first visit ac origins

Assassin's Creed Origins Achievements

• Assassin's Creed Origins News
• Walkthrough *

Assassin's Creed Origins

• 110 want to boost

Full list of all 67 Assassin's Creed Origins achievements worth 1,500 gamerscore.

The base game contains 50 achievements worth 1,000 Gamerscore, and there are 3 DLC packs containing 17 achievements worth 500 Gamerscore.

• Achievement View View Image view List view Sort by TrueAchievement desc TrueAchievement asc Achievement name desc Achievement name asc GamerScore desc GamerScore asc TA Ratio desc TA Ratio asc Gamers desc Gamers asc Xbox.com order Date won desc Date won asc
• DLC Packs Group DLC packs together in list DLC Filter All Owned None
• 67 Offline Mode
• 67 Single Player
• 15 Main Storyline
• 1 Story Completed
• 11 Collectable
• 9 Cumulative +
• 2 Time/Date
• What are achievement flags? Click to find out Apply

Base Game (Excludes DLC)

Complete the Prologue.

Complete Main Quest "Aya".

Complete Main Quest "Pompeius Magnus".

Complete Main Quest "The Scarab's Lies".

Complete Main Quest "The Hyena".

Complete Main Quest "The Crocodile's Jaws".

Complete Main Quest "The Lizard's Face".

Complete Main Quest "The Aftermath".

Complete Main Quest Dream Sequence.

Complete Main Quest "The Final Weighing".

Complete the last Main Quest.

Be equipped with only Legendary equipment.

Activate a Master ability.

Witness raining bugs in the desert.

Complete all arena events in the Krokodilopolis Arena.

Finish an arena boss with an Overpower Attack.

Win the first Hippodrome tournament.

Destroy an opponent in a Hippodrome race.

Defeat the war elephants Qetesh & Resheph.

Kill 3 enemies with one hit.

Kill an enemy with the predator bow from more than 60 meters while controlling the arrow.

Complete all hermit locations.

Feed a predator with a corpse.

Complete Side Quest "Seven Farmers".

Complete Side Quest "Lady of Slaughter".

Kill 10 enemies in a row without being detected.

Destroy 100 breakable objects.

Defog the whole map.

Complete a tomb.

Reach the "Top of the World" in the Black Desert territory.

Bring a tamed lion to a crocodile.

Defeat 8 Ship Captains.

Take 1 photo in 5 different territories.

Kill a poisoned level 35+ enemy with the torch in less than 30 seconds.

Use the eagle for a total of 30 minutes.

Swim for 1500m, ride for 40km and run for 10km.

Headshot kill an enemy with the bow while in the air.

Kill 30 enemies by shooting a fire arrow at oil jars.

Use all types of vehicle at least once.

Complete all locations.

Run away from 3 fights with a hippo.

Solve a papyrus mystery.

Sell 100 trinkets at once.

Use Dawn & Dusk to make time speed forward 30 times.

Reach level 20.

Complete all 12 Stone Circles.

Complete 15 underwater locations.

Defeat a Phylakes.

Craft 20 items.

Tame a lion.

Discovery Tour

Complete one tour

Complete all tours in the Daily Life category

Complete tours with at least 5 different characters

The Curse of the Pharaohs

Defeat Tutankhamun in the Afterlife (The Curse of the Pharaohs)

Reach level 55 (The Curse of the Pharaohs)

Acquire Eternal Maw for use outside the Afterlifes (The Curse of the Pharaohs)

Complete the 5 Serqet locations (The Curse of the Pharaohs)

Craft an upgrade using Shards of a Star (The Curse of the Pharaohs)

Kill a Mummy by setting it on fire (The Curse of the Pharaohs)

The Hidden Ones

Perform a leap of faith from Arsinoe's sundial obelisk between 10 am and noon (The Hidden Ones)

Perform 3 Assassinations from a zipline (The Hidden Ones)

Free 20 Rebels (The Hidden Ones)

Kill an enemy with a headshot while they are being harassed by Senu (The Hidden Ones)

Complete the Walls-of-the-Ruler citadel (The Hidden Ones)

Assasinate Tacito, Ptahmose and Ampelius (The Hidden Ones)

Complete Side DLC Quests "Rise of Shaqilat" and "Shadows of the Scarab" (The Hidden Ones)

Complete Main DLC Quest "The Greater Good" (The Hidden Ones)

• How many achievements are there in Assassin's Creed Origins? There are 67 achievements in Assassin's Creed Origins, worth a total of 1,500 Gamerscore. You can view the full list of Assassin's Creed Origins achievements here .
• Is Assassin's Creed Origins on Game Pass? Yes, Assassin's Creed Origins is currently available on Xbox Game Pass.
• When did Assassin's Creed Origins release on Xbox? Assassin's Creed Origins was released on October 27th, 2017.
• How long does it take to complete all the achievements in Assassin's Creed Origins? It takes between 60 and 80 hours to complete the base game achievements in Assassin's Creed Origins. You can find a full guide to unlocking all of the achievements in the Assassin's Creed Origins walkthrough .

• Accessories
• Entertainment
• PCs & Components
• Wi-Fi & Networks
• Newsletters
• Digital Magazine – Subscribe
• Digital Magazine – Info
• Smart Answers
• Best laptops
• Best antivirus
• Best monitors
• Laptop deals
• Desktop PC deals

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn't affect our editorial independence .

Assassin’s Creed: Origins’s Discovery Tour mode shows how great educational games could be

Do you know what a “Hippodamian Grid Plan” is? I didn’t until I played Assassin’s Creed: Origins ’s new Discovery Tour mode.

Turns out Hippodamus of Miletus is known as “the father of European urban planning,” a Greek born in 498 B.C.E. who argued that cities should be built rationally (a.k.a. on grids) instead of devolving into haphazard labyrinths. Most important: His ideas were adopted by Deinokrates, principle planner for the city of Alexandria.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Walk like an Egyptian

I’ve been waiting for Assassin’s Creed: Origins ’s “Discovery Tour” mode ever since Ubisoft showed it off to us last year . The gist: Ubisoft took the world from Origins , the sprawling recreation of Ptolemaic Egypt that played host to Bayek’s adventures last year, and stripped most of the “game” elements out of it. There are no missions here, no throats to slit, no Phylakes to fend off.

Mentioned in this article

Assassin’s creed origins.

The rest is intact, though. The meticulous (albeit scaled down) version of Alexandria, with its famed lighthouse towering overhead. The crocodile-infested waters of the Nile River. The gleaming white natron mines. The pyramids, both Great and small. And the people , too. Everywhere you look, people. Some are selling wares, hawking linens and jewelry and weapons. Others are riding chariots, or guiding boats through the canals at Memphis, or praying at the Temple of Sekhmet.

It’s a vast and intricate world, created to play host to Origins and its tale of revenge. As I’ve been saying for years though, Assassin’s Creed is often more impressive from a technical standpoint than as a game. These worlds are so detailed, such loving recreations of a time and a place people may never experience, it seems almost a waste to use them as backdrops for a decent action-adventure and then throw them in the trash.

Discovery Tour is a natural fit, then. The new mode scatters 75 “Guided Tours” across the map, themed around aspects of Egyptian history. The “Tutorial” tour, for instance, is titled “Alexandria: Planning of the City,” and consists of eight stations detailing everything from Alexander’s choice of site, the creation of its walls and gate, the advantages of the grid layout for moving military troops, and so on.

A bright golden line leads you from station to station, usually plopping you near an in-world object that’s related to the lesson at hand—looking out over the island of Pharos, for instance, when discussing how Alexander the Great heard about Pharos from Homer’s Odyssey . “There is, in front of Egypt, in the sea with many swells, an island called Pharos,” is the line in question.

But it’s been the niche tours I’ve enjoyed most so far. I dressed up as Cleopatra for a bit and then learned about Egyptian fashion trends. I also learned that camels aren’t actually native to Egypt—apparently they only came over around 500 B.C.E., when the Persians invaded. That was a surprise. Also, the Lighthouse of Alexandria survived a lot longer than I thought, with the last traces of its structure only being demolished in 1480, or just over 500 years ago.

It’s not that I couldn’t have learned these things off Wikipedia—and indeed, I’ve already supplemented some of Discovery Tour’s subjects with outside reading. Hippodamus is a throwaway reference in Discovery Tour, but I was so intrigued by someone being the originator of gridded cities that I immediately went and looked him up.

And that’s why Discovery Tour is valuable.

Games were an important part of my childhood. And I don’t just mean playing Warcraft or Myst or Wolfenstein 3D or Super Mario Bros . or what-have-you. I’m talking Carmen Sandiego , Math Blaster , Oregon Trail , Zoombinis , Mario Teaches Typing, The Lost Mind of Dr. Brain , The Magic School Bus , Reader Rabbit .

I could keep going. It was the golden age of “edutainment,” the educational video game… and then it all sort of disappeared. Not that games aren’t popular in the classroom. They are, and Minecraft has seemed ubiquitous in recent years. Others, like Kerbal Space Program , have clear educational uses. But when Broderbund died in the late ‘90s, the “blockbuster” educational game mostly died with it. A lot’s been written on why this happened , and I don’t want to rehash it here. This isn’t a story about why educational games are or are not a dead end.

Discovery Tour is an excellent compromise though. Assassin’s Creed: Origins was built by hundreds of people, spanning multiple continents. It took four years. The virtual world all those artists and programmers and sound designers and animators and so on created is inconceivably complicated, the type of world you only get with an enormous budget from a game expected to sell blockbuster numbers.

No education-first game could accomplish what Origins accomplishes. Nobody could afford it, not even in the heyday of edutainment.

Piggybacking education on the back of a massive project like Origins though? All those artists and programmers and et cetera already did 95 percent of the work. This exhaustive recreation of Ptolemaic Egypt is going to exist regardless. That’s the genius of Discovery Tour. It’s one of the most ambitious educational games I’ve ever played, certainly the most expensive and polished, and it’s an afterthought. It’s the side attraction, as if Steven Spielberg made Jaws and then David Attenborough walked onscreen to tell you about shark physiology.

It’s an example I hope other publishers follow. Discovery Tour has flaws for sure— Rock, Paper, Shotgun pointed out this week that all the nude statues have had their marble-hewn naughty bits covered with seashells, because undoubtedly some executive was worried it wouldn’t be allowed in schools otherwise. That’s an unfortunate misstep. Tours also vary in quality, with some diving fairly deep into their subjects and others providing an all-too-brief glimpse.

And I don’t think every game needs or would even make sense to include a Discovery Tour-type option. Did Wolfenstein II need something similar? Or NieR: Automata ? Prey ? Yooka-Laylee ? Probably not.

Still, some unlikely candidates emerge. A bit of imagination and you could see how Call of Duty: WWII or Battlefield 1 could integrate more history. Modern settings would be interesting too. I think a guided tour option in Watch Dogs ’s Chicago could’ve been just as interesting as touring Ptolemaic Egypt, given enough time and effort on Ubisoft’s part. And there’s always the Kingdom Come: Deliverance approach, though its encyclopedic codex entries are a bit less engaging than Origins and its interactive elements.

Bottom line

It’s worth looking into, at least. Discovery Tour has made me consider Assassin’s Creed: Origins in a new light. I stop to look at the people milling around, admire the different items that shops are selling. Elements that were a chore in video game terms, like large empty regions in between points of interest, seem realistic and important when education is the primary goal.

I’ve learned a bit, too—maybe not as much as I’d learn from picking up a book on the subject, but…well, Assassin’s Creed is more fun. And there’s enough dangled that when I do find a lesson I’m interested in, like Hippodamus, it’s easy to find further material to supplement.

It makes me a bit sad Discovery Tour wouldn’t exist without Assassin’s Creed: Origins , that we as a society don’t fund massive digital recreations of ancient history without tying them to a blockbuster franchise. Yeah, that’s a shame. Imagine what you could do with 100 of these tours, or 500. Imagine if Discovery Tour received as much post-release support as your average big-budget game.

But it’s a start, and a damned decent one. Hopefully it’s more than a one-off experiment.

