Assassin's Creed Mirage is shaping up to be a bit of a throwback to the series' origins when it launches later this year, with more of a focus on tight, stealthy gameplay - and plenty of assassinations of course. Ahead of the game's upcoming launch, we played a good few hours of Mirage (more than anyone else at the preview event, as it turns out) and we've come away pretty impressed so far.

Our video producer Craig handled this one, admitting that he hadn't personally enjoyed an Assassin's Creed title since 2010's Brotherhood. It's good news, then, that Mirage feels much more like that Xbox 360 era title than any of the huge AC RPGs that have launched in recent times. Here's a brief summary of our hands-on time with the game:

"Having played through three different stages of Basim's journey to become a Hidden One, Assassin's Creed Mirage feels like a much tighter experience than previous entries. Stealth is really fun when you get it right and the 9th century setting of Baghdad is vibrant and beautiful. Also you can pet cats, so..."

Our full thoughts on Assassin's Creed Mirage are viewable in the video up above, along with more than 15 minutes of new gameplay to feast your eyes on. If you're at all interested in this year's Assassin's Creed, it's well worth a watch!

Are you excited to play a more bite-sized AC title this year on Xbox? Let us know your thoughts down below.