HomeNewsAssassin’s Creed Shadows
Assassin’s Creed Shadows outlines its stealth systems - which luckily includes the ability to hide in shadowsAlso the return of double assassinations
Also the return of double assassinations
Image credit:Ubisoft
Image credit:Ubisoft
Assassin’s Creed Shadowsis making changes to how it handles stealth, versus other games in the long-running series. Gone is the companion eagle who can spot enemies for you, for a start; instead, players can hide in the - hey - shadows, lie on their tummies for the first time, and make use of a “shinobi and assassin arsenal” of smoke bombs and bells.
There are old moves that are coming back after an absence, too: Shadows will allow for ‘double assassinations’ again.
Ubisoft outlined theirapproach to stealth in a new blog post, which also includes links out to brief illustrative videos.
Likewise, “Naoe and Yasuke are the first protagonists able to go prone in the series.” While lying down, you can roll in any direction, crawl under certain buildings, and commit special ankle-based assassination attacks.
The post mostly focuses on Naoe, one of Shadows' two protagonists, who will carry a smoke bomb, shinobi bells for tossing to distract guards, throwing knives called Kunai, and shuriken which can stun enemies. Yusuke seems to have a similar set of stealth capabilities, but with a different arsenal and some unique wrinkles that will apparently be outlined at a later time.
The various RPG mechanics of more recent games of the series still remain, however, so it’s possible to try to have your attempt denied if you have neglected your “Assassin Hidden Blade upgrades”. The assassination prompt will change colour to let you know the outcome in advance: white if it’s an instant kill, yellow if you’ll deal just some damage, and red if it won’t work at all.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows was originally supposed to come out this year, but was delayed until February 14th, 2025 seeminglyat staff’s urgingand in response to somewhatlukewarm sales of Star Wars Outlaws. Outlaws continues toreceive patches to improve its own stealth systems post-release.
I love a good lie down in a video game, so these changes sound appealing to me. I still hate that enemies can out-level a knife, though. My reward for the risk of getting close to an enemy, particularly a strong one, should be the ability to take them out in a single blow - although I realise that other philosophies of stealth may be valid also.
