Assassin's Creed Origins Discovery Tour Launches Next Week

The Discovery Tour mode in Assassin's Creed Origins is scheduled to release in just a week, a peaceful, exploration-filled mode that teaches players about Ancient Egypt.

An optional expansion for those who don't own the game and a free addition to those who already have a copy of Origins, the Discovery Tour consists of 75 tours that take players though the daily life of Ancient Egypt narrated by historians. According to Maxime Durand, a historian for the Assassin's Creed games, the Discovery Tour was made possible by the creation of the Animus Database that was first found in Assassin's Creed II, an encyclopedia of information that was originally made with a Discovery Tour-like idea in mind.

"The first concept was to make something like the Discovery Tour, like an enhanced historical experience to separate facts and truth [from] the creative vision," Durand said in a discussion with Ubisoft. "That was impossible back then, so that's why they created the encyclopedia – but still, the encyclopedia had this fictive layer with Shaun Hastings. We couldn't exactly pull you out of the game to say, 'this is how we made the game,' so it had to remain a narrative path with this fictive character, with this fictive story."

A mode that's free of the usual violence and assassinations found in the Assassin's Creed games, Discovery Tour removes these elements and replaces them with educational tours and easy-going explorations. From learning about the library of Alexandria to researching historical figures like Cleopatra, the tours have been made to be fairly accessible and couldn't be easier take part in.

"When you go into a tour, the way it works is that you go to a tour start, you enter into a tour like you would do with a mission in the regular game, and then you go into different steps," Durand continued. "You physically follow a path on the ground, and then you go to stations. And all of these stations use a certain type of camera that will show you a building, or details in the environment, or a view of the mountains or deserts, for instance."

Discovery Tour is releasing as a free addition to Assassin's Creed Origins on Feb. 20, but those who don't own the game can purchase a standalone Discovery Tour for $19.99.