Assassins Creed Shadows Review

Ubisoft appears to be receiving a lot of unwanted press and criticism lately for their workplace environment, development decisions and a number of other reasons. It seems to be a slippery slope looking from the outside in as they seem intent and desperate to get a leg in that live service market. They seem to keep failing in that respect and in my opinion they should really be leaning into their well known and respected IP’s. Assassins Creed Shadows has finally launched after countless delays, issues with development and more. But let me tell you before I start this review, this game is truly special.

A Welcome Change

The Assassins Creed series spans many titles now and the open world formula started to become the norm with Odyssey, Origins and Valhalla. I’m a sucker for an open-world title and many voiced concerns about the games becoming way too lengthy with some of them hitting the 200 hour mark if you wanted to achieve everything on offer. The more recent Mirage opted to go back to the traditional roots of a shorter and slightly more linear storyline and experience.

Assassins Creed Shadows though comes back to the open-world of feudal Japan with two playable characters in Naoe and Yasuke. Whilst there has been much criticism about the historical accuracy in the ethnicity and direction of said characters, I truly don’t think it matters as long as a solid storyline presents itself. The story itself is an average and predictable one and some have stated it is a bit of a letdown. I myself though found it engaging enough to have fun between some fantastic and emotional cutscenes.

Hunt & Kill

I don’t want to spoil the storyline here so what I will say is that the game starts with a tragic loss for Naoe and Yasuke has some involvement within this. It took me a lenghty amount of time to tick off the first chapter and unlock Yasuke, a good twenty hours or so. So if you’re looking to get hands on with his character then you have to plough some time into the game first. That said, I couldn’t tell you how many times I went off on a tangent to just explore, admire and just uncover more of the vast open-world.

There are many repetitive moments throughout which is unfortunate. It isn’t long before you unlock an expansive list of targets to assassinate. Many of them require you to source some information, find the location, go and kill them and so on. I personally kept myself busy between doing this so that it didn’t become mundane, but I can imagine it will wear thin on some people.

Combat

One of the great aspects of the combat in Assassins Creed Shadows is the range of different combat styles you can choose. Whether its the famous samurai sword, a teppo or hiding in the bushes and whizzing shurikens at enemies necks, there is a style for everyone. There is a skill tree that unlocks different features and attacks. Upon levelling up you’ll earn mastery points to expand these trees for both protagonists. If you want to get all the way through the tree you’ll need to work on your knowledge rank. In order to do this you carry out specific tasks such as praying at shrines throughout the world.

Naoe is fast, nimble and can climb very quickly which is perfect for those moments where you want to be stealthy, but equally as fun if you just want to go in and get the job done. Yasuke is less flexible and built like a brick shithouse, which brings power to the forefront. He can smash down walls and send groups of enemies flying. I actually preferred his style of combat when I compared the two, however Naoe’s speed was more fun for navigating the map. You can also take a mount around to get you from A to B quicker but I actually found myself roaming around on foot 90% of the time taking in the beautiful surroundings rather than going by it all in a flash.

Visuals & Audio

The visual presentation throughout Assassins Creed Shadows is nothing short of spectacular. When recommending this game to others, I have likened the atmosphere and graphics on par with Red Dead Redemption 2. What I mean by this is there are jaw dropping moments of scenery where you just stop and observe and take many screenshots. The day and night changes are stunning alongside the seasonal changes. One moment you may be sat on top of a Japanese temple admiring a sunset and the next battling the elements of a storm as you wade through the forest.

The world feels lived in with NPC’s dotted around the built up areas and wildlife is rife. I knew there was something special with this game when I sat close to a mother and baby monkey interacting with each other by the side of a stream. The variance in the wildlife is mind blowing as well with timid deer scattered throughout open quiet areas and even a rare sighting of a mandarin duck. Also if you like petting cats, you’re in for a treat as there are plenty you can approach and stroke. Audio is superb with well voiced cutscenes and realistic sound effects to accompany the gore and grit of the dark moments of combat.

Final Thoughts

Not everyone will agree with me when I say this is probably the best Assassins Creed game to date and that is totally OK. Whilst I can draw many comparisons to Ghost Of Tsushima and still find that game a bit better, it comes very close in terms of scope and polish. Assassins Creed Shadows features a map that is absolutely stunning, it feels lived in and full of intriguing and interesting wildlife. You can approach everything stealthily Tenchu style or go in and kick some ass.

Yes the story is predictable and some of the missions are pretty much fetch quests or go and kill someone. But half the beauty of this game is exploration and engaging with the side quests, soaking in the cutscenes and admiring the season changes along with their elements. Whilst I wasn’t lucky enough to receieve a review code, I feel I needed to write about this experience as it is up there as one of Ubisofts best for sure.