Our own Gray Aris writes about the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows game:
Assassin’s Creed Shadows looks to combine the old with the new, bringing the best of all of the series past games and adding new ideas and features. Could Shadows be the best Assassin’s Creed game yet?
Assassin’s Creed Background
It’s mid September, and that means we have just under two months to go until the release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the fourteenth major installment in Ubisoft’s popular 3rd person action/stealth series. The franchise has been a powerhouse for Ubisoft, with sales of the controversial 12th installment, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, topping 1 billion dollars and the most recent entry, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, boasting player counts in line with the 10th and 11th installments. All this makes Shadows one of the most anticipated releases of 2024.
The series has become polarizing, particularly, in the past few years, as it has strayed from the series’ core action stealth formula in favor of a more combat-heavy RPG in AC Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla. Assassin’s Creed Mirage, though not without its flaws, marked somewhat of a return to the series roots and received generally favorable reviews from critics, holding a 76 metascore from Metacritic. Still, Shadows has become controversial due to criticisms of the games publisher and developer, Ubisoft, who has been accused of making formulaic games, from Assassin’s Creed to Far Cry to the newly released Star Wars Outlaw.
Now, with the upcoming release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft will be trading in Mirage’s 9th century Baghdad for a long requested feudal Japan setting, while seeking to combine the combat heavy approach from Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla, with the stealthier approach that the series is typically known for. To do this, Shadows will feature a dual protagonist system, offering a chance for players to play as both the historical samurai Yasuke and the fictional shinobi Naoe. Both characters will share some abilities, such as the ability to climb around the game’s environment, but Naoe will be far more nimble and have more stealth options while Yasuke will be physically stronger and with more powerful weapons, thus boasting more of an advantage in ground combat scenarios.
With all that background out of the way, I’d like to share some of the things I’m excited for from Shadows.
Properly Sized Map: Bigger than Mirage but Smaller Than Valhalla
The maps size of Assassin’s Creed has come under scrutiny as the game shifted to the newer RPG games. Most of all, AC Valhalla faced criticism for the its world size, with users and critics such as Wired magazine derailing the Viking based AC game as “too long, too big, and repetitive.”. Mirage shedded the bloat of these larger RPGs, and Shadows looks to find balance in between for a more intimately crafted portrayal of Feudal Japan. Shadows’ size seems to take place squarely in the middle, with art director Thierry Dansereau stating that Shadows will be “Origins big,” Origins being the ancient Egypt-set installment and the first and smallest of the RPG games. If Shadows is the same size as Origins, it will allow for a focused and ambitious adventure through 16th century Japan.
Dual Protagonists: Samurai Yasuke and Shinobi Naoe
Shadows, like 2015’s AC Syndicate, will feature two different protagonists, this time with vastly different playstyles. Naoe looks to be a stealthier, lighter assassin, with a stealth and fighting ability more in line with Mirage’s Basim or earlier assassins, while Yasuke looks to be a Tankier and stronger combatant. Yasuke will be able to do things like bust down doors, and, though he has slower movement, is still able to climb. While you’ll be able to accept and complete most missions as either character, there will be personalized missions that specifically require either Naoe or Yasuke. This system will allow you to explore the nuances of each playstyle, while choosing your favorite and tailoring your experience to you.
New Combat System: Dual Weapon Postures and Stances
I found the combat from the RPG games to be sorely lacking. They were fine enough but unrefined, never truly engaging or challenging me in the same way as some other 3rd person action games might. I found the combat of the stealth action games to be lacking as well, but those games were more stealth focused (or boat focused in Black Flag’s case!). Shadows seeks to change all of that. Yasuke’s commanding samurai style fighting features a posture system that allows you to change stances mid way through combos, as well as a higher emphasis on blocking, dodging, parrying, and sword clashing action. Yasuke is able to carry two weapons at once, allowing you to switch between them for more variety and overall seems to have a deeper combat system than any of the games before. The combat looks to be brutal, with Yasuke seen both smashing heads in and chopping them clean off and with plenty of gore. Naoe will also be able to fight, though she will have to take a nimbler and lighter approach that is centered around her shinobi assassin tools, swaps parries for deflects, and is more geared to building an escape than taking down enemies.
Stealth Featuring Dynamic Perception and Shinobi Tools
Stealth features “the dynamic perception of enemies that are affected by light and shadow.” So, Naoe can do things like take out a light with one of her kunai in order to reduce a guard’s perception, before sneaking in for the kill. The game will feature a light/shadow meter that displays how hidden the character is, adding a new dimension to the game’s stealth gameplay. Naoe will also have access to a chained rope, which she uses for combat and allows her to scale or swing across buildings, like a grappling hook. She can also use the chained rope to jump up to ceilings where she can hide and get the jump on enemies, or tie up and pull in enemies from afar. Shadows also sees the return of the old “Eagle Vision,” which allows you to see and mark enemies through walls rather than with a bird flying in the air. All together, it looks like a whole new stealth system than we’ve seen in any previous Assassin’s Creed game, and I for one am very excited.
Dynamic Weather System
Shadows features an all new changing weather system, with changing seasons, snow, rain and thunder, dynamically moving clouds, falling leaves, and more. Not only does this look beautiful, with perhaps the best looking clouds, rain and lightning I have seen in any game, it also has a functional purpose. Noise from rain can help Naoe with her break ins and escapes, covering up the noise of her movements on storming nights. And all of the seasons have unique, distinct looks and, together it all looks simply astounding and really helps to build an immersive looking world.
Just a Beautiful Game
I didn’t realize how incredible the graphics and art style of the game looked when I first watched the Ubisoft Forward gameplay demo, but looking now, there is a lot this game has to offer. A gorgeous, ever changing weather system with incredibly detailed and rendered rain, snow, lightning, and more. Bright green trees and grass, vibrant pink or autumn leaves, and golden wheat fields showcase some of the beautiful nature in the game. And the game’s man-made world looks just as good, with richly detailed, populated cities that seem to really capture Feudal Japan and its intricacies. And that’s not even to mention the cool watercolor painting like visuals that seamlessly appear with some hits when you make a kill. Shadows is Ubisoft’s first “next gen” only Assassin’s Creed, and it definitely looks like it.
My take: I’ll be honest, I was not excited for this game when I first saw the gameplay reveal. Being pretty checked out of Assassin’s Creed at this time, I thought Shadows combat looked too easy and the parkour too flashy, not to mention feeling like Ghost of Tsushima had already created a definitive stealth action game in this setting. But after looking more closely at what this game has to offer, I’ve become pretty pumped. From the dual-weapon posture system enabling you to smash an enemy’s head in with a big ol’ spiked club or to impale them or cut off their head with a katana, to the fast paced, tense stealth featuring an evolution of the series’ parkour and a vast array of tools to sneak and maneuver your way through the environment and take out enemies. Shadows seems like it might be able to offer even more game mechanics than GoT. And that’s barely mentioning the late Sengoku period of Japan that the game takes place in: a time of great upheaval featuring samurai, shinobi, and the establishment of western influence in Japan, among other things.
The game really looks like it combines the heavier combat from the RPG games with the lighter combat and enhanced stealth from Mirage and earlier games and evolves it through a dual protagonist system, Yasuke having advanced combat options. Shadows looks to feature a world that is more focused and intimately created. The world seems truly dynamic, from its weather system to its combat to the way that nearly every prop in the game is dynamically destructible. People hate on Ubisoft these days for being too formulaic, among other things, but in doing so I think they might miss out on some really special games. Assassin’s Creed Shadows looks like it could be remarkable and I hope people give it a chance.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows releases November 15th for PC, Mac, Playstation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and iPadOS.