Assassin's Creed Origins: Discovery Tour Is A Smart, Exciting Way To Explore Game Worlds

GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links.

Learn from the Creed.

By Tamoor Hussain on February 13, 2018 at 9:00AM PST

While opinions on the various entries in the Assassin's Creed series vary, one thing we can all agree on is that each one delivers a rich world to explore. These virtual landscapes are the product of exhaustive research and meticulous attention to detail so, for many, Assassin's Creed is as much about learning history as it is sticking bad guys with wrist blades. For Assassin's Creed Origins , Ubisoft has taken a step further into presenting the game as a learning tool.

Discovery Tour takes Origins' beautifully realised version of ancient Egypt and strips away many of the traditional gaming systems to present an experience that is entirely focused on exploration and education. Gone are the aggravated enemies and multi-part quests, instead replaced with hundreds of characters just going about their daily lives and the opportunity to gain deeper insight into the people, places, and culture of the time.

You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.

inZOI - Official Roadmap Overview Gameplay Trailer

Jackbox Naughty Pack Teaser Trailer

Keylocker Official Announcement Trailer

SULFUR Coming to Xbox Trailer

Genshin Impact - Official Cutscene Animation: "Execution"

Street Fighter 6 - Official Akuma Gameplay Reveal Trailer

Promise Mascot Agency - Official Announcement Trailer

Stampede: Racing Royale | Coming to Game Preview Trailer

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage | Lo-fi Summer Trailer

TEKKEN 8 - Official Lidia Sobieska DLC Character Reveal And Season 1 Trailer

Guilty Gear Strive - Official Slayer DLC Character Gameplay Reveal Trailer

FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves｜Official Marco Rodrigues Character Reveal Trailer

Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?

Sign up or Sign in now!

Please enter your date of birth to view this video

By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Now Playing: 15 Minutes Of Assassin's Creed: Origins Discovery Tour Gameplay

According to Ubisoft, its goal was to "make history everyone's playground ... and make ancient Egypt accessible to a broader audience." And it has done the legwork needed to realise this vision. Discovery Tour features 75 guided audio tours, making it feel like a virtual museum that players can walk around, all while having information gathered with the aid of experts delivered to them.

Players retain control of their character, which in Discovery Tour can be anyone from Bayek, protagonist of Assassin's Creed Origins, to Cleopatra or Julius Caesar, among others, so they're free to wander aimlessly and soak in the atmosphere or dip in and out of the tours as they please.

We spent some time with Discovery Tour (watch our gameplay video above) and came away thinking it's an experience that has a huge amount of potential, both as a unique way to present game worlds to people that love video games, and as a smart way to leverage the immense efforts put into creating them to reach a broader audience that may not be into games. Ubisoft told us that it has already tested Discovery Tour in classroom environments and found that it was useful in helping students learn about ancient Egypt, and this is an exciting avenue for video games to explore.

Where Ubisoft takes it from here is unclear, but we're keen to see the company head back into settings from previous games and give them the same treatment. Furthermore, we hope that other developers and publishers take note, as the idea of being completely free to explore and learn from worlds is incredibly enticing.

As previously detailed , Discovery Tour will be available on February 20 for PS4 , Xbox One , and PC . It is free for owners of the main game, but a standalone version will also be available on Steam and Ubisoft's UPlay service.

Alongside Discovery Tour, Assassin's Creed Origins will receive a New Game Plus mode in February. In this mode players will be able to begin start a new game while holding on to their weapons, outfits, and abilities. New Game Plus becomes available after completing the game once.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email [email protected]

• Leave Blank

Tamoor Hussain

Tamoor Hussain is the Managing Editor of GameSpot. He has been covering the video game industry for a really long time, having worked in news, features, reviews, video, and more. He loves Bloodborne and other From Software titles, is partial to the stealth genre, and can hold his own in fighting games too. Fear the Old Blood.

Assassin's Creed Origins

Get the latest news and videos for this game daily, no spam, no fuss.

By signing up, you agree to the our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy .

We'll begin emailing you updates about %gameName%.

Use your keyboard!

Log in to comment

Long read: How TikTok's most intriguing geolocator makes a story out of a game

Where in the world is Josemonkey?

Assassin's Creed Origins guide, walkthrough and tips for AC: Origins' Ancient Egyptian adventure

Everything you need to know about stealthing and stabbing your way along the Nile.

Assassin's Creed Origins , the Ancient Egypt-spanning stab-em-up, marks the return of the franchise after a two-year hiatus and seemingly a return to form, too, featuring some stunning vistas and a frankly enormous world of things for you to do.

Here on this page you'll find our Assassin's Creed Origins guide and walkthrough hub, which includes a contents of links to all our various guides and steps through the story, as well as a series of guides, tips and general advice further down the page.

Assassin's Creed Origins walkthrough

Here, we've gathered together every page of our complete walkthrough to Assassin's Creed Origins' main story quests.

• Assassin's Creed Origins - The Oasis
• Assassin's Creed Origins - The False Oracle
• Assassin's Creed Origins - Aya I and May Amun Walk Beside You
• Assassin's Creed Origins - Gennadios the Phylakitai and End of the Snake
• Assassin's Creed Origins - Aya II and The Hyena
• Assassin's Creed Origins - The Lizard's Mask and The Lizard's Face
• Assassin's Creed Origins - The Crocodile's Scales
• Assassin's Creed Origins - The Crocodile's Jaws
• Assassin's Creed Origins - Ambush at Sea and Way of Gabiniani
• Assassin's Creed Origins - Aya: Blade of the Goddess and The Battle of the Nile
• Assassin's Creed Origins - The Aftermath and The Final Weighing
• Assassin's Creed Origins - Last of the Medjay, Fall of an Empire, Rise of Another and Birth of the Creed

Assassin's Creed Origins guide - all our AC: Origins guides in one place

Below, you'll find our available non-walkthrough guides in one place.

Assassin's Creed Origins guides:

• Assassin's Creed Origins weapons - how cursed and legendary weapons work and more explained
• Assassin's Creed Origins sidequests explained - how to complete every type of sidequest quickly and easily
• Assassin's Creed Origins levelling explained - how to grind XP and level up quickly
• Assassin's Creed Origins crafting materials - resources, animal goods, and their locations
• Assassin's Creed Origins tombs - Silica, Ancient Mechanisms, Tomb of Menkaure, Tomb of Khufu and all tombs explained
• Assassin's Creed Origins Papyrus Puzzle locations and solutions
• Assassin's Creed Origins Phylakes' Prey, Mysterious Letter, and the Black Hood - how to get the Black Hood outift

Assassin's Creed Origins tips, tricks, and everything else you need to know

With those specific guides out of the way, here's a look at some of the other miscellaenous tips and tricks for getting the most out of your Egyptian adventure.

Story Progression and Sidequesting

Each story mission has a suggested level to tackle it at, and for the most part you should try and stick to it. Being a level or two below will generally work, but too much of a gap and you may find it's literally impossible to complete a mission as you will be unable to inflict any damage at all. Luckily the game provides plenty of sidequests and diversions to level up.

As you make your way across the world following the plot we'd suggest clearing most of the sidequests in a region before leaving it; this should keep you in step with the suggested levels and also eliminates having to do too much backtracking.

The World of Origins

The opening hour or two of the game is fairly linear, but will eventually open up giving you free reign to come and go as you please. After arriving in Alexandria you can then make your way on foot, horseback, or camel to any of the unknown regions on the map, although we'd suggest checking the suggested level ranges before rushing in; they won't prevent you from entering, but any opposition you encounter in the region will be within that range so it can be dangerous to aim too high.

When you enter a region for the first time your first port of call should be to unlock at least one fast travel point so you don't have to walk back again. (Note that not all regions have one.) These will also reveal the locations of additional sidequests and points of interest in the vicinity, so if you're looking for something to do they're a good place to start.

Combat and Stealth

While outright confrontation is sometimes unavoidable, many of the game's encounters can be made simpler or even avoided entirely by staying out of sight. Use rooftops and tall grass to provide cover, and get into the habit of sending Senu out on a reconnaissance flight before entering any restricted areas; flagging the locations of your target and any wandering enemies makes life a great deal simpler.

That said, there are times when being spotted can work to your advantage. If you're trying to gain access to a heavily guarded area you can start a fight and then run away, kiting your enemies to somewhere more convenient and then slipping out of sight and heading to your goal unimpeded.

The Skills to Pay the Bills

As you level up you'll be awarded Ability Points that you can spend on unlocking new skills, and we'd recommend trying to keep things balanced rather than pouring all your skills into one area - having a broad set of abilities gives you more flexibility in your approach to different situations.

Assassin's Creed Origins Tips to know before you go:

It's a big world out there, full of danger, mystery, and other neat stuff, so last but not least here are our top tips of things to remember as you venture forth into the baking sun:

• Loot everything! Use your Animus Pulse regularly to reveal items you can pilfer, and don't forget to rummage in the corpse of vanquished foes. You'll find crafting materials, weapons, money, and trinkets you can sell to merchants - it's much easier than working for a living.
• Discretion is the better part of valour. You can beat the game by rushing everywhere waving a sword around, but it's going to make your life far more difficult. Proceed with caution and don't be ashamed to run and hide if things get a little too hot.
• Don't forget to craft. We'll cover the specifics crafting and getting materials elsewhere, but it's worth emphasising here - keep an eye on what items you need to upgrade each item and take the occasional detour to go out and gather them.
• Just because it's not on the map doesn't mean it isn't there. If you have any suspiciously blank areas in a region even after unlocking all the fast travel points it may be worth taking a quick sightseeing trip - there's not always something there, but it often pays to check.

Genshin Impact Sethos materials, kit, and Constellations

How to make Ale in Manor Lords

Genshin Impact Sigewinne materials, kit, and Constellations

How to get influence in Manor Lords

Genshin Impact Clorinde materials, kit, and Constellations

How to get food, farm and fertility in Manor Lords explained

Stellar Blade Lost Ark password and walkthrough

King Legacy codes

Follow Polygon online:

• Follow Polygon on Facebook
• Follow Polygon on Youtube
• Follow Polygon on Instagram

Site search

• Manor Lords
• Dragon’s Dogma 2
• FF7 Rebirth
• Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
• Baldur’s Gate 3
• GTA 5 cheats
• PlayStation
• Dungeons & Dragons
• Magic: The Gathering
• Board Games
• All Tabletop
• All Entertainment
• What to Watch
• What to Play
• Buyer’s Guides
• Really Bad Chess
• All Puzzles

Filed under:

Assassin’s Creed Origins guide: Beginner’s Guide

Share this story.

• Share this on Facebook
• Share this on Reddit
• Share All sharing options

Share All sharing options for: Assassin’s Creed Origins guide: Beginner’s Guide

There’s a lot new about Assassin’s Creed Origins . It’s a lot more action role-playing game than (some degree of) stealth-action like its predecessors. It’s got a lot built on top of the core premise — it’s bigger, it’s more complicated and it’s missing some things you’d expect from an Assassin’s Creed game. At it’s heart, though, it’s still an Assassin’s Creed game.

Below, we’ll talk about some of the things that are new and set the game apart from its predecessors. Then we’ll close out with some tips for your first hours (or days) with the game.

The game is big — l ike, really, really big

Assassin’s Creed Origins is just huge both in scope and scale. The map is gigantic. The scenery is vast and stunning. The cities and villages are sprawling and full of people. And there’s always something to do. There are side missions and main missions. There’s hunting for crafting materials. There are big events like chariot racing and arena battles. There are locations to explore, treasures to find and tombs to raid.

And all of that makes it long. We play slowly, but we opened up only three of the world’s over 20 areas after 10 hours of play. We played somewhere between a lot of and most of the side missions, but we were only just keeping pace with the recommended levels for the main missions.

It’s just not a fast-paced game. You can definitely play faster than we did, but be prepared for a sizable investment of time.

It feels like an Assassin’s Creed game, but different

Bayek is not an Assassin. That’s implied right there in the name of the game. The story that unfolds over the course of the game is the origin of the Assassins, and that means there are some mechanics or conventions that don’t exist in the game’s world yet. That’s not to say that Bayek just some guy. He’s a Medjay — a pharaoh-protecting badass. He’s got plenty of skills, and he even moves almost like an Assassin. But you’re just not quite an Assassin.

