“Assassin’s Creed Odyssey” is an open world action game set in ancient Greece during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. The player chooses between two protagonists, Alexios and Kassandra, who are mercenaries descended from the Spartan King Leonidas, and aim to sway the war in their own favour.
The game is rated M18 for violence and sexual references.
Played from a third person perspective, the player controls either protagonist and explores the world to complete various missions such as assassinating key figures, intelligence gathering or participating in large scale battles on both land and sea. The protagonists use a variety of weapons such as swords, bows and spears in combat against human enemies and mythical creatures. Sneak attacks can be carried out by using a special spear head.
Bloodletting occurs frequently when the characters take damage. The protagonist can execute special attacks which involve slashing enemies repeatedly, or stabbing their necks with a spear head. The cinematics also contain depictions of violence, such as characters being stabbed through the chest or neck with weapons; a man with a severed limb crawling on the ground before being killed with a spear thrust to the chest; a man stabbed in the throat and kicked off a mountain. The M18 guidelines allow “Depictions of realistic violence, such as killing, maiming or causing other serious injury to humanoid characters if the violence is not sadistic, cruel and abhorrent”.
During the course of the game, the protagonist is able to engage in romantic relationships with other characters, including those of the same gender. This eventually results in a cinematic depicting the pair caressing and kissing, before the screen cuts to black. This is permitted under the M18 guidelines, which state “homosexual activity should be limited to kissing and hugging.”
The game also contains frequent use of coarse language, such as the expletive “f**k”, and this can be contained under the M18 guidelines which permit “frequent use of strong coarse language”.
There are some statues in various locations in the game which depict bare breasts and male genitalia. However, these statues are depicted in a non-sexual manner and as part of the ancient Greek setting.