After years of Assassin's Creed games that show signs of classic stealthy goodness but aren't quite what I'm looking for, I've been trying really hard not to get excited about Assassin's Creed Shadows. Yes, the series is finally going to Japan and yes, Naoe's stealthy moves look fantastic, but my eyes roll into the back of my head when I see chunky health bars and "level 28" above guard heads. Shadows still has that loot-heavy RPG stink that put me off Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla.
And yet, the way Ubi keeps talking about Shadows suggests it's not only moving in a stealthier direction than ever before, but doing so by evoking the best games the studio ever made: Splinter Cell. Not by name, though—in a new "Stealth Gameplay Overview" blog, Ubi talked about the core pillars of Shadows' stealth, which heavily involves a new light visibility meter that's ripped straight out of the Splinter Cell playbook. The blog also includes new gameplay snippets, like this one showing the visibility meter in action:
"For the first time in the Assassin's Creed series, hiding in the shadows will make you invisible to enemies," Ubi said. "During nighttime, any pocket of shadows becomes a dynamic hiding spot in which you can progress without being seen. This applies to both interiors and exteriors."
As an even more direct pull from Splinter Cell, pockets of darkness can be created by extinguishing lanterns with shurikens. This is all stuff that Ubi has previously talked about, but I don't think we've seen Naoe's ability to grab enemies and move them before knocking them out (another notch in the Sam Fisher column).
"While undetected, you can briefly grab and drag enemies in any direction to silently assassinate or take them down non-lethally," the blog reads. "This grab mechanic removes some of the automation we've had in the series before."
This looks so cool: Naoe skulks up behind a guard, loops a rope around his neck, and starts dragging him away like a belligerent toddler before knocking him out in a bush. As Ubi indicates, this is a way more interesting method of moving bodies around because you don't have to sit through a kill animation first, and it rewards players for thinking ahead before charging toward guards. Now if only Naoe could interrogate bound guards for useful intel…
I'm encouraged by this bit about Shadows enemy AI, too:
"If you get detected and are able to disappear again, enemies will search for you in pairs (one watcher and one seeker) and will remain more suspicious going forward," Ubi wrote. "That means that tactics such as whistling to lure them in will only increase their suspicion and thus their ability to spot you. This can have an impact on your ability to assassinate from a hiding spot, as these suspicious guards will be more likely to get in the way if you're not cautious enough."
That already sounds more sophisticated than the AI behavior of the last few AC games, which as far as I could tell would lose sight of me and forget I ever existed. I love when stealth games manage to tighten the screws on sloppy play while still giving players options.
What might prove controversial are enemy types that can't be assassinated dependent on your hidden blade upgrades, like samurai. Telling Assassin's Creed fans that they can't assassinate anyone they want tends to ruffle feathers, which is why Ubi is bringing back an optional setting that enables old school insta-kill assassinations on all enemies.
But consider that stealth games are better when you can't just lights-out every scenario. I like the idea of an elite threat that, if stealth is the mission, is best avoided instead of confronted. Maybe this is Ubi acknowledging that easy stealth kills are kind of a crutch in this genre—you barely have to sneak if you can easily kill every guard in your way.
This is the first of a handful of overview blogs dropping over the next few weeks. Next up is a focus on Yosuke and combat, all leading up to Assassin's Creed Shadows' new release date of February 14, 2025.
