When you think of Ancient Egypt, you’ll think of the giant pyramids, the clever society and perhaps even some of the ancient curses. We all know tons of movies, focussing on a curse of a dead pharaoh. What happens when you raid a grave that’s not yours to raid? Chances are you’re getting cursed for doing so. Since Assassin’s Creed Origins is set in Egypt, it’s a surprise we had to wait on it for this long, but thanks to the new DLC, we can finally run from those scary dead pharaohs.

An interesting era

The Curse of the Pharaohs DLC takes place a couple of years after the events of Origins and takes us to Upper Egypt. Since the Egyptian community followed the Nile River to keep their civilization going, this story brings us to Thebes (or Waset as the ancient Egyptians called it). Strange stories about Thebes have reached the ears of our favorite assassin Bayek. People are talking about supernatural things like resurrected pharaohs who are out for revenge. Sounds like the start of a B-horror movie but just before Bayek sets foot on this new land, he sees a mysterious creature killing guards and random citizens. Bayek considers it his task to find out what’s wrong and to eventually fix the situation. It sounds like a short story but you’ll be playing this DLC for more than ten hours since it’s packed with a lot of great new content.

What I like the most about this DLC is the setting they picked. Not only is this new city a very interesting one to discover, we also discover it during a very crucial moment in the Egyptian history. Rulers of the city are Pharaoh Akhenaten and his gorgeous wife Nefertiti. If this doesn’t ring a bell, let me briefly explain why these two characters are extremely important. As you might know, the Egyptians believed in multiple gods. Akhenaten and Nefertiti didn’t share this religion and forced the people to only believe in Aten (Aton) since this god is considered as the disk of the sun. Due to these events, you’re playing in the middle of a big revolution and you’re always wondering what will happen next. The story is filled with mysteries and political influences so you’ll definitely enjoy your hours spent in it.

New toys

A new DLC means new toys and new skills to mess around with. Of course, this one isn’t the exception. First of all, it’s important to know that this DLC raises your maximum level with ten more, meaning you’ll face a lot of difficult enemies if you want to. Besides that, the game also gives you some new skills with the most important ones being improvements of your bow. For example, you’ll get a type of bow that will make your enemies bleed instantly or one that will go straight through shields. Sure, the game loses some reality here but it’s fun messing around with those new bows. Besides that, you’ll also get some new combat skills to improve the already fluent combat or you can use your skillpoints to unlock skills you haven’t unlocked before.

All in all, this DLC is packed with content that will keep you hook to your screen for an impressive amount of time. There’s enough new to discover and enough fun elements to tweak, the new environment is by far the most impressive we’ve seen in a DLC to date.

Take in the environment

It must be said, this is a very impressive DLC with some great new areas to discover. The great city of Thebes is the only one you’ll visit,  Luxor, Karnak, and the infamous Valley of Kings are all accessible in this DLC. If you paid attention during History class, you know those are some pretty impressive locations. Especially the Valley of Kings is home to a lot of great stories and treasure. It’s the place where you’ll find the most important tombs of ancient Egypt. A location like this asks for something special and what you’ll discover here is truly amazing. Of course, we won’t spoil the experience for you but I must admit, I was deeply impressed by these new locations.

Conclusion:

I can only conclude that this is a very impressive DLC for the small price it’s up in stores for. It offers an amazing amount of content, including a completely new story that will keep you hooked for more than ten hours. The new environments and new skills are all very impressive and I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun with discovering it all. If you liked the main game, there’s simply no reason not to get this DLC.

8.5/10