We brought that up early and over-explained it because it’s an adjustment you have to make as a player. You can’t roll in to Assassin’s Creed Origins expecting to be able to do all the same stuff you can do in every other Assassin’s Creed game. If you do, you’re going to end up frustrated.

It’s an action-RPG

There’s likely nothing in Assassin’s Creed Origins that you haven’t seen in other games. You just haven’t seen them in an Assassin’s Creed game.

You earn XP for doing things — everything from doing missions and side missions, to finding new locations, to hunting to killing enemies. Earning XP makes you level up. Leveling up increases your max health and the damage you can deal. It also gives you an ability point to spend on your skill tree .

Your level serves as a kind of gate on your progress through the game. Every area, mission and side mission has a suggested level that you should have reached (give or take a little) before taking it on.

Your skill tree will (kind of) turn you into an Assassin

We wrote a lot more about your abilities and your skill tree over here in our Assassin’s Creed Origins abilities guide . Like everything else in Assassin’s Creed Origins , it’s more complicated than you’d expect, and it takes some getting used to.

• The Hunter branch makes you more dangerous in ranged combat.
• The Warrior branch makes you tougher in melee.
• The Seer branch is where your not-quite-but-almost Assassin abilities and tools are.

In other Assassin’s Creed games, you got new tools by progressing. In this one, you get tools like sleep darts or smoke bombs by unlocking these abilities. It’s the skills that you unlock — especially the Hunter and Seer skills — that let you feel like an Assassin.

Weapons are complicated (for an Assassin’s Creed game)

You’ve likely seen all of the concepts behind the weapons in Assassin’s Creed Origins before in other games. Instead of a few specialized weapons like you’re used to, Bayek can use a huge range of weapons that he finds around the world.

Weapons are broken into ranged and melee , those are broken down further into specialized weapon types, and then each of those types can be broken down by quality and rarity . That’s a long way of saying that there’s a lot going on in the weapons (and shields) department. We broke it all down further in our Assassin’s Creed Origins gear guide .

Combat works differently in this game

Assassin’s Creed Origins uses a hitbox-based combat system. This means that instead of just picking someone to hit and, you know, hitting them, you swing your weapon in whatever direction you’re facing and deal damage to any enemy whose hitbox the weapon passes through.

All of those various categories and types of weapons have real impact on how fighting works. There’s a lot more to consider when you’re swinging your weapon now — things like reach and speed — and it means that fighting just feels different than in previous games.

You find (and buy) weapons, but you make your own armor

You will spend a lot of time managing, upgrading and expanding your weaponry. You’ll pick up new weapons constantly when looting locations or killing enemies. But you’ll never pick up armor. That’s because armor is part of the crafting mechanic, which we explain in our Assassin’s Creed Origins crafting guide .

You pick up crafting materials by hunting animals, stealing from the Greeks or by buying them in stores. You’ll use these materials to upgrade everything that’s not a weapon.

10 tips for your first 15 hours

• Pay attention to those recommended power levels . If you go picking a fight that’s too much higher than you, you’re going to get killed in a hurry. We speak from experience here — we wandered into a level 40 area accidentally and were immediately one-shot-killed by a random bandit. It won’t always be that bad, but those recommendations are there for a reason.
• Practice fighting . The combat system is new. There’s a constant stream of new weapons to choose from and learn how to use. As you unlock skills, Bayek gains new abilities and moves. It all adds up to fights being somewhere between confusing and overwhelming. If you practice — find low-level enemies that are by themselves that you can fight comfortably — it’ll give you a chance to figure out what you can and can’t do.
• Use mounts for “fast-ish” travel . Fast travel is back, and it lets you warp to and from unlocked areas and vantage points. But not everywhere you want to go is near a fast travel point. That’s where your mounts — camels, horses, chariots and the like — come in. You can direct your mount to take you to your custom waypoints on the map, then just sit back and enjoy the ride. You’ll even earn XP for any locations you discover along the way.

• Use Senu constantly . Bayek doesn’t have an Assassin’s eagle vision, but he does have an eagle that looks at stuff for him. You can control Senu to scout locations, look for crafting materials to hunt or steal and find treasures and mission objectives. Senu will also mark enemies so that you can see them through walls. Any time you’re about to take on bad guys, use Senu to thoroughly scan the area.
• Use your Animus Pulse constantly, too . Use it every time you think of it. Your A nimus Pulse flags loot on your HUD. What you find is usually not super exciting — a few drachmas or one piece of crafting materials — but all of that adds up, and you find stuff everywhere. That pulse also works for finding treasures in special locations and for finding some collectibles, so pinging it periodically is just a great habit to get into.
• Have a goal in mind . Assassin’s Creed Origins is huge. Intimidatingly huge. It’s easy to get caught up in hunting or side missions or just walking around taking in the scenery. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s easy to lose sight of what you’re supposed to be doing. If you have a goal, you won’t get carried away.
• Spend a while doing everything . Yes, you should have a goal so you don’t waste your time doing everything, but for a little while, you should ignore that advice and do just that — especially early on in the game. There are so many things to find and figure out and do — from forts to animal lairs to ruins to hunting and so many more things — that it’s easy to miss some. If you spend your first few (or several) hours checking out every marker on your map and doing every side mission, you’ll get a much better feel for how the game works.
• Be a little thrifty with your ability points . Early on, it’s going to feel like you’re getting a flood of ability points and you’ll never run out. But you will, and the time between earning them will increase a lot. It’s not always the best approach to just keep buying any skill you can afford. Check out our Assassin’s Creed Origins skill tree and abilities guide and read through the descriptions of the skills. Try to figure out the skills that match your play style or the skills you know you want and save up accordingly.
• The same goes for drachmas . Things get expensive really fast in Assassin’s Creed Origins . Weapons, outfits, shields and mounts just keep getting more and more expensive, and you probably aren’t going to be earning money as fast as you’d like. By all means, spend some of it — buy yourself a nicer camel or that shiny new shield — but try not to spend it all. You’re going to want it later to buy weapon upgrades or crafting materials.
• Hold off on upgrading your legendary weapons . As with any game with random loot drops, you’re going to spend a lot of time managing your arsenal. You’ll rapidly cycle through weapons, swapping them out to get an extra point of damage. Upgrading weapons at a blacksmith is a great way to make your favorite weapons keep up with your level, but it gets pricey when you’re upgrading legendary weapons every few levels at a couple thousand drachmas a pop. Upgrade your regular and rare weapons instead. At least until the loot-swap-loot-some-more cycle slows down.

The next level of puzzles.

Take a break from your day by playing a puzzle or two! We’ve got SpellTower, Typeshift, crosswords, and more.

Sign up for the newsletter Patch Notes

A weekly roundup of the best things from Polygon

Just one more thing!

Please check your email to find a confirmation email, and follow the steps to confirm your humanity.

Oops. Something went wrong. Please enter a valid email and try again.

How to make ale in Manor Lords

Palworld is getting a frog with a stick (and 3 other new Pals)

Get every graphic novel and art book published for The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 for just $18.

Give your handheld a little extra space with these SSD deals

The Bad Batch finale, Hacks season 3, and more new TV this week

Animal Crossing: New Horizons May Day maze 2024 walkthrough

• Assassin's Creed Origins Trophies
• First Visit trophy

Assassin's Creed Origins

Sign in or sign up to start making your own lists.

•   Create a list
• Boosting unavailable

Discovery Tour: Ancient Egypt

First Visit trophy in Assassin's Creed Origins

Complete one tour

How to unlock the First Visit trophy

Have you got any tips or tricks to unlock this trophy? Add a guide to share them with the community.

Sign in to add this item to your wishlist, follow it, or mark it as ignored

Sign in to see reasons why you may or may not like this based on your games, friends, and curators you follow.

prohibited for children

Digital Deluxe Edition

Gold Edition

About This Game

System requirements.

• OS: Windows 10 (64-bit versions only)
• Processor: Intel Core i5-2400s @ 2.5 GHz or AMD FX-6350 @ 3.9 GHz or equivalent
• Memory: 6 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 or AMD R9 270 (2048 MB VRAM with Shader Model 5.0 or better)
• DirectX: Version 11
• Storage: 42 GB available space
• Additional Notes: Video Preset: Lowest (720p). Game contains Denuvo (https://www.denuvo.com/) and VMProtect (http://vmpsoft.com/support/user-manual/introduction/what-is-vmprotect/) anti-piracy technology.
• Processor: Intel Core i7- 3770 @ 3.5 GHz or AMD FX-8350 @ 4.0 GHz
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 or AMD R9 280X (3GB VRAM with Shader Model 5.0 or better)
• Additional Notes: Video Preset: High (1080p). Game contains Denuvo (https://www.denuvo.com/) and VMProtect (http://vmpsoft.com/support/user-manual/introduction/what-is-vmprotect/) anti-piracy technology.

© 2017 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries.

More from Assassin's Creed

More like this, what curators say, customer reviews.

You can use this widget-maker to generate a bit of HTML that can be embedded in your website to easily allow customers to purchase this game on Steam.

Enter up to 375 characters to add a description to your widget:

Copy and paste the HTML below into your website to make the above widget appear

Popular user-defined tags for this product: (?)

Sign in to add your own tags to this product.

Try Assassin's Creed Mirage for FREE now until April 30!

Assassin's Creed Origins

Set in mysterious Ancient Egypt, Assassin’s Creed Origins is a new beginning. Experience a new way to fight while exploring the Great Pyramids and hidden tombs across the country of Ancient Egypt, and encounter many memorable storylines along your journey. And discover the origin story of the Assassin’s Brotherhood.

Game Overview

A full country.

From deserts to lush oases, from the Mediterranean Sea to the tombs of Giza, fight your way against dangerous ancient factions and wild beasts as you explore this gigantic and unpredictable land.

Rebuilt Combat

Experience a completely new way to fight as you loot and use hundreds of weapons with different characteristics and rarities.

Memorable Quests

Dive into a new adventure every time you play, with each quest telling an intense, emotional, and memorable story.

Story & Characters

Egypt is faltering under the rule of inexperienced monarchs. It’s a time for the silver-tongued to attempt to take control, and for the Assassin’s Brotherhood to emerge and ensure that doesn’t happen.

Recommended Content

Discovery tour: ancient egypt.

Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed is a new educational mode of Assassin’s Creed® Origins that lets players explore the world of Ancient Egypt through guided tours curated by historians & Egyptologists. Discover Egypt’s history as the game world evolves into a virtual museum.

Assassin's Creed Origins Photo Mode

Enjoy shots of beautiful views or interesting moments in-game.

Set in mysterious Ancient Egypt, Assassin’s Creed® Origins is a new beginning. Experience a new way to fight while exploring the Great Pyramids and hidden tombs across the country of Ancient Egypt, and encounter many memorable storylines along your journey. And discover the origin story of the Assassin’s Brotherhood.

Release Date

action / adventure

Ubisoft Montreal

Assassin's Creed Origins is Available on:

PC / Xbox One / PlayStation 4 / Amazon Luna

Assassin's Creed Origins is Rated:

© 2020 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Ubisoft and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Visit Other Assassin's Creed Channels:

Assassin’s Creed Origins Secrets of the First Pyramids Side Quest Walkthrough

October 31, 2017 by Jack McBastard 3 Comments

Secrets of the First Pyramids  is a Side Quest in Assassin’s Creed Origins. This walkthrough shows how to complete the quest.

Recommended Level: 23 Region: Saqqara Nome Requirements: Secrets of the First Pyramids DLC Reward: 4000 XP

Objectives:

• Find Merkes the Scholar
• Kill the Scholar’s pursuers
• Reach and explore the sites to retrieve the artifacts
• Speak to Merkes
• Reach the top of the Tomb of Sneferu
• Speak to Merkes about the diagram
• Escort Merkes to the temple ruins
• Investigate the ruins to uncover Sneferu’s vault

Once you install the DLC, the Secrets of the First Pyramids side quest will automatically be added to your quest list. Use Senu to locate Merkes, and you’ll find him being chased by a number of bandits. Save his live, and talk with him to continue.

