Assassin’s Creed Shadows is Ubisoft’s latest entry into the classic franchise. From the details shared so far, it looks like the company is going all-in to revitalize a core part of the series—stealth—and let people live out their Shinobi dreams.
According to a recent interview that the game’s studio participated in, there’s going to be a lot of stealth mechanics that cleverly make use of the environment—something we’ve not seen in the industry for a long time.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Stealth Mechanics Do Justice to the Franchise
In a recent interview with IGN, Ubisoft revealed a ton of interesting details about the upcoming Assassin’s Creed title. One of the most interesting parts is how the game has approached stealth mechanics this time.
According to the staff, there was a focus on creating a world that feels alive and reacts to the player. There’s dynamic lighting and destruction, but one of the biggest additions to achieve this feel is seasons.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows will cycle through summer, fall, winter, and spring. Each season has different weather conditions that will cause the environment to change. Not only does it add visual realism to the land, but it also affects gameplay. Producer Karl Onnée says:
We’ve really been pushing about making sure that gameplay and art are not separate, but they’re intertwining.
We then get an example of the summer season, where you use the prone stance to crawl underwater to stay out of sight of enemies. The same technique doesn’t work in winter, however, as the pond would be frozen over.
Take another example of spring, where the grass grows very tall, giving you the ideal place to hide. However, winter kills these plants, making it more difficult to find places to hide. Rooftops won’t be so safe either, as hanging icicles that snap and fall can reveal your position.
As difficult as winter sounds, it doesn’t just affect players; even the enemies have it bad. The weather conditions can make it harder for enemies to spot you through vision or auditory cues. Essentially, the player has to adapt to the environment they’re in.
Shadows Is a Gigantic Undertaking That We Still Don’t Know Much About
So far, we’ve got an official cinematic trailer, interviews from the studio’s side, and pre-orders have started. Yet, we’ve still not seen any gameplay, nor do we know what we’re going to do in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
According to staff, the game covers the central area of Japan, and the map will be of a similar size to Assassin’s Creed Origins‘ Egyptian map, but on a “more realistic scale ratio.”
Jonathan Dumon, the game’s creative director, explains that they’ve designed the environments to feel wider, preserving the engulfing feeling you get when you look at a huge man-made or natural structure.
What do you think about Assassin’s Creed Shadows? Is there anything in particular you’re excited about? Let us know in the comments below!
