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Assassin’s Creed Shadows is 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 their approach to stealth in a new blog post, which also includes links out to brief illustrative videos.
“For the first time in the Assassin’s Creed series, hiding in the shadows will make you invisible to enemies. 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,” explains the post. “The ability to use shadows in this way invites you to carefully study your environment for hiding opportunities and routes… or create them yourself by destroying lanterns with a shuriken.”
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.
Perhaps most interesting is the return of double assassinations, a one-time iconic feature of the series. “By equipping the Tanto as one of your main weapons and unlocking the dedicated skill, you can eliminate two enemies standing next to each other at once with your Hidden Blade – whether on the ground or from the air,” says the post.
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 seemingly at staff’s urging and in response to somewhat lukewarm sales of Star Wars Outlaws. Outlaws continues to receive 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.