It seems that Merkes the Scholar is after the treasures of Sneferu, and he needs three artifacts to accomplish this. He had two, but one was stolen by bandits. The third and final artifact is inside the Shining Pyramid. He asks for your help to bring all three together and find the lost vault.

First, you’ll have to take care of the bandits who have a camp to the east, inside the Hugros Hideout.

After handling the bandits, your next stop is the Tomb of Sneferu in the Shining Pyramid.

Once inside, you’ll have to explore to find the artifact. At one point you will have to deal with a number of platforms with counterweights that you’ll have to add or remove weight from in order to reach higher levels. The first, you’ll have to move a crated statue onto the platform to prevent it from rising, allowing you to jump on the higher platform.

Later you’ll find a similar platform that a pot is keeping from rising. Smash the pot to shift its balance, then use spools of rope to the opposite platform to reach the higher level. Three spools will be enough weight to keep your weight from bringing it down.

Return to Merkes to show him what you’ve found. The artifacts confirm his theory, forming a diagram. You must slot them into the pyramidion on top of the Shining Pyramid, hopefully discovering the location of Sneferu’s lost vault in the process.

As the man said, climb to the top of the Tomb of Sneferu, AKA the Shining Pyramid.

Once you reach the top, you’ll see the place where the artifacts will fit, forming a map.

Jump back down to talk to Merkes, taking the express slide to save time.

This time, Merkes wants to come with you to see the temple. Escort him to see his prize, and learn along the way that it was Merkes’s own fault that the bandits were invovled. Whoops.

Once inside, follow the waypoint to the entrance location

Though the entrance is hidden, its easy enough to find. Press up on the d-pad to find the investigation locations with the Animus Pulse.

Dig up the entrance to find a barrier that you can smash or burn to get through, opening the way to the vault.

Once you’re inside, its essentially a straight shot to the vault (but watch out for snakes!) Once inside, Speak with Merkes to complete the quest.

December 18, 2017 at 12:03 am

Mine wont instal

July 23, 2022 at 9:31 pm

Don’t worry too much. You get nothing special from this DLC, which makes me wonder what the point was. It wasn’t barely a side quest, let alone worthy of paying for. I regret the 15 minutes of my life I wasted on this POS.

January 17, 2018 at 3:27 pm

Mine won’t install but some how I have finished it also why dose the gods edition not come with the season pass it cost me $210

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

• Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy

• Português do Brasil

Assassin's Creed: Origins

• View history

Serving as a soft reboot of the series, the game explores the origins of the Assassin Brotherhood as the Hidden Ones and their conflict with the Templar Order , previously known as the Order of the Ancients . Players take on the role of a new modern-day character, Abstergo Industries employee Layla Hassan , who has created her own Animus which she uses to view the story of the Hidden Ones' co-founders, the Medjay Bayek of Siwa and his wife Aya . The narrative takes place in Egypt during the final years of the Ptolemaic dynasty and follows Bayek and Aya's quest for revenge against the Order following a personal tragedy.

Assassin's Creed: Origins brings many changes to the franchise's gameplay formula, being more akin to an action role-playing game than an action-adventure game like previous installments. Some of the new additions include an improved leveling and gear system, a new "hitbox-based" combat system, and Bayek's pet eagle Senu , who can be used for reconnaissance and replaces Eagle Vision .

• 1.1 Location and navigation
• 1.2 RPG elements
• 2.1 Setting
• 3 Development
• 4.1 Marketing
• 7 References

Location and navigation

Assassin's Creed: Origins full map

Origins ' map encompasses Lower Egypt and eastern Libya, which can be explored seamlessly without encountering loading screens, and has been described to be "the size of Black Flag ' s Caribbean, but on the ground" . [2] Players are able to visit major cities such as Giza , Memphis , Cyrene and Alexandria, as well as various smaller villages and settlements in Faiyum and the Nile Delta. [3]

Unlike previous Assassin's Creed games, Origins has no mini-map, instead employing an Elder Scrolls -esque compass bar that points the player in the direction of quests and objects of interest. [4] Senu , Bayek's eagle companion, functions as the game's " Eagle Vision ", being used to detect and mark enemies. The aerial perspective she brings also allows players to locate treasure chests, crafting resources and hidden passages. As well as this, Senu can be upgraded to distract or attack enemies. [5] Using Senu does not defog parts of the map, this requires the player themselves to step into the fogged area of the map to defog it. Interiors are accessible, and the Library of Alexandria is available for exploration. [6] A variation of the Eagle Vision from the previous games, known as " Animus Pulse ", also exists but it is much weaker, only highlighting objects.

As a result of Senu's introduction, viewpoints are no longer primarily used to reveal information about an area and its surroundings. Instead, they serve as a way to increase the eagle's detection capacity. [5] Synchronizing a viewpoint also allows the player to fast travel to it, a mechanic that has carried over from previous games. [4]

Underwater environments return from Black Flag , with players now being able to dive in any sufficiently deep body of water to explore wrecks and underwater ruins in search of loot. Since hostile animals such as crocodiles and hippos inhabit these waters, an underwater melee combat system was also created. In terms of transportation, Bayek can use feluccas to traverse the water, and horses , camels and chariots to travel on land. [4] [7]

In addition, there are 20 tombs to explore; some of these are based on real-life locations, while others are fictional. The tombs contain traps and some light puzzles, but they are, at their core, more about exploration and uncovering treasure. [2] To navigate these darker spaces, Bayek can light torches and even set things on fire. [8]

RPG elements

Much like Syndicate , Origins features a progression system where completing certain actions earns the player experience. Leveling up not only makes Bayek stronger, it also grants ability points that can be spent to unlock skills from the game's skill tree . There are three main branches in this tree: [3]

• Master Warrior , which focuses on melee combat.
• Master Hunter , which focuses on ranged combat and stealth.
• Master Seer , which focuses on tools and manipulating the environment.

In addition to skills, there is a full crafting system , based on materials gathered through hunting, which can be used to improve Bayek's equipment, such as the Hidden Blade. This is necessary when assassinating higher level enemies, which will not die from one blow if the Hidden Blade has not been sufficiently upgraded. [3]

Origins also moves away from the mission structure of previous entries in the franchise, instead utilizing quests that the player has to pick up in the open world and can then pursue at their leisure without desynchronizing. [4]

Desert Overheat is another RPG element being introduced with Origins . Essentially players can develop heatstroke due to being in the desert for too long. The system introduces varying effects depending on the severity of Desert Overheat. [9]

The combat system was completely overhauled for Origins , now utilizing a hitbox system. As a result, positioning, as well as the size and the speed of the equipped weapon, determine whether or not an attack hits. In addition, while a heavier weapon like a mace might deal a lot of damage per strike, it can leave the player open to more counter-attacks than if they were using a light sword. Players can also use Bayek's shield to block enemy attacks or bash opponents to create an opening. [3]

In addition to a revised combat system, there is a new Adrenaline Gauge that builds up energy during combat, giving the player the ability to either unleash devastating finishing moves on their enemy or make Bayek enter a frenzy, during which he is temporarily faster, stronger and more resistant to damage. [4]

Origins features a variety of weapons, including swords , bows , heavy weapons , long weapons , bombs , and shields. In total, there are over 150 weapons in the game, ranging in rarity from "common" to "legendary", that all have pros and cons within Origins ' s new combat system. Some weapons also have specific attributes, such as a larger chance to deal critical damage or bleed properties. [3] Unarmed melee combat also makes a return from Assassin's Creed: Syndicate .

The game also includes boss fights against "formidable warriors and strange creatures". [4]

Some features that had been frequently requested by the fanbase were introduced into the game: players are able to toggle Bayek's hood on and off in the menu screen and multiple save files are making their return after having been absent in Assassin's Creed: Unity and Syndicate . [10] Players can also fast forward to a particular time of day; [11] tackling missions at night, for example, means some of the guards will be asleep, allowing Bayek to sneak through without attracting much attention. [4]

Origins is primarily a single-player experience, but the game included some online features to enhance that experience. [12]  For example, at times the player can find the corpse of another player and take on a quest to exact revenge.

Egypt as it appears in the game

The player takes on the role of a  Medjay  named Bayek and his wife Aya , as they work to protect the people of the Ptolemaic Kingdom during a time of widespread upheaval: the Pharaoh,  Ptolemy XIII , struggles to maintain his rule whilst harboring ambitions of expanding his kingdom; his sister, the recently deposed Queen Cleopatra , begins marshalling loyalist forces to launch a counter-coup against Ptolemy; and frequent incursions into the Kingdom by the  Roman Republic  under the command of  Julius Caesar  lead to fears of an imminent invasion.

Bayek's role as a Medjay brings him and Aya into contact with the secretive forces manipulating these events and eventually leads to them founding the Hidden Ones , the first incarnation of the Assassin Brotherhood .

In the present day , Layla Hassan , a researcher at Abstergo Entertainment 's Historical Research Division , is tasked along with her friend and co-worker Deanna Geary with finding and retrieving an artifact in Egypt. However, she instead finds a tomb containing the mummies of ancient Bayek and Aya. Hoping to find any relevant information that would secure her a position in the company's Animus Project , Layla decides to relive both Bayek and Aya's genetic memories using her modified Animus without telling her superiors, despite Deanna's protests.

The Order of the Ancients interrogate Bayek about the Siwa Vault

In 49 BCE, Bayek, a respected Medjay in charge of protecting the Siwa Oasis , is abducted along with his son Khemu by a group of five masked men to an underground vault in the Temple of Amun . The masked men give Bayek a golden orb and demand that he use it to open the vault, despite the Medjay's claims that he has no knowledge about the vault. Khemu helps Bayek escape, but during the struggle to kill one of the masked men, Bayek inadvertently stabs Khemu in the chest, killing him.

One year later, in 48 BCE, Bayek has exiled himself from Siwa in order to track down the five masked men to take his revenge. He finds the first one, Rudjek , "The Heron", and kills him inside the Bent Pyramid in Giza . Bayek then returns to Siwa, where he survives an ambush by Rudjek's bodyguard Hypatos and is reunited with his friend Hepzefa . He informs Bayek that his next target, the local priest Medunamun , "The Ibis", has been torturing Siwans for information to open the same vault underneath the Temple of Amun. Bayek assassinates Medunamun and leaves Siwa, heading to Alexandria to find Aya, who has been tracking the remaining masked men.

Bayek and Aya try out the Hidden Blade once wielded by Darius

In the Egyptian capital, Bayek locates Aya's hideout with the help of her cousin, the poet Phanos the Younger , and is reunited with his wife. Aya informs Bayek that she has already killed "The Vulture" and "The Ram" , leaving only one target to eliminate, "The Snake". She also reveals that she has been working with  Apollodorus  and Cleopatra to uncover "The Snake"'s identity, and presents Bayek with the very first Hidden Blade , given to her by Cleopatra. Bayek discovers that "The Snake" is  Eudoros , the royal scribe, and tracks him to a bathhouse, killing him with the Hidden Blade, though he accidentally cuts off his own left ring finger in the process.

After being warned by Eudoros that "The Snake" is immortal, Bayek begins to doubt that all of the masked men are dead and decides to meet with Apollodorus and Cleopatra for answers. During a meeting at Apollodorus' estate , Cleopatra informs Bayek and Aya that she was ousted from the throne by the masked men, who call themselves the Order of the Ancients and seek to control all of Egypt by using Ptolemy as their puppet. She also reveals that "The Snake" is another name for the Order and that Eudoros, who was actually known as the "The Hippo", is not the last of the masked men. Given four new targets by Cleopatra – "The Scarab" , "The Hyena" , "The Lizard" , and "The Crocodile" – Bayek sets out to hunt them down while Aya convinces Pompey the Great  to ally with Cleopatra.

