“Mosquitos Have Been Vetoed As Candidates For Detailed Close-ups”

Insect portrait attempts in ASSASSIN’S CREED ORIGINS’ Discovery Tour.

Something that I did not expect to have a strong opinion about in Assassin’s Creed Origins’ Discovery Tour mode was the representation of mosquitos.

Mosquitos are complicated lifeforms to find interesting because they are so closely related to the transmission of disease, including malaria, yellow fever, Zika, and West Nile virus. Although they can be biologically curious, they’re not (as far as I have found) in any way lovable, and they are also an active threat to so many people around the world.

Mosquitos came up because, when I loaded in to Assassin’s Creed Origins to poke around in the edutainment Discovery Tour mode, I found myself near water. I decided to examine the local wildlife and, as well as a couple of crocodiles, I could see a cloud of insects. From a distance they were small smudges above the water, so I decided to get closer and see how much detail the game world would offer me.