The new 'Assassin's Creed' looks like the series' best entry in years

It's called "Assassin's Creed Origins," and it's set during one of history's most fascinating periods: Ptolemaic Egypt. That's the era when Egypt's millennia-spanning empire began to fall, while Rome — led by Julius Caesar — conquered more and more of Western civilization.

It's also, according to "Assassin's Creed Origins," the period when the "Assassin's Brotherhood" was conceived. That alternative history is what you'll play when the game arrives this October. Here's what we know so far!

"Assassin's Creed Origins" is assuredly the most attractive game in the series to date. Just look at this:

The game's open world is meant to showcase various aspects of Egyptian civilization. There are a few major cities:

A few smaller ones:

And the Nile River delta, which happens to be teeming with wildlife:

There are even vast swaths of desert that look both dangerous and beautiful:

You're able to traverse the massive open world of "Assassin's Creed Origins" on horseback, as seen here, but you'll also be able to hop on a camel if that's your kinda thing.

Beyond the new locale, there are some huge changes coming to the gameplay and structure of the series in "Origins." Let's start with the main character: Bayek.

In case you haven't been acutely following the "Assassin's Creed" series across the past decade, the backbone of the plot is a longstanding feud between two groups: the Assassins and the Templars. Both are secret societies that seek to influence society from the shadows, and both believe they're doing it for the right reason. There's a deeper backstory that involves gods and magic and all sorts of stuff, but you don't need to know any of that — we're talking about games that primarily focus on sneaking up on people and stabbing them.

Anyway, in the case of "Assassin's Creed Origins," Bayek is being touted as the first official assassin of the so-called "Assassin's Brotherhood" — thus the "origins" moniker. He'll be the first to use the hidden blade, the first to use eagle vision, the first to dive from a rooftop into a hay bale without injury.

You've no doubt noticed an eagle in several of the images so far. The eagle is actually part of the game as well. He's Bayek's companion, and a playable character:

You can't fly around killing people as an eagle, of course. He exists to provide eyes from above — you can mark targets, or spot upcoming guards, or just get a lay of the land. Here's what that looks like in action:

Another major change for the series is how you get around the world in "Origins." Though you're able to scale walls and hide in the shadows, this isn't a game about leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

Instead, you'll spend more of your time ducking into bushes rather than scaling buildings.

When you do have to fight, the combat system has changed significantly as well. For starters, all weapons have levels and attributes associated with them. In this sense, "Assassin's Creed Origins" is much more of an role-playing game than previous entries.

Additionally, hand-to-hand combat in "Origins" is much less about countering (like in previous games). Instead, the focus is on a more nuanced system of attacks and proximity.

There are far more unknowns about "Assassin's Creed Origins" than anything else. We know that Cleopatra shows up, and we'd bet that Julius Caesar also makes an appearance. But who else? And does the game tie into the bigger picture story of the franchise? That's all up in the air.

What we do know is that "Origins" looks like the best "Assassin's Creed" game in years. It's made by the folks who made the last best "Assassin's Creed" game: "Black Flag."

To that end, naval combat is making a return in "Origins." None has been shown thus far, but it was one of the best aspects of "Black Flag." It was such a success, in fact, that Ubisoft is making an entire game built around just naval combat!

"Assassin's Creed Origins" also just looks incredibly impressive in action. Don't just take my word for it — check out this gameplay trailer:

The debut trailer for it is also instructive, should you want to dive in deeper — the game is planned for launch on October 27 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. It'll also ship on Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro with 4K upgrades.