Assassin’s Creed Shadows Review

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Fast Facts

Lurking in the shadows

I have had a very on/off relationship with the Assassin’s Creed series. The earlier titles left me a bit cold as I found them a bit too ‘stealthy’. I am much more of a stealth-first, then when it fails, go and murder folk later kind of guy. I can understand why hardcore fans of the series are a bit irked with where the series has ended up.

Modern-day Assassin’s Creed titles are more my bag. They are open world games with stealth mechanics sprinkled in. They are more ‘Ubisoft Generic Open-World’ title than the originals in the series but that suits me more as a player. I loved Black Flag, really liked Origins and until the bloat hit, quite liked Valhalla. Let’s head to 16th century Japan, welcome to the Rapid Review for Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

Samurai Creed, yes please!

I found the Assassins Creed ethos and gameplay style, especially in recent years, really fit the Feudal Japan theme. The combat, the architecture, and the story really seemed to gel into a cohesive game that was constantly thematic but more than that, fun. I would go as far to say that this may be my favourite Assassin’s Creed game. Everything about it sings, it’s not bloated, not over-bearing and I truly think that Ubisoft has learned some lessons from previous titles in the series.

I will be honest with you: the opening hours to Shadows, with its dual-character narrative, really drew me in. I think this was the thing that hit me more than anything early on, I actually cared about what I was doing and why I was doing it. Shadows follows in the footsteps of not one but two protagonists. Not only does Shadows have dual protagonists but a branching, non-linear story to boot.

Two’s the charm

The two protagonists you will spend most of your time looking at have very varied stories and gameplay archetypes. Firstly, you spend a lot of early game as Naoe, a warrior of the Iga clan. Whether she wanted to be a warrior or not, this role was thrust upon her by tragedy and circumstance. The is sharp-witted, quick and stealthy. She is well written, stands up for herself and is a very likeable character.

On the other side of the game is Yasuke, who, without spoiling it, is kind of to blame for the game’s early pain for Naoe. He is a battle-hardened warrior whose gameplay is more battle-focused and less stealthy. For a start, when diving into hay bales, he just rolls out, which always tickled me. How these two end up being thrust together and gel excellently to make a partnership that kept me entertained to the end.

A few improvements to the well-worn formula

I did not play Mirage but it seems to me that the map of Shadows had been cleaned up and freed from the six-gazzillion icons that litter an Assassins Creed game. Side tasks and side quests were more spread out, less numerous and less overwhelming when gazing upon the world map. It was lovely trotting through such a beautiful world (more on that later), taking in the scenes and ticking off the game’s various activities.

One of the things I really enjoyed in Shadows was the slightly detective-based game objectives. More than any other Assassin’s Creed game, I had to look through clues, scout and even use my deduction skills to work out where I should go and what I should do. I adored not having objectives and quest markers rammed down my throat. When I found what I was supposed to be doing, I earned it. I have found too many games in recent games holding your hand too lightly, it was nice to be let off the reins a little.

The way quests and objectives are recorded and laid out is also a massive improvement over games in the series I have played recently. Yes, you are searching for people to assassinate but each tidbit, side-quest and character is laid out in a very helpful set of rondels. These rondels give you clues, info and keep track of everything. I would take this over a boring list of tasks any day.

Thoroughly entertaining

From a gameplay standpoint, I found everything about Shadows entertaining. The combat, the exploration, the deduction and the varying styles of the 2 protagonists. The combat, along with exploration, were probably my favourite mechanisms in the game. I found the combat here tight and very moreish. It was slow going at first but once you had unlocked a few new skills, things really started to blossom. As a massive Dark Souls fan, I loved the block, roll and parry-based combat. Mix in tools, varying weapons and bloody executions and you have a robust system that rewards skill.

The stealth stuff, while not being my favourite part of Shadows, I found strangely entertaining. You have a new Batman-style mode where you can see through walls and mark enemies, which comes in handy. You can also crawl into tight spaces and through long grass to sneak up on unsuspecting enemies. Don’t get me wrong, you still have some of the weird inconsistencies with enemies spotting you and the lack of awareness but that aside, I enjoyed the stealth side of things more than I normally.

I still had the amusing nonsense of hiding in a bush, assassinating several people in a row and none of the surrounding enemies wondering why there were a pile of bodies building up next to a bush. Neither did anyone wonder where all their colleagues had gone but you know, it is Assassin’s Creed!

Base building and world exploration

A new inclusion to Shadows, as far as I am aware, is base building. I know, right? In an Assassins Creed game! In some castles and smaller locations, you can collect resources to build buildings and furnish them accordingly. This led nicely into the loot system, I do love loot. You are constantly rewarded with new armour and weapons and can upgrade them if your homestead is upgraded enough. You can even change the look of weapons and make armours look like each other. Fashion Creed unlocked!

What I find separates good open-world games with great open-world games is the exploration. If an open-world game rewards exploration then a player is more likely to explore. The amount of times in Shadows I found myself hunting through caves for treasure or diving into water for loot was countless. Shadows rewards the curious and I love that!

Simply stunning and intricate environments

I was playing on the PS5 Pro and I have to admit, I think this may be one of the best implementations of its advanced hardware yet. This game is purely stunning. Great shadows, amazing lighting and the weather effects are superb. It even has melting snow. It’s by no means Horizon levels of graphical prowess but that, to me anyway, remains the benchmark. Assassins Creed Shadows is simply beautiful and after playing a lot of sub-par looking open-world games recently, it was a joy to explore such a vivid and detailed world.

From a technical view, I had a pretty flawless run. I only had one time where my character got locked into the Animus-style loading screen and I had to reset the game. Apart from that the game has ran smoothly, had no bugs or game breaking issues. Credit where credit is due, Shadows runs very well and in a time where games are released in any old state, Ubisoft should be praised, I have had issues with their games in the past.

A great entry to the series

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is probably my favourite in the series. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a ‘pure’ Assassin’s Creed fan but I really gelled with the mixture of great combat, fun exploration and an engaging narrative. That, paired with a great UI, toned down map and lack of hand-holding objectives and you have a ‘sure-fire’ winner.

Shadows will probably not appeal to classic Assassin’s Creed fans but I prefer the newer style. If you like stealth, the options are there; if you prefer fistycuffs the options are also there. Chuck in 2 playable characters with differing styles and you have a buffet of Assassin’s Creed fodder to mess around with. I would highly recommend Shadows to any modern Assassins Creed fans, fans of open-world games and people who just like to have fun in a gorgeously realized playground.

Rapid Reviews Rating

4.5 out of 5

4.5