The base game and its first expansion, “The Hidden Ones,” avoided the stereotype and instead stuck to a storyline delicately interwoven with the main franchise’s overarching plot. Since the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb (KV 62) in 1922 by Howard Carter, the stereotype of the mummy’s curse has been irrevocably interwoven with ancient Egypt’s portrayal in popular media. I was somewhat disappointed that a large expansion was playing into one of the biggest cliches of ancient Egypt in popular culture. The city of Thebes as it was reimagined during the Ptolemaic Period (Photo: Ubisoft) In order to stop this otherworldly phenomenon, Bayek must travel to the afterlives of each of the resurrected pharaohs through their tombs in the Valley of the Kings in order to save Thebes from this “curse”. Bayek is drawn to Thebes due to rumours that the kings of old are reawakening, mysteriously massacring the innocent citizens of the city. Released in March of 2018, the expansion takes our protagonist, Bayek of Siwa, to Thebes: home to the great temples of Luxor and Karnak and to the Theban Necropolis, including the famed Valley of the Kings. That appreciation, however, was nearly shattered with the release of the largest expansion to the game to date: “ The Curse of the Pharaohs”. I enjoyed this installment of the franchise immensely and respected the time and effort the developers and consultants gave towards perfecting the finished product. In my previous two reviews of Ubisoft’s 2017 addition to the Assassin’s Creed franchise, Origins (read Review #1 and Review #2), I praised and criticised the base game and the Discovery Tour in equal measure. Promotional poster for ACO: The Curse of the Pharaohs (Photo: Ubisoft) Guest Scribe: Emily Hotton This week, we are pleased to welcome Emily Hotton back for a review of the expansion. The game developers recently added a new expansion called “The Curse of the Pharaohs” featuring the afterlife worlds of four Egyptian royals.

In the spring, the Nile Scribes invited guest blogger Emily Hotton to tell us how Egypt is represented in the latest installment of the Assassin’s Creed franchise: Origins.

Ac origins pharaoh treasure