Bayek assassinates Taharqa

In the village of Sais , Bayek learns from one of Apollodorus' contacts that an old man, Ghupa , went missing while investigating "The Scarab". Bayek rescues Ghupa, who had his tongue cut off, and returns him to his family whereupon he learns that "The Scarab" is located in Letopolis . There, Bayek meets Ghupa's son-in-law, Taharqa , who is overseeing renovations to the ancient city. After working together to fight off bandits, Taharqa invites Bayek to have dinner with his family, only to poison his drink, which makes the Medjay realize Taharqa is "The Scarab". Left for dead in the desert, Bayek manages to escape and kill Taharqa, much to the anger of his wife and young son . Nevertheless, the Medjay resolves to continue his hunt of the Order.

Near the Great Pyramid , Bayek meets the merchant Mered , who offers to provide information on "The Hyena" in exchange for Bayek retrieving his horse . After the Medjay does so, Mered gives him the name of "The Hyena", Khaliset , and the location of her hideout. Investigating the hideout, Bayek learns that Khaliset has abandoned the Order and has been abducting people for her experiments with silica , which she hopes to use to resurrect her daughter . Despite empathizing with Khaliset's loss, Bayek kills her to put an end to the abductions.

Cleopatra orders Bayek and Aya to eliminate Hetepi

Travelling to Memphis , Bayek find the city affected by a mysterious curse. Upon some investigation, he deduces this to be the work of "The Lizard", who hopes to sabotage the upcoming Festival of Apis and turn the population of Memphis against Cleopatra when she will be visiting the city for the festival. With the help of Aya and the High Priest Pasherenptah , Bayek discovers "The Lizard" to be Hetepi , one of the local priests, and assassinates him. Afterwards, Bayek and Aya part ways once again as the latter continues to serve Cleopatra.

To track down "The Crocodile", Bayek seeks out Hotephres , who has acquired a ledger containing information on "The Crocodile" which he left with his family. Bayek meets Hotephres' wife Khenut and young daughter Shadya , but while attempting to retrieve the ledger, he learns it was taken by Shadya. Bayek is too late to save Shadya from "The Crocodile"'s men and vows revenge. Learning that some of the men in "The Crocodile"'s employ are gladiators from the Krokodilopolis Arena , Bayek infiltrates the arena, fighting alongside his friend Kensa to rise in the ranks. He eventually uncovers the identity of "The Crocodile", Berenike , and assassinates her, avenging Shadya.

Layla vows revenge against Abstergo

Back in the present, Layla and Deanna are attacked by Abstergo's paramilitary task force Sigma Team for failing to check in with the company. Layla is able to kill her attackers, but Deanna is captured and presumably executed. Swearing revenge, Layla returns to the Animus, determined to complete her mission.

Bayek receives a letter from Aya explaining that there are two more masked men, "The Scorpion" and "The Jackal", who are members of Ptolemy's royal guard. Bayek finds out that  Lucius Septimius  is "The Jackal" and prevents him from assassinating Cleopatra, but is too late to save Pompey. With no other options, Cleopatra has Bayek and Aya help sneak her into the palace in order to meet Julius Caesar and earn his support. The plan is successful and Cleopatra secures an alliance with Caesar, but in retaliation Ptolemy has his army besiege Alexandria. Bayek helps Caesar to escape and later kills Pothinus , "The Scorpion", but is stopped from killing Septimius by Caesar. Meanwhile, Aya is tasked to eliminate Ptolemy and watches as the pharaoh is eaten by crocodiles while trying to flee across the Nile .

The formation of Bayek's new brotherhood

After the end of the civil war , Cleopatra ascends the throne of Egypt and cuts ties with Bayek and Aya, who deduce that the Order is now influencing both Cleopatra and Caesar. Regretting his mistake in supporting Cleopatra, Bayek gathers all of his allies and decides to form a brotherhood to counter the Order and defend the free will of the common people. Bayek and Aya then recall the great interest the Order showed in the tomb of  Alexander the Great  and decide to investigate. They find a mortally wounded Apollodorus who warns them that Caesar's lieutenant Flavius Metellus is "The Lion", the head of the Order, and the one responsible for Khemu's death.

With Flavius and Septimus having taken the orb and Alexander's personal staff , Bayek and Aya follow them to Siwa, where the two Order members have used the artifacts to open the vault, which contains a map with the locations of more Pieces of Eden . Bayek and Aya also discover that Flavius and Septimus have killed Hepzefa and decide to split up to stop the two Order members. Bayek travels to Cyrene to confront Flavius, who has used the now-activated Apple of Eden to enthrall the local population. Bayek kills Flavius, finally avenging Khemu's death, and returns to Alexandria with the Apple.

Bayek and Aya forfeit their marriage, for the sake of their new brotherhood

Bayek finds that Aya has recruited  Marcus Junius Brutus  and  Gaius Cassius Longinus  to their cause and is planning to accompany them to Rome to fight the Order's influence there. Sundered by their paths of blood and shadow and hollowed by the death of their child, Bayek and Aya finally to part ways for good, but cement the foundation of the Hidden Ones when they both swear to defend the world from the shadows. As Bayek leaves, he discards his eagle 's skull charm, his last memento of Khemu. Aya picks it up and notices the impression it leaves in the sand—the icon of their new Brotherhood .

In the present, Layla wakes up to find William Miles , the Mentor of the Assassin Brotherhood, watching over her. He invites Layla to join the Assassins for her own protection and, though hesitant, she accepts to accompany William to Alexandria. While the two wait for a helicopter to come pick them up, Layla returns to the Animus to finish reliving Bayek and Aya's memories.

Aya assassinates Caesar

On 15 March 44 BCE, Aya confronts and kills Septimius in Rome, with her target revealing that Alexander's staff has been given to his fellow Order members before passing away. Aya then infiltrates the Theatre of Pompey and  assassinates Caesar with the aid of members of the Roman Senate . Later, she meets with Cleopatra and warns her to be a fair ruler for the people of Egypt or she will return to kill her.

In 43 BCE, Aya writes Bayek a letter discussing the establishment of a new brotherhood in Rome and the importance of their Creed , which will outlive any of them. She also reveals that she has decided to to remove herself from her past in order to serve the brotherhood and adopts a new name, "Amunet". Back in Egypt, Bayek continues to build up the Hidden Ones by recruiting new apprentices , including his friend Tahira , who cuts off her ring finger to prove her devotion to the cause. When the Hidden Ones later rescue a group of child slaves, one of them is too afraid to return home alone, so Bayek offers to accompany him. As Bayek receives and reads Amunet's letter, he hears Khemu's voice telling him to " jump ".

• Angela Christofilou as Various Voices
• Shawn Baichoo as Felix Martialis
• James Barriscale as Cassius
• Zora Bishop as Cleopatra
• Brittany Drisdelle as Isidora / Various Voices
• Julian Casey as Flavius Metellus
• Chimwemwe Miller as Various Voices
• Chris Pavlo as Various Voices
• Vangelis Christodoulou as Various Voices
• David Collins as Hetepi the Lizard
• Elana Dunkelman as Various Voices
• Glykeria Dimou as Various Voices
• Jonny Glynn as Lucius Septimius
• Alain Goulem as Various Voices
• Holly Gauthier-Frankel as Various Voices
• Ivan Sherry as Gaius Julius Rufio ( The Hidden Ones )
• Karl Campbell as Hepzefa
• Alkis Kritikos as Various Voices
• Tristan D. Lalla as Taharqa
• Melissanthi Mahut as Helen / Phoebe / Various Voices
• Jamie Mayers as Ptolemy XIII
• Gerry Mendicino as Pothinus
• Carlo Mestroni as Hotephres
• Chimwewe Miller as Various Voices
• Amir Sám Nakhjavani as Damastes
• Michael Nardone as Julius Caesar
• Peter Polycarpou as Various Voices
• Alix Wilton Regan as Aya
• Chantel Riley as Layla Hassan
• Abubakar Salim as Bayek
• Shaun Austin-Olsen as Various Voices
• Simon Lee Phillips as Ampelius
• Kwasi Songui as Rudjek
• Nicole Stamp as Kensa
• Colette Stevenson as Berenike
• Mouna Traoré as Khaliset
• Vlasta Vrána as Eudoros
• Warona Setshwaelo as Tahira
• Timothy Watson as Various Voices
• Xhanti Mbonzongwana as Khemu

Development

Work on the game had commenced by 2015, prior to the release of Assassin's Creed: Syndicate . [13] Ubisoft Montreal is the lead development studio on Origins , with the team comprising many of the people that previously worked on Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag . Ubisoft Sofia, Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Chengdu, Ubisoft Bucharest, Ubisoft Kiev, and the Sperasoft studio are also collaborating on the development of the game. [3]

Due to the setting being further back in time than previous entries in the franchise, history books did not always suffice as reference. To compensate, Maxime Durand worked closely with various historians and Egyptian experts to fill in the blanks where needed. In some cases, the lack of reference meant the Art team had to create the look and overall feel of what Ancient Egypt would have been like at the time. [3]

A new Artificial Intelligence framework was also created from the ground up, since the developers wanted the non-player characters, both human and animal, to have their own agenda and activities. Full day cycles were created to make the world feel dynamic and alive. [3]

To refine how the game displayed colors, the team designed a new color-grading feature to help them create specific and unique color ambiances. They also used satellite images of Egypt to fine-tune the colors for the ground and the vegetation and make them as realistic as possible. [3]

Another visual aspect that received a lot of attention was lighting; the developers studied technical documentation from NASA to better understand how airborne particles impact lighting. Similarly, they looked at the ways in which different sediments refract light to realistically depict different types of water, which can communicate to the player what kinds of wildlife they might encounter in it. [3]

In June 2022, the game was patched to support 60fps on consoles. Particularly more optimized for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S . [14]

Assassin's Creed: Origins released globally on 27 October 2017 for Microsoft Windows , PlayStation 4 , and Xbox One . [15] It was released onto Google Stadia on 15 December 2020. [16]

An additional singleplayer mission, " Secrets of the First Pyramids ", was originally available via pre-ordering the game and was then released through Ubisoft Club , too. The Deluxe Pack , included in the Deluxe Edition of game, gave access to the " Ambush At Sea " mission, 3 bonus ability points and the Desert Cobra Pack .

Legacy outfits , outfits worn by previous Assassin protagonists, are also available for use in the game. [6]

Ubisoft also announced a Season Pass, which included the Calamity Blade weapon and the following content: [17]

• Roman Centurion Pack

More single-player DLC that has been added post-launch includes:

• The Hidden Ones , released on 23 January 2018; features Bayek and his fellow Hidden Ones traveling to a new region, the Sinai Peninsula , occupied by a Roman force, several years after the events of Origins .
• The Curse of the Pharaohs , released on 13 March 2018; features Bayek going on a quest in the Valley of the Kings against mythological creatures and undead pharaohs.

In addition to the post-launch DLC, Ubisoft also announced the following content and activities that were made available to all players: [17]

• Trial of the Gods , which allow Bayek to face against Egyptian gods in boss battles during special timed events, and receive valuable rewards for victory.
• The Nomad's Bazaar , which sees Reda , a wandering merchant who would provide daily quests for Bayek to complete to earn exotic mystery rewards.
• Photo Mode , which allows players to capture images and share it with the community directly from the game.
• Horde Mode , where players can fight endless waves of enemies in the Gladiator Arena .
• Discovery Tour , released on 20 February 2018, which removed all combat and allowed players to go on a guided and educational tour on Egypt and its history.

In June 2017 at E3, Ubisoft debuted the gameplay trailer for Origins . [18] A cinematic trailer followed a few months later featuring the song "You Want It Darker" by Leonard Cohen . [19] In October, Ubisoft in partnership with Biborg released an Origins -themed augmented reality filter for Facebook. [20] An official Xbox cinematic trailer was release titled "From Sand". [21] On 25 October, a launch trailer was released featuring gameplay. [22]

Ubisoft announced several editions of Assassin's Creed: Origins .

• Deluxe Edition
• Gold Edition
• Gods Edition

• A retail copy of Assassin's Creed: Origins .
• The Deluxe Pack.

• The Season Pass.

• A 26cm Bayek on Sekhmet Goddess statue.
• A collector's box.
• A copy of the official artbook .
• A copy of the world map.
• A copy of the official soundtrack .
• Dawn of the Creed Edition
• Dawn of the Creed Legendary Edition

• A 39cm Bayek & Senu statue.
• A Bayek eagle skull amulet.
• A Steelbook case.
• A copy of the official artbook.
• A copy of the official soundtrack.
• A two original art cards.

