Assassin’s Creed Shadows is shaping up nicely as the next bombastic action role-playing addition to the long-running series – and it’s well and truly got its hidden blades stuck in me.
It picks up the baton from the likes of Odyssey and Valhalla, offering an expansive open-world Assassin’s Creed game experience that will scratch plenty of itches for fans of the series’ plus-sized adventures – but also has plenty to offer those who preferred the earlier games’ stealth focus.
After going hands-on for around six hours at an exclusive behind-closed-doors event at Ubisoft Quebec, I can shed some more light on what makes Shadows tick, what’s setting it up for success, and why it’s been worth the wait.
Playing through the prologue, spending a bunch of time exploring the open world, and getting to try out the new base-building Hideout elements – look out for a separate article on that soon – there’s plenty to get into. With that, here are five things I can’t wait to do again or do more of when the game launches on March 20, and the one area I still need to know more about before being fully on board.
The stunning world – and the revamped, more rewarding exploration
If you’ve been waiting for a feudal Japan setting in an Assassin’s Creed game for a while, then I can assure you that it has been worth it. The landscapes and environments of 16th-century Japan that Shadows presents are absolutely gorgeous.
The game captures all that the region has to offer in exquisite detail and downright beauty; the landscapes are breathtaking in detail and scale, the plants and gardens are accurate down to individual species, the buildings are brilliantly and authentically detailed. Even the light and haze effects ensure a rich atmosphere.
It all sounds spectacular too. From a wonderfully executed score by The Flight (and others) that accompanies the story well, the sounds of feudal Japan are intoxicating. The noises of wind blowing, vegetation rustling, and animals squeaking bring the landscape to life, while the likes of crowd noises, and even Yasuke’s heavy breathing as he runs out of breath when running all add extra depth.
The game’s shift to more player-focused exploration also aids the impact of the world and means that traversing it is a more rewarding experience. For example, no longer being able to see exactly where everything is in an area after synchronizing at a viewpoint means you’ll have to actually go and find out what’s under each question mark on the map. Not everything will have those question marks either, so you’ll be able to identify places of interest to visit.
Yasuke’s crushing combat
Both characters’ combat is moreish and brutal, but Yasuke’s devastating blows driven by brute force and power are exceptionally satisfying after a while.
Yasuke is weighty but still slick, powerful, and absolutely crushing – his combos and finishers are truly bloody and brutal. I’ve seen exploding heads, de-limbed enemies, and more in my time playing as him and each is as satisfying to perform as the last.
Playing a big part in that is the array of weapons available to try. The Katana is welded skillfully, but there’s enormous satisfaction to be had from mastering the Naginata and Kanabo, as well as his bow and rifle. Each weapon has its own combos and finishers to experience too, so there are plenty of options no matter how you want to play the combat-focused character.
Plus, smashing through doors and the other benefits of being a hulking man are hugely satisfying too.
Naoe’s slick stealth and parkour
By contrast, Shinobi assassin Naoe’s focus on stealth is immediate right from the off. Her diminutive stature, assassin attire and loadout, plus sheer speed, culminate in one of the most stealth-focused protagonists in recent memory. Her compact arsenal of lethal and evasive tools, as well as her reliance on a smaller range of killer weapons, are offset by her relative under-powering in combat, making her well-balanced between vulnerable and lethal.
Using her environment can get Naoe out of jams, though. There are plenty of swinging spots to make speedy exits, but there’s also a big emphasis on going prone to evade enemy sight, and to utilize light and dark to stay out of vision; putting out a lamp or two can be the difference between staying hidden or setting off alarms. The latter is nuanced however, as, instead of one sight of you setting off an entire castle’s guards onto high alert, there are “awareness pockets”, a dev tells me, so that only those guards in an area will hunt you after being spotted.
I deployed a lot of hit-and-run tactics when playing as her, and it’s a legitimate way to approach encounters; you can’t count on open combat ability alone to get you out of a pinch especially when there are multiple foes. You can beat on enemies that are blocking you for ages but won’t break through with regular attacks – she’s just not set up for that.
She has all the moves of an assassin from the series too, with corner assassinations, double assassinations, and some of the slickest parkour included in her moveset. Complementing these moves is her slick and satisfying parkour which is enormously enjoyable to perform and string together. It’s still not quite the Black Flag /Rogue to Unity kind of leap that I’ve been quietly hoping for in recent years, but it’s cool nonetheless.
