Things are not going well for Ubisoft at the moment. Publishers have had a difficult year in 2024. star wars outlaw Failure to meet sales expectations XDefiantAbout six months after the tactical shooter debuted, its end is approaching. skull and bones It finally arrived, but it was a slightly damp squib.
With rumors of the company being sold or converting some of its assets into a joint venture with Tencent, Ubisoft really needs a win. There will be no better opportunity to do so any time soon. Assassin’s Creed Shadow. After several delays, the latest entry in the company’s flagship series is set to arrive on March 20th.
a few hours later AC shadowThere are positive signs. The game looks and plays well, at least for what Ubisoft needs. The company is skirting the line between playing it extremely safe and trying something different.
After the success of AC Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla (Also a delightfully small scale mirage), shadow To some extent, it marks new territory for Assassin’s Creed. This game is an Animus Hub project (formerly known as: infinity).
Before going swan diving Assassin’s Creed ShadowClick to enter the Animus Hub. Here you can find a variety of Assassin’s Creed games (shadow and the previous four major items) from the Memory section. It’s laid out in an easy-to-navigate timeline.
The Anomalous section of the Hub contains the following missions: shadowOffers exclusive rewards such as weapons and equipment. You can adjust your character’s loadout in the Exchange section and explore the story of modern AC games through the vault.
Animus Hub will expand in the future as Ubisoft releases more games. This is an ambitious project that aims to tie the series together. It’s been reported that the company will attempt to turn the series into a live service project via Animus Hub, and we’re getting a glimpse of what that might look like with these missions. As things stand, there’s not much going on, but Ubisoft clearly has big ambitions here.
shadow Assassin’s Creed: Brings you the long-awaited action set in 16th century Japan. Another big change this time is that you can swap between the two characters. At various points in the story, you can choose to play as either Yasuke or Naoe, and at least in the open world, you can switch between the two on the fly. Swapping can be useful when enemies want one character, as other characters can remain anonymous.
Yasuke is a tank with the ability to pass through certain doors while sprinting. Since he can utilize ranged weapons like guns or bows, some players may want to use him at the start of a mission to take out a few enemies from afar. He can use his skills to take down villains. Canabo The same goes for War Club.
Naoe plays like a traditional Assassin’s Creed hero. She is much more agile and her parkour skills are on point. Shinobi can quickly climb the sides of buildings and use their grappling hooks to reach higher parts of structures and swing across gaps. In direct combat, Naoe can spin-kick the enemy’s teeth or flip them backwards to slit their throats.
Perhaps most importantly (at least from what I’ve seen in the game), Naoe is the only one of the duo to have the classic Hidden Blade. Yasuke can still sneak up on opponents to eliminate them with the push of a button, but his “brutal assassinations” see him stabbing his sword into his enemies and raising them into the sky. Not exactly subtle.
The transition between Naoe and Yasuke is as seamless as the transition between Peter and Miles, for example. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. The latter requires some quick in-game actions, and the actions quickly shift to other Spider-Men. in Assassin’s Creed ShadowSwitching characters means going to the menu, pressing a button, and waiting a few seconds for another hero to swap characters.
However, in the prologue, one of the two sections I played, there is no immediate character swap. Not surprisingly, this serves as an introduction to the story and how to actually play the game.
For the first time in Assassin’s Creed, one of the playable characters actually existed in real life. It doesn’t take long for players to learn how Yasuke, a black African, became a samurai. After giving you a quick bit of lore, we jump ahead to a six-month battle sequence. This is an effective way to start getting an idea of ​​what Yasuke can do, including special attacks like his charging sword slash.
After his brief action sequence we cut back to Naoe’s introduction and the early hours of the night. After an important box (the contents remain a mystery) is stolen, she heads to the building to retrieve it. This short mission highlights some of its stealth capabilities.
One of the cool additions to the game is the ability to bring out a light source at night, creating temporary hiding places in the shadows. Naoe can blow out candles and destroy lamps from a distance. kunai or shuriken. Depending on the terrain (and difficulty) and how quickly you can hotfoot onto the rooftop when spotted, this may not be necessary.
The second section I played was the investigation mission. I had to complete several tasks and gather information to uncover the source of the mystery. All of this led to some inevitable but enjoyable boss fights and satisfying quest resolution.
structure Assassin’s Creed Shadow For those who actually dig it, it’s good for multiple playthroughs. I’ve spent most of my previews as Naoe, but I’m curious to see how playing as Yasuke differs. There are dialogue options throughout the game, but there is a full mode that removes these choices and gives you a full story. After beating a game in their native language, players may be inclined to switch their conversational language to Japanese and Portuguese for deeper immersion.
Some of the gameplay changes Ubisoft has implemented this time shake things up in a big way. The Eagle Vision ability now allows Naoe to find and tag enemies through walls. Her smoke bombs and distracting bells are useful when there are too many enemies for her to fight head-on. Both characters can lie prone, giving them more opportunities to hide or sneak.
I quickly tried a few additional activities, such as the peaceful act of sneaking up on animals to sketch them in certain situations. This feels a bit like a haiku composition sequence, in that it slows down for a bit of tranquility. Ghost of Tsushima (For reference, the sequel to that game is Ghost of Yotei It is expected to launch in 2025 and could provide competition. Assassin’s Creed Shadow.)
It’s not entirely clear based on what I’ve seen, but it feels like Ubisoft has cut back on a lot of the clutter that usually fills Assassin’s Creed maps, which helps this game feel less overwhelming. When you go up to the observatory and sync, you’ll see only the important locations, not everything there is to see in the area. The company pushed the map back a bit. mirageSo there may have been positive lessons learned from that approach.
Add all this up and I left the session feeling satisfied. The game seems really good. It’s pretty much what you’d expect from an Assassin’s Creed game these days, but with enough tweaks, new wrinkles, and quality of life updates to make it attractive enough. It feels like a decent entry point into the series while still maintaining enough interest for long-term fans. For what it’s worth, I’m ready to play more as a finisher. Assassin’s Creed Mirage but it fell Valhalla About 10 hours later.
I’m looking forward to playing more Assassin’s Creed Shadow For example, see how weather systems change conditions. In winter, lakes freeze over and you lose the ability to swim or hide underwater. Icicles can also be used as a distraction. There was no time to experiment with the spy recruitment system that seemed to help the investigation.
Assassin’s Creed Shadow The popularity of the series essentially gives it an edge over many other Ubisoft games. It seemed like he was already primed to do well, but he seemed to be in good enough shape to succeed. If so, this could help Ubisoft finally steer the ship away from the rock.
Assassin’s Creed Shadow It’s scheduled to launch on March 20th for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows, Mac (and eventually iPad), Ubisoft+, and Amazon Luna.