• A 73cm Bayek & Senu statue.
• The Collector’s certificate of authenticity, Numbered 1 to 999.
• A four large lithographs.
• Promotional media
• Concept artwork

• ↑ Entertainment Software Rating Board . Assassin's Creed Origins [sic] . Entertainment Software Association . Retrieved on 20 March 2021.
• ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wallace, Kimberley (11 June 2017). Five Things You Need To Know About Assassin's Creed Origins [sic] . Game Informer . Archived from the original on 13 June 2017. Retrieved on 15 June 2017.
• ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 Palumbo, Alessio (12 June 2017). Everything You Wanted To Know of Assassin's Creed Origins [sic], Including Ubisoft Studying NASA Documents . WCFTech . Archived from the original on 16 June 2017. Retrieved on 13 June 2017.
• ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Reparaz, Mikel (11 June 2017). Assassin's Creed Origins [sic] - What You Need to Know About Its New Setting, New Hero, and New Action-RPG Gameplay . Ubisoft . Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved on 15 June 2017.
• ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cork, Jeff (11 June 2017). Meet Assassin's Creed Origin's [sic] New Hero - And His Eagle . Game Informer . Archived from the original on 14 June 2014. Retrieved on 15 June 2017.

• ↑ Boyle, Emma (11 June 2017). Assassin's Creed Origins [sic] trailer, release date, news and features . TechRadar . Archived from the original on 11 June 2017. Retrieved on 16 June 2017.
• ↑ Hillier, Brenna (12 June 2017). Assassin's Creed Origins [sic] is an action RPG with skill trees, boss battles, all new combat system and peeing NPCS . VG247 . Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved on 16 June 2017.
• ↑ Workman, Robert (15 August 2017). Assassin's Creed Origins [sic] Will Lean Heavily On Role-Playing And... Heat Stroke . ComicBook . Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved on 16 August 2017.

• ↑ Totilo, Stephen (13 June 2017). Nine Cool Things I Noticed While Playing Assassin's Creed Origins [sic] . Kotaku . Archived from the original on 16 June 2017. Retrieved on 16 June 2017.
• ↑ Higham, Michael (17 June 2018). Assassin's Creed Odyssey [sic[ Goes Full RPG With Choice And Consequence, And It's Better For It . GameSpot . Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved on 17 June 2018.
• ↑ Makuch, Eddie (2 June 2022). Assassin's Creed Origins 60fps Patch Out Now On PS5 And Xbox Series X|S . GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2 June 2022. Retrieved on 11 September 2022.
• ↑ Plagge, Kallie (11 June 2017). E3 2017: Assassin's Creed Origins Confirmed, Release Date Announced . GameSpot . Archived from the original on 3 October 2019. Retrieved on 11 September 2022.
• ↑ Joffard, Jerome (16 December 2020). Trois jeux Assassin's Creed débarquent sur Google Stadia (in French) . Jeuxvideo . Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved on 11 September 2022.
• ↑ 17.0 17.1 Watters, Chris (10 October 2017). Assassin's Creed Origins [sic] – Season Pass DLC and Free Content Detailed . UbiBlog . Archived from the original on 2 November 2017. Retrieved on 10 October 2017.
• ↑ Assassin's Creed Origins - AR camera effect . Biborg. Archived from the original on 11 September 2022. Retrieved on 22 March 2021.
• Assassin's Creed
• 1 Assassin's Creed (series)
• 2 Basim Ibn Ishaq

• Transactions
• FanNation FanNation FanNation
• SI.COM SI.COM SI.COM
• SI Swimsuit SI Swimsuit SI Swimsuit
• SI Sportsbook SI Sportsbook SI Sportsbook
• SI Tickets SI Tickets SI Tickets
• SI Showcase SI Showcase SI Showcase
• SI Resorts SI Resorts SI Resorts

Kalen King Has ‘Permanent Chip on Shoulder’ After Stunning Fall

After an All-American season in 2022, Kalen King was a projected first-round draft pick. In the 2024 NFL Draft, he was the 255th of 257 players selected.

• Author: Bill Huber

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The dust hadn’t settled on the 2023 NFL Draft when mock drafts for 2024 were unveiled.

At Pro Football Focus, Kalen King was slated to go 15th overall. At The Athletic, Dane Brugler had King going 16th. At Bleacher Report, King was the 20th pick.

On Saturday, the Green Bay Packers made King the 255th of 257 picks in the 2024 NFL Draft.

What happened? How did King go from an All-American who ranked third nationally with 21 passes defensed in 2022 to the 36th of 36 cornerbacks selected this weekend?

On a Zoom call shortly after the pick, King answered the question emotionally.

“I feel like the way I approach the game is always the same,” he said. “I put in the work and I know what I’m capable of. Just because I got picked towards the end of the seventh round this year doesn’t mean that’s the player I am. That’s just where I was slotted to be.

“Going to go into the NFL, my career really starts now. Anything before this point, I feel like doesn’t matter anymore. With me having this opportunity with the Green Bay Packers, I feel like nothing happened last year. Everything is happening exactly how it’s supposed to. To answer your question, I feel like everything happens for a reason and I feel like I’m in the right place now.

King, indeed, fell into a perfect spot. He was the only cornerback drafted by the Packers, who aren’t exactly strong at the position. The incumbent starter will be Carrington Valentine, who was a seventh-round pick last year.

Still, it wasn’t supposed to be this way.

In 2022, 200 FBS-level cornerbacks played at least 318 coverage snaps. According to Pro Football Focus, King ranked fifth in forced-incompletion percentage (29), 16th in opponent passer rating (48.9) and 28th in completion percentage (45.8).

In 2023, King ranked 186th in forced-incompletion percentage (3), 99th in opponent passer rating (82.4) and 144th in completion percentage (61.0). He didn’t allow any touchdowns, but he went from 21 passes defensed to two and zero penalties to four.

Couple the downturn in play with a sluggish Scouting Combine – he ran a 4.61 in the 40 in Indianapolis and was only a little faster at pro day – and King’s draft stock sank like a ton of rocks encased in concrete and attached to a rocket.

“It’s extremely motivating. Not going where you thought you would go, seeing all the names being picked ahead of you, just enduring all that, I felt like it put a chip on my shoulder. A permanent chip on my shoulder that I’ve got to keep there,” he said.

“I felt like the Packers are going to get one of the most competitive guys in the country, a tough corner, physical corner who’s going to give 100 percent effort around the field at all times and make as many plays as I possibly can by doing it at 100 percent.”

For the Packers, it was practically a risk-free bet on a player who has played high-level football.

“I think our league has a long history of guys who felt they were overlooked and use that as motivation to drive themselves,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said. “Hopefully, that’ll be the case. Certainly, he was a guy that we expected to go higher and, as we went through it, we felt very fortunate to be able to pick him where we did.”

King has heard the doubters and intends to prove them wrong. Thirty-five cornerbacks were selected ahead of him, as was one punter and three kickers.

“I feel like this experience that I got these past three days was nothing but a humbling experience for me,” he said. “I’m going to use it to add fuel to the fire because there have been a lot of doubters in my ear and a lot of doubters on me for the past couple months, and it’s always going to be those. I’m not too worried about those people.

“I know what I’m capable of and I’m ready to show the world I can do so. That’s really it.”

Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK

Packers at the 2024 NFL Draft

Our Day 3 draft grades | Five takeaways | National draft grades

Day 3: Evan Williams | Jacob Monk and Travis Glover

Day 2: Javon Bullard | Edgerrin Cooper | Marshawn Lloyd | Ty’Ron Hopper

Day 1: Jordan Morgan | Short arms

Latest Packers News

Packers 2024 Free Agent Tracker: Eric Wilson Re-Signs

Packers Will Host Ohio State Defensive Lineman on Predraft Visit

Packers 2024 Draft Visits Tracker

NFL Free Agency Changes Packers’ Odds to Win NFC North

Top-Paid Players at Every Position After NFL Free Agency

Bayern's Mathys Tel reads letter from first coach and discusses Champions League journey

Monday, April 29, 2024

Article summary

Bayern's French forward discusses how his first coach inspired him to reach the top level, calling it a "beautiful memory".

Article top media content

Article body.

Bayern forward Mathys Tel has come a long way since starring for French amateur side JS Villiers-le-Bel, and now regularly faces the best players in the world on the UEFA Champions League stage.

"I used to watch it on TV when I was younger," the teenager said in an interview for FedEx's Outside the Box. "There was Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé. They all had different qualities, they were fast, they scored goals, they made great passes. They taught me so much and made me dream as a child."

In order to reach the same level as his heroes, though, Tel needed an inspiring figure, and that came in the form of his first coach, Éric Campaner. "Éric is a very passionate coach," Tel reflected. "Really, he lives through football. He eats football, he sleeps football. All he wanted from every game was victory. It's a beautiful memory."

Tel reacted emotionally as he read a letter addressed to him from Campaner. "Hi Mathys, this is Éric, your first coach," it began. "I'm writing this letter to tell you something I've never told you. I'd like to thank you for all those years during which I had the pleasure of being your coach. I was so happy to hear about your transfer to Bayern. You were always so mature, and I knew you would take this move in your stride."

Previously with Rennes, Tel has indeed flourished at Bayern, with one of the highlights so far being scoring his first-ever Champions League goal in the 4-3 win over Manchester United in the group stage earlier this season.

"The game against Manchester United, it was quite a different atmosphere, because it's the biggest competition, the best players in the world, the biggest teams in the world," he remembered. "Everything went so fast. That's when my head exploded [when I scored]. The stadium went wild. Everybody went wild. It was an incredible and unforgettable moment."

Of course, Campaner was watching closely. "I cheered you on as I witnessed your first Champions League goal," he added in his letter. "We've seen how hard you've worked to get to where you are today and I couldn't be more proud. Mathys, know that I believe in you and that I'm convinced you'll achieve all your goals. Your coach, Éric Campaner."

For Tel, the journey has only just begun: "I've achieved quite a lot, but I want more, and I want to keep going. I still have a lot to learn, so I come onto the pitch with a great deal of desire and ambition. I run fast, I try to create chances and I try to score a lot. This is what makes me such an ambitious player today."

• Election 2024
• Entertainment
• Newsletters
• Photography
• Personal Finance
• AP Investigations
• AP Buyline Personal Finance
• AP Buyline Shopping
• Press Releases
• Israel-Hamas War
• Russia-Ukraine War
• Global elections
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East
• Election Results
• Delegate Tracker
• AP & Elections
• Auto Racing
• 2024 Paris Olympic Games
• Movie reviews
• Book reviews
• Personal finance
• Financial Markets
• Business Highlights
• Financial wellness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Media

Toxic: How the search for the origins of COVID-19 turned politically poisonous

FILE - A security person moves journalists away from the Wuhan Institute of Virology after a World Health Organization team arrived for a field visit in Wuhan in China’s Hubei province on Feb. 3, 2021. The hunt for COVID-19 origins has gone dark in China. An AP investigation drawing on thousands of pages of undisclosed emails and documents and dozens of interviews found feuding officials and fear of blame ended meaningful Chinese and international efforts to trace the virus almost as soon as they began, despite years of public statements to the contrary. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

FILE - A volunteer looks out near a Chinese national flag during a farewell ceremony for the last group of medical workers who came from outside Wuhan to help the city during the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province on April 15, 2020. The hunt for COVID-19 origins has gone dark in China. An AP investigation drawing on thousands of pages of undisclosed emails and documents and dozens of interviews found feuding officials and fear of blame ended meaningful Chinese and international efforts to trace the virus almost as soon as they began, despite years of public statements to the contrary. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

FILE - A farewell ceremony is held for the last group of medical workers who came from outside Wuhan to help the city during the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province on April 15, 2020. The hunt for COVID-19 origins has gone dark in China. An AP investigation drawing on thousands of pages of undisclosed emails and documents and dozens of interviews found feuding officials and fear of blame ended meaningful Chinese and international efforts to trace the virus almost as soon as they began, despite years of public statements to the contrary. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