The dual protagonist setup
I must admit, I was a little skeptical of the dual protagonist setup of Shadows, but I get it now – and think that both characters successfully offer something that feels unique.
There was a moment when the penny – perhaps obviously – dropped that Yasuke is simply not an Assassin, or a character trying to be one. Rather, he is a playable main character who happens to be in an Assassin’s Creed game that offers a different, more action-focused playstyle. It’s a distinction worth thinking about as the two experiences are totally separate, only somewhat overlapping.
As a result, after a couple of hours, I felt much more interested in swapping between them, and also knew what kind of situation demanded – or where I’d most enjoy – each protagonist. Swapping between the two characters is available via the menu at any moment, and it sometimes pays practically to do this.
For example, I reached a viewpoint that Yasuke couldn’t climb, so I swapped to Naoe who hurried up to its apex, synchronized it, and then swapped back to Yasuke with an updated map (luckily, this information is shared). Key moments in quests also offer places to swap between the characters – at mission checkpoints, you’ll get almost two distinct plans to choose from, thus giving you a chance to rethink how you might take on an encounter.
The host of skills and weapon masteries on offer
As I’ve already mentioned, both Yasuke and Naoe have multiple weapons available to them, with Yasuke having a slightly larger array of options. Both characters’ weapon sets are fantastically fun to experiment with, each offering a slightly different flavor of the combat style.
My favorites were Yasuke’s Kanabō, a heavy studded club he can wield around with stupendous power with bone-crunching impacts, and explosive finishers. Naoe’s Kusarigama, a sickle on the end of a chain she can use at range for crowd control and deal damage from a distance, drawing blood from meters away and even using it to perform ranged assassinations.
Coming in close second places were Naoe’s short blade or dagger, the tantō, which was effortless to use in combat and felt very much like an extension of Naoe, and Yasuke’s naginata, a long spear-like poke-and-slash weapon.
There’s plenty to get into with the skills on offer for both characters too. Each has six masteries covering broad areas of their playstyles as well as specific weapon skills. Said skills are not just locked behind the number of points spent. However, reaching higher levels relies on you finding knowledge (in the form of tokens when completing locations and missions). This adds a bit more focus to unlocking skills, allowing you to plan your upgrades and thus what you target in-game, and avoids it becoming a farming XP exercise to level up.
There is, however, no eagle or bird companion for tagging enemies this time around. Instead, both characters can use a focus ability to tag enemies that are on site. This feels appropriate and scales the advantage back of tagging all enemies offered in previous games.
I need to know more about the story…
Shadows’ story is the one area where I was very much left wanting more and felt like I hadn’t been offered a complete grasp. There’s plenty of intrigue and hooks but I’m just still not sure what the heck is actually going on in the game.
Sure, the prologue sets up the introduction to Yasuke and Naoe quite well, but there’s plenty about the role of the Jesuit priests and the Portuguese interest that I’m really keen to know more about – though I’m almost certain this will be the Templar-shaped element in the narrative.
And while we clearly get a look at some people we might be meeting, and fighting, in the climax of Naoe’s prologue with a row of villains emerging from some haze, there’s plenty of mystery still to uncover. One of the devs told me the story is one of the top things in the game he’s keen for fans to experience, so I’m hopeful there’s a gripping narrative to reveal.
It was the only facet of the game that I felt my time with Shadows didn’t let me in on properly, but I remain deeply intrigued as to what’s going on, and keen to find out more – by investigation and assassination.
…and the spy and ally network
In Shadows, you can build up a network of spies, scouts, and allies to carry out espionage and reconnaissance for you. You’ll recruit a growing number as you progress in the game, and it’s something that caught my eye during my hands-on.
I only had a brief look at this but it looks and feels like something much more immediate than that of the similar feature in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. For example, when on the map I selected a spy and clicked on a space I had yet to explore, the fog of war immediately cleared in an instant. This is handy, and could quickly reveal locations, but I’m intrigued as to what else you can send spies or allies out to do.
I did also see some action performed by a dev that enabled Naoe to call on an allied spy while out in the field and use their specialism on some enemy guards – in this case, poison darts – so it looks like there will be multiple ways of deploying the spies themselves or the perks that they come with.