • The Egyptian Household
  • Beer & Bread
  • Wine in Ancient Egypt
  • Oil in Ancient Egypt

• Alexandria
  • The Greek Pharaos
  • Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt
  • The Siege of Alexandria
  • Introduction to Alexandria
  • Alexandria: Planning of the City
  • Alexandria: A Commercial Hub
  • Alexandria: City of Celebration
  • Education in Alexandria
  • The Great Library of Alexandria
  • The Mouseion of Alexandria
  • The Serapeion of Alexandria
  • The Islands of Pharos
  • The Paneion
  • The Hippodrome of Alexandria

• Romans
  • Roman Military Equipment
  • Roman Forts
  • The Forts of Kyrenaika
  • Roman Aqueducts
  • Crucifixion

As a standalone, the Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt is priced at S$26.99 on Steam and US$19.99 (approximately S$27) on the Ubisoft Store.

To reiterate, this is a free update if you already own Assassin’s Creed Origins. We called it “bigger, better, prettier, and much more involved than any of the previous games” in our full review.