FILE - A policeman moves journalists back from a farewell event held for the last group of medical workers who came from outside Wuhan to help the city during the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province on April 15, 2020. The hunt for COVID-19 origins has gone dark in China. An AP investigation drawing on thousands of pages of undisclosed emails and documents and dozens of interviews found feuding officials and fear of blame ended meaningful Chinese and international efforts to trace the virus almost as soon as they began, despite years of public statements to the contrary. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

FILE - A security guard waves for journalists to clear the road after a convoy carrying the World Health Organization team entered the Huanan Seafood Market on the third day of a field visit in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province on Jan. 31, 2021. The hunt for COVID-19 origins has gone dark in China. An AP investigation drawing on thousands of pages of undisclosed emails and documents and dozens of interviews found feuding officials and fear of blame ended meaningful Chinese and international efforts to trace the virus almost as soon as they began, despite years of public statements to the contrary. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

FILE - A photographer on a tall ladder tries to take photos of the World Health Organization convoy after it entered the Huanan Seafood Market on the third day of field visit in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province on Jan. 31, 2021. The hunt for COVID-19 origins has gone dark in China. An AP investigation drawing on thousands of pages of undisclosed emails and documents and dozens of interviews found feuding officials and fear of blame ended meaningful Chinese and international efforts to trace the virus almost as soon as they began, despite years of public statements to the contrary. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

FILE - Marion Koopmans, right, and Peter Ben Embarek, center, of the World Health Organization team say farewell to their Chinese counterpart Liang Wannian, left, after a WHO-China Joint Study Press Conference at the end of the WHO mission in Wuhan, China, on Feb. 9, 2021. The hunt for COVID-19 origins has gone dark in China. An AP investigation drawing on thousands of pages of undisclosed emails and documents and dozens of interviews found feuding officials and fear of blame ended meaningful Chinese and international efforts to trace the virus almost as soon as they began, despite years of public statements to the contrary. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

FILE - Peter Ben Embarek of a World Health Organization team attends a joint press conference at the end of their mission to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province on Feb. 9, 2021. The hunt for COVID-19 origins has gone dark in China. An AP investigation drawing on thousands of pages of undisclosed emails and documents and dozens of interviews found feuding officials and fear of blame ended meaningful Chinese and international efforts to trace the virus almost as soon as they began, despite years of public statements to the contrary. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

• Copy Link copied

BEIJING (AP) — The hunt for the origins of COVID-19 has gone dark in China, the victim of political infighting after a series of stalled and thwarted attempts to find the source of the virus that killed millions and paralyzed the world for months.

The Chinese government froze meaningful domestic and international efforts to trace the virus from the first weeks of the outbreak, despite statements supporting open scientific inquiry, an Associated Press investigation found. That pattern continues to this day, with labs closed, collaborations shattered, foreign scientists forced out and Chinese researchers barred from leaving the country.

The investigation drew on thousands of pages of undisclosed emails and documents and dozens of interviews that showed the freeze began far earlier than previously known and involved political and scientific infighting in China as much as international finger-pointing.

As early as Jan. 6, 2020, health officials in Beijing closed the lab of a Chinese scientist who sequenced the virus and barred researchers from working with him.

Scientists warn the willful blindness over coronavirus’ origins leaves the world vulnerable to another outbreak, potentially undermining pandemic treaty talks coordinated by the World Health Organization set to culminate in May.

At the heart of the question is whether the virus jumped from an animal or came from a laboratory accident. A U.S. intelligence analysis says there is insufficient evidence to prove either theory, but the debate has further tainted relations between the U.S. and China.

Unlike in the U.S., there is virtually no public debate in China about whether the virus came from nature or from a lab leak. In fact, there is little public discussion at all about the source of the disease, first detected in the central city of Wuhan.

Crucial initial efforts were hampered by bureaucrats in Wuhan trying to avoid blame who misled the central government; the central government, which muzzled Chinese scientists and subjected visiting WHO officials to stage-managed tours; and the U.N. health agency itself, which may have compromised early opportunities to gather critical information in hopes that by placating China, scientists could gain more access, according to internal materials obtained by AP.

In a faxed statement, China’s Foreign Ministry defended China’s handling of research into the origins, saying the country is open and transparent , shared data and research, and “made the greatest contribution to global origins research.” The National Health Commission, China’s top medical authority, said the country “invested huge manpower, material and financial resources” and “has not stopped looking for the origins of the coronavirus.”

It could have played out differently, as shown by the outbreak of SARS , a genetic relative of COVID-19, nearly 20 years ago. China initially hid infections then, but WHO complained swiftly and publicly. Ultimately, Beijing fired officials and made reforms. The U.N. agency soon found SARS likely jumped to humans from civet cats in southern China and international scientists later collaborated with their Chinese counterparts to pin down bats as SARS’ natural reservoir.

But different leaders of both China and WHO, China’s quest for control of its researchers, and global tensions have all led to silence when it comes to searching for COVID-19’s origins. Governments in Asia are pressuring scientists not to look for the virus for fear it could be traced inside their borders.

Even without those complications, experts say identifying how outbreaks begin is incredibly challenging and that it’s rare to know with certainty how some viruses begin spreading.

“It’s disturbing how quickly the search for the origins of (COVID-19) escalated into politics,” said Mark Woolhouse, a University of Edinburgh outbreak expert. “Now this question may never be definitively answered.”

A security person moves journalists away from the Wuhan Institute of Virology after a World Health Organization team arrived for a field visit in Wuhan in China’s Hubei province on Feb. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

CLOUDS OF SECRECY

Secrecy clouds the beginning of the outbreak. Even the date when Chinese authorities first started searching for the origins is unclear.

The first publicly known search for the virus took place on Dec. 31, 2019, when Chinese Center for Disease Control scientists visited the Wuhan market where many early COVID-19 cases surfaced.

However, WHO officials heard of an earlier inspection of the market on Dec. 25, 2019, according to a recording of a confidential WHO meeting provided to AP by an attendee. Such a probe has never been mentioned publicly by either Chinese authorities or WHO.

In the recording, WHO’s top animal virus expert, Peter Ben Embarek, mentioned the earlier date, describing it as “an interesting detail.” He told colleagues that officials were “looking at what was on sale in the market, whether all the vendors have licenses (and) if there was any illegal (wildlife) trade happening in the market.”

A colleague asked Ben Embarek, who is no longer with WHO, if that seemed unusual. He responded that “it was not routine,” and that the Chinese “must have had some reason” to investigate the market. “We’ll try to figure out what happened and why they did that.”

Ben Embarek declined to comment. Another WHO staffer at the Geneva meeting in late January 2020 confirmed Ben Embarek’s comments.

The Associated Press could not confirm the search independently. It remains a mystery if it took place, what inspectors discovered, or whether they sampled live animals that might point to how COVID-19 emerged.

Peter Ben Embarek of a World Health Organization team attends a joint press conference at the end of their mission to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan in China’s Hubei on Feb. 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

A Dec. 25, 2019, inspection would have come when Wuhan authorities were aware of the mysterious disease. The day before, a local doctor sent a sample from an ill market vendor to get sequenced that turned out to contain COVID-19. Chatter about the unknown pneumonia was spreading in Wuhan’s medical circles, according to one doctor and a relative of another who declined to be identified, fearing repercussions.

A scientist in China when the outbreak occurred said they heard of a Dec. 25 inspection from collaborating virologists in the country. They declined to be named out of fear of retribution.

WHO said in an email that it was “not aware” of the Dec. 25 investigation. It is not included in the U.N. health agency’s official COVID-19 timeline .

When China CDC researchers from Beijing arrived on Jan. 1 to collect samples at the market, it had been ordered shut and was already being disinfected, destroying critical information about the virus. Gao Fu, then head of the China CDC, mentioned it to an American collaborator.

“His complaint when I met him was that all the animals were gone,” said Columbia University epidemiologist Ian Lipkin.

Marion Koopmans, right, and Peter Ben Embarek, center, of the World Health Organization team say farewell to their Chinese counterpart Liang Wannian, left, after a WHO-China Joint Study Press Conference at the end of the WHO mission in Wuhan, China, on Feb. 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

Robert Garry, who studies viruses at Tulane University, said a Dec. 25 probe would be “hugely significant,” given what is known about the virus and its spread.

“Being able to swab it directly from the animal itself would be pretty convincing and nobody would be arguing” about the origins of COVID-19, he said.

But perhaps local officials simply feared for their jobs, with memories of firings after the 2003 SARS outbreak still vivid, said Ray Yip, the founding head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outpost in China.

“They were trying to save their skin, hide the evidence,” Yip said.

The Wuhan government did not respond to a faxed request for comment.

Another early victim was Zhang Yongzhen, the first scientist to publish a sequence of the virus . A day after he wrote a memo urging health authorities to action, China’s top health official ordered Zhang’s lab closed.

“They used their official power against me and our colleagues,” Zhang wrote in an email provided to AP by Edward Holmes, an Australian virologist.

On Jan. 20, 2020, a WHO delegation arrived in Wuhan for a two-day mission. China did not approve a visit to the market, but they stopped by a China CDC lab to examine infection prevention and control procedures, according to an internal WHO travel report. WHO’s then-China representative, Dr. Gauden Galea, told colleagues in a private meeting that inquiries about COVID-19’s origins went unanswered.

By then, many Chinese were angry at their government . Among Chinese doctors and scientists, the sense grew that Beijing was hunting for someone to blame.

“There are a few cadres who have performed poorly,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping said in unusually harsh comments in February . “Some dare not take responsibility, wait timidly for orders from above, and don’t move without being pushed.”

The government opened investigations into top health officials, according to two former and current China CDC staff and three others familiar with the matter. Health officials were encouraged to report colleagues who mishandled the outbreak to Communist Party disciplinary bodies, according to two of the people.

Some people both inside and outside China speculated about a laboratory leak. Those suspicious included right-wing American politicians , but also researchers close to WHO.

The focus turned to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a high-level lab that experimented with some of the world’s most dangerous viruses.

In early February 2020, some of the West’s leading scientists, headed by Dr. Jeremy Farrar, then at Britain’s Wellcome Trust, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, then director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, banded together to assess the origins of the virus in calls, a Slack channel and emails.

They drafted a paper suggesting a natural evolution, but even among themselves, they could not agree on the likeliest scenario. Some were alarmed by features they thought might indicate tinkering.

“There have (been) suggestions that the virus escaped from the Wuhan lab,” Holmes, the Australian virologist, who believed the virus originated in nature, wrote in a Feb. 7, 2020, email. “I do a lot of work in China, and I can (assure) you that a lot of people there believe they are being lied to.”

American scientists close to researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology warned counterparts there to prepare.

James LeDuc, head of a Texas lab, emailed his Wuhan colleague on Feb. 9, 2020, saying he’d already been approached by U.S. officials. “Clearly addressing this will be essential, with any kind of documentation you might have,” he wrote.

The Chinese government was conducting its own secret investigation into the Wuhan Institute. Gao, the then-head of the China CDC, and another Chinese health expert revealed its existence in interviews months and years later . Both said the investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing, which Holmes, the Australian virologist, also heard from another contact in China. But Gao said even he hadn’t seen further details , and some experts suspect they may never be released.

WHO started negotiations with China for a further visit with the virus origins in mind, but it was China’s Foreign Ministry that decided the terms.

Scientists were sidelined and politicians took control. China refused a visa for Ben Embarek, then WHO’s top animal virus expert. The itinerary dropped nearly all items linked to an origins search, according to draft agendas for the trip obtained by the AP. And Gao, the then-head of the China CDC who is also a respected scientist tasked with investigating the origins, was left off the schedule.

Instead, Liang Wannian, a politician in the Communist Party hierarchy, took charge of the international delegation. Liang is an epidemiologist close to top Chinese officials and China’s Foreign Ministry who is widely seen as pushing the party line, not science-backed policies , according to nine people familiar with the situation who declined to be identified to speak on a sensitive subject.

