Summary
- Guaranteed assassinations are present in Shadows but aren’t how Ubisoft intends you to play.
- A lot of the progression in Shadows is tied to combat.
- Naoe and Yasuke have starkly different play styles, even if you optimise them towards their counterpart’s play style.
Instant assassinations were confirmed to feature in Assassin’s Creed Shadows over a year ago, but creative director Charles Benoit has recently said that although the option is included, the team doesn’t necessarily want you to use it.
In an interview with IGN, Benoit was asked about guaranteed assassinations, a staple of the series since the original Assassin’s Creed. In response, Benoit stated, “We offer the option, if you want, to just assassinate everyone. You can use the option… but it’s not the way we intend you to play. We made a system that I feel is quite fun and is key because you have perks that are linked to different types of gear or weapons that allow you to assassinate in different situations.”
One Shot, or Don’t
“For example, you have a perk that boosts your air assassinations. If this guy is too strong, you need to look around and think “Maybe I’ll use this rooftop to assassinate this guy,” You have another [perk] that if it’s night, you have stronger assassinations. It makes you kind of change the way you play with the environment,” Benoit finished.
Although there’s something satisfying about fulfilling the John Wick power fantasy of entering a room and one-shotting a large group of enemies, you can also understand how that doesn’t leave a lot of room for difficulty progression and emergent gameplay. With respect to the older Assassin’s Creed games, there was something ridiculous about strolling through the streets of Florence and murdering dozens of guardsmen in plain view of everyone.
Benoit also revealed that even if you specialise Naoe’s perks completely toward combat, she will still never be a more effective fighter than Yasuke who has a larger adrenaline bar, more health and more armour. It’s clear that Ubisoft has designed both characters’ abilities around their respective professions. However, you can always switch between them if you prefer one over the other.
An early build of Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been leaked to several players by retail outlets who failed to account for the game’s second delay. For everyone else, Assassin’s Creed Shadows releases on March 20 for PC, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
- Released
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March 20, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language