The proof of Assassin’s Creed Shadows was always going to be in the playing, and after months of noise, it plays pretty well. This has translated into huge sales for the game and a lot of goodwill from its actual fans (or as one dev called them, “normal people”) that may well have righted the Ubisoft ship.
There was a lot of pressure on Shadows to deliver, possibly made worse by its huge team and likely massive budget, but deliver it has. Shadows is not the greatest game of all time, but despite all of the weight dragging it down through its promotional cycle, it has proved that Assassin’s Creed can still draw a crowd. We forget that about Assassin’s Creed sometimes, how well it has captured the casual market that is vital for a triple-A game to explode into the stratosphere. But we forget some other things about Assassin’s Creed too.
Assassin’s Creed Has A History Of Bugs
Namely, we forget that Assassin’s Creed has always been janky. It was born in the peak era of video game jank, when wonkiness and glitches were acceptable, even funny, rather than fuel for outrage. Then, as other studios figured out how to smooth off the edges, Assassin’s Creed spent a few years getting worse, launching games where faces didn’t load so you were talking to eyeballs and tongues as if you were fresh off the set of Beetlejuice.
Ubisoft finally managed to get past those goofs, but it never truly caught up. Something in the dated formula at Ubisoft, where player retention algorithms require massive maps and checklists to be crossed off, has left the studio’s games a furlong behind the peloton, as you might say if you didn’t quite know sports metaphors. Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Star Wars Outlaws all look and play markedly worse than what Sony puts out, for example.
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You’d say this wasn’t a problem – cutting edge development is unsustainable, and Shadows would not play better if we could see the characters skin follicles – but that takes me back to the point about Shadows taking five years and a lot of people. The fact is, while it doesn’t look like it compared to its peers, this is what Ubisoft considers a cutting edge game. And the jank, plus the shoddy voice acting, are worth putting under the microscope.
We Can Still Want More From Assassin’s Creed Shadows
I’m not too bothered that Yasuke and Naoe don’t quite look as realistic as Kratos or Aloy. I don’t think that’s important. However, there has been a clip going viral from Assassin’s Creed Shadows where Naoe crawls around on the floor and the enemy swings his bulky weapon at her, but constantly misses because he can’t reach that low. As you might expect from a clip going viral from Assassin’s Creed Shadows, it’s mostly being shared in bad faith. However, I’d contend that it’s also being defended in bad faith.
Because somewhere along the way, internet goblins stole our brains and replaced them all with soup, we face endless battlelines drawn over the most nonsensical things. Yes, reacting as if this proves the game is less than worthless, an insult to humanity, and should not exist is categorically an overreaction. However, it’s still bad. It’s bad that this happens in a 2025 triple-A video game, especially one made with the ambition (and budget) of being a GOTY contender.
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Cheesing in games can be fun, but this looks so ridiculous that it completely breaks your immersion and reminds you that Shadows still has some catching up to do. It’s the same feeling you get when Naoe slithers past a candle on a tall pole and manages to extinguish it without having to stand up. It’s the sort of cheap trick games got away with a decade ago, but now feels out of place.
Naturally, because the criticism has been an overreaction (and because it is not Shadows’ first time at that particular rodeo), I understand the compulsion to defend the game – especially now that it’s out and we’re all enjoying it. But it’s okay to criticise a game for something it does badly. In fact, it’s necessary. I don’t believe Shadows is as far ahead of other Ubisoft flops as its sales suggest, it just has a stronger IP attached to it. The game may have saved Ubisoft for now, but it still feels as though the company cannot go on making games in ways the rest of the industry has evolved beyond if it wants to keep up.
Given the spotlight on this specific incident, I’m sure it will be patched out soon, going the way of the interactive torii gates. At that point, it will mostly be forgotten about. But Ubisoft would do well to remember it. Fans will not be so forgiving for these quirks in a different series, and I hope that lesson is absorbed.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
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OpenCritic
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Top Critic Rating:
81/100
Critics Recommend:
82%
- Released
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March 20, 2025
- Developer(s)
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Ubisoft Quebec