Liang ruled in favor of shutting the Wuhan market at the beginning of the outbreak, according to a Chinese media interview with a top China CDC official that was later deleted . Significantly, it was Liang who promoted an implausible theory that the virus came from contaminated frozen food imported into China. Liang did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

Most of the WHO delegation was not allowed to go to Wuhan, which was under lockdown. The few who did learned little. They again had no access to the Wuhan Institute of Virology or the wildlife market and obtained only scant details about China CDC efforts to trace the coronavirus there.

On the train, Liang lobbied the visiting WHO scientists to praise China’s health response in their public report. Dr. Bruce Aylward, a senior adviser to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, saw it as the “best way to meet China’s need for a strong assessment of its response.”

The new section was so flattering that colleagues emailed Aylward to suggest he “dial it back a bit.”

“It is remarkable how much knowledge about a new virus has been gained in such a short time,” read the final report, which was reviewed by China’s top health official before it went to Tedros.

As criticism of China grew, the Chinese government deflected blame. Instead of firing health officials, they declared their virus response a success and closed investigations into the officials with few job losses.

“There were no real reforms, because doing reforms means admitting fault,” said a public health expert in contact with Chinese health officials who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

In late February 2020, the internationally respected doctor Zhong Nanshan appeared at a news conference and said that “the epidemic first appeared in China, but it did not necessarily originate in China.”

A policeman moves journalists back from a farewell event held for the last group of medical workers who came from outside Wuhan to help the city during the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province on April 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

Days later, Chinese leader Xi ordered new controls on virus research . A leaked directive from China’s Publicity Department ordered media not to report on the virus origins without permission , and a public WeChat account reposted an essay claiming the U.S. military created COVID-19 at a Fort Detrick lab and spread it to China during a 2019 athletic competition in Wuhan. Days later, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson repeated the accusation .

The false claims enraged U.S. President Donald Trump, who began publicly blaming China for the outbreak, calling COVID-19 “the China virus” and the “kung-flu.”

Chinese officials told WHO that blood tests on lab workers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were negative, suggesting COVID-19 wasn’t the result of a lab accident there. But when WHO pressed for an independent audit, Chinese officials balked and demanded WHO investigate the U.S. and other countries as well.

By blaming the U.S., Beijing diverted blame. It was effective in China , where many Chinese were upset by racially charged criticism . But outside China, it fueled speculation of a lab leak coverup.

By the time WHO led another visit to Wuhan in January 2021, a year into the pandemic, the atmosphere was toxic.

Liang, the Chinese health official in charge of two earlier WHO visits, continued to promote the questionable theory that the virus was shipped into China on frozen food. He suppressed information suggesting it could have come from animals at the Wuhan market, organizing market workers to tell WHO experts no live wildlife was sold and cutting recent photos of wildlife at the market from the final report. There was heavy political scrutiny, with numerous Chinese officials who weren’t scientists or health officers present at meetings.

Despite a lack of direct access, the WHO team concluded that a lab leak was “extremely unlikely.” So it was infuriating to Chinese officials when WHO chief Tedros said it was “premature” to rule out the lab leak theory, saying such lab accidents were “common,” and pressed China to be more transparent.

China told WHO any future missions to find COVID-19 origins should be elsewhere, according to a letter obtained by AP. Since then, global cooperation on the issue has ground to a halt; an independent group convened by WHO to investigate the origins of COVID-19 in 2021 has been stymied by the lack of cooperation from China and other issues.

Chinese scientists are still under heavy pressure, according to 10 researchers and health officials. Researchers who published papers on the coronavirus ran into trouble with Chinese authorities. Others were barred from travel abroad for conferences and WHO meetings. Gao, the then-director of the China CDC, was investigated after U.S. President Joe Biden ordered a review of COVID-19 data, and again after giving interviews on the virus origins.

New evidence is treated with suspicion. In March 2023, scientists announced that genetic material collected from the market showed raccoon dog DNA mixed with COVID-19 in early 2020, data that WHO said should have been publicly shared years before. The findings were posted, then removed by Chinese researchers with little explanation.

The head of the China CDC Institute of Viral Disease was forced to retire over the release of the market data, according to a former China CDC official who declined to be named to speak on a sensitive topic.

“It has to do with the origins, so they’re still worried,” the former official said. “If you try and get to the bottom of it, what if it turns out to be from China?”

Other scientists note that any animal from which the virus may have originally jumped has long since disappeared.

“There was a chance for China to cooperate with WHO and do some animal sampling studies that might have answered the question,” said Tulane University’s Garry. “The trail to find the source has now gone cold.”

Cheng reported from Geneva.

Meet the NASA astronauts who will be first to fly on Boeing's Starliner spaceship

Two NASA astronauts are set to become the first in history to launch into space aboard a Boeing spaceship.

Astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams are slated to pilot the company’s Starliner capsule on its first crewed test flight to the International Space Station on May 6.

They arrived Thursday at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where both will remain until the launch.

“This is where the rubber meets the road, where we are going to leave this planet, and that is pretty darn cool,” Williams said in a post-arrival news briefing.

The long-delayed mission will be crucial in demonstrating that Boeing’s spacecraft can safely ferry a crew to and from low-Earth orbit. If successful, it will be a key step forward for the company, which eventually plans to join the ranks of SpaceX in conducting routine flights to and from the space station for NASA.

The test flight will be closely watched, because software glitches  and issues with the Starliner’s fuel valves have already pushed the mission years behind schedule. Boeing’s separate aviation arm has also been under intense scrutiny after a panel ble w out on one of its 737 Max 9 planes midflight earlier this year, raising questions about quality-control practices at the company.

Wilmore said the delays leading up to this launch were necessary to ensure that the Starliner capsule was prepared to carry people into space.

“We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t ready,” he said. “We are ready. The spacecraft’s ready, and the teams are ready.”

Officials from NASA, Boeing and United Launch Alliance, which manufactures the Atlas V rocket on which the Starliner capsule will launch, met Thursday and signed off on the May 6 liftoff attempt.

Then on Friday, the astronauts completed a full launch-day dress rehearsal. They will now spend the next week working on last-minute preparations and training exercises, according to NASA .

If the crew successfully reaches the International Space Station, the astronauts will spend about a week there before returning to Earth.

Wilmore and Williams are both veteran astronauts and former test pilots in the U.S. Navy. NASA selected the pair in 2022 for Boeing’s first crewed test flight.

Wilmore, the mission’s commander, has completed two previous spaceflights, logging 178 days in space. A Tennessee native, he piloted the space shuttle Atlantis to the space station in 2009, and also launched to the orbiting outpost aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 2014 as a member of the space station’s Expedition 41 crew.

Williams, the mission’s pilot, previously completed two stints aboard the International Space Station, totaling 322 days in space.

She grew up in Needham, Massachusetts, and first flew to the ISS on the space shuttle Discovery and remained there for about six months. In 2012, Williams returned to space, this time in a Russian-built Soyuz spacecraft. Her second stay on the space station lasted roughly four months.

Denise Chow is a reporter for NBC News Science focused on general science and climate change.

Watch CBS News

Hamas says it's reviewing an Israel cease-fire proposal as pressure for peace mounts

Updated on: April 27, 2024 / 8:47 PM EDT / CBS/AP

A new proposal from Israel for a cease-fire in Gaza is reportedly being reviewed by senior Hamas officials on Saturday.

Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayva said the Palestinian militant group was evaluating Israel's proposal, and "upon completion of its study, it will submit its response."

According to the Associated Press, he gave no further details of Israel's offer but said it was in response to a proposal from Hamas two weeks ago.

Hamas' statement came hours after a high-level Egyptian delegation wrapped up a visit to Israel where it discussed a "new vision" for a prolonged cease-fire in Gaza, according to an Egyptian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss the developments.

It was not immediately clear whether Israel's latest response to Hamas on a cease-fire was directly related to the Egyptian mediator's visit to Tel Aviv on Friday.

The discussions between Egyptian and Israeli officials focused on the first stage of a multi-phase plan that would include a limited exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners, and the return of a significant number of displaced Palestinians to their homes in northern Gaza "with minimum restrictions," the Egyptian official said.

The mediators are working on a compromise that will answer most of both parties' main demands, which could pave the way to continued negotiations with the goal of a larger deal to end the war, the official said.

Next week, Egypt's foreign minister is expected to update international officials in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during a World Economic Forum meeting,  Reuters reported.

Børge Brende, the WEF's president, said at a news conference Saturday that the update will be part of talks between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and several international officials aimed at pushing for a peace agreement in Gaza.

"We do have the key players now in Riyadh and hopefully the discussions can lead into a process towards reconciliation and peace," Brende said, adding that Gaza's humanitarian crisis would be on the agenda of the WEF's meeting.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be traveling to Saudi Arabia to attend the meeting, a State Department spokesperson confirmed Saturday.

Matthew Miller said in a statement that Blinken's agenda will include discussing the ongoing efforts to achieve a cease-fire that secures the release of hostages and the recent increase in humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

"The secretary will also emphasize the importance of preventing the conflict from spreading and discuss ongoing efforts to achieve lasting peace and security in the region, including through a pathway to an independent Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel," Miller said in a statement.

As the war drags on and casualties mount, there has been growing international pressure for Hamas and Israel to reach an agreement on a cease-fire and avert a possible Israeli attack on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million people have sought refuge after fleeing fighting elsewhere in the territory.

Israel has been insisting for months it plans a ground offensive into Rafah , on the border with Egypt, where it says many remaining Hamas militants are holed up, despite calls for restraint from the international community including Israel's staunchest ally, the United States.

Egypt has cautioned an offensive into Rafah could have "catastrophic consequences" on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, as well as on regional peace and security.

The Israeli military has massed dozens of tanks and armored vehicles in southern Israel close to Rafah and hit targets in the city in near-daily airstrikes.

Early Saturday, an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Rafah's Tel Sultan neighborhood, killing six people, including four children, according to officials at a local hospital.

The strike killed a man, his wife and their three sons, aged 12, 10 and 8, according to records of the Abu Yousef al-Najjar hospital's morgue. A neighbor's four-month-old girl was also killed, the records showed.

Five people were also killed in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza overnight when an Israeli strike hit a house, according to officials at the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

Elsewhere, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian men in an exchange of fire at a checkpoint in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the military said.

Violence in the West Bank has flared since the war started. Since then, 491 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the territory according to the Ramallah-based Health Ministry,

The Israeli army said the two men were killed after they opened fire from a vehicle at Israeli troops stationed at Salem checkpoint near the Palestinian city of Jenin.

The U.S. has been critical of Israeli policies in the West Bank and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is expected in Israel on Tuesday, has recently determined an army unit committed human rights abuses there before the war in Gaza.

But Blinken said in an undated letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, obtained by CBS News on Friday , that he is postponing a decision on blocking aid to the unit to give Israel more time to right the wrongdoing.

The information comes as Blinken weighs whether to recommend suspending U.S. aid to the unit under a federal measure known as the Leahy Law. The law prevents the U.S. from providing weapons or funds for military assistance to groups when there is credible information indicating the groups have violated human rights .

According to a source with knowledge of the letter, Johnson had demanded assurance from Blinken before he would put a long-delayed foreign aid package to a vote on the House floor. Blinken's letter was delivered to Johnson last Saturday, the day the vote was to take place.

The U.S. has also been building a pier to deliver aid to Gaza through a new port, which an official said last week was on track to start operating by early May.

The Biden administration has stressed there will be no American boots on the ground for the mission. However, the BBC reported Saturday that the British government was considering deploying troops to drive the trucks to carry the aid to the shore, citing unidentified government sources. British officials declined to comment on the report.

Hamas sparked the war with its attack into southern Israel on Oct. 7, in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took some 250 people as hostages. Israel says the militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

Since then, more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's air and ground offensive, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, around two-thirds of them children and women.

Israel has reported at least 260 of its soldiers killed since the start of ground operations in Gaza.

• Middle East

More from CBS News

Hope for new Israel-Hamas cease-fire piles pressure on Netanyahu

Hamas hostage's niece worries a deal isn't in Netanyahu's "political interest"

Baby girl saved from dying mother's womb dies just days later in Gaza

World Central Kitchen resuming Gaza operations weeks after deadly strike