Assassin's Creed Shadows Hands-On: A Sneak(ing) Peek at Ninja Fights and Samurai Brawls

After years of fan outcry, the beloved Assassin's Creed series will finally make its way to feudal Japan with this year's installment, Assassin's Creed: Shadows. I saw a hands-off review last fall at Germany's Gamescombut then the game was pushed back from its original November release date to February 14 (and then postponed again to March 20) from this year. I got my first hands-on time with the game alongside other journalists, marking a big moment for the game with a lot of anticipation and excitement.

My hands-on was split into two parts: a one-hour session exploring the game's prologue with another three hours or so in the later game. Although I'm not sure how deep into the game I got, my characters were now level 25 with some legendary armor and a lot more abilities unlocked.

Set in 1579, the game features a dual protagonist approach, which is new to the series. Unlike 2018 Assassin's Creed: Odyssey and the 2020s Valhallagames where you choose a main character from one of two character options, Shadows encourages you to play as a team of characters throughout the game. Ubisoft refers to this dynamic as a “stealth and combat” approach to the game where the different abilities of the characters define how you progress through the areas.

Each character plays differently, but can be used for any mission and replaced at many points. The first character is Yasuke, a powerful black samurai brought to Japan as a Portuguese slave. Its large build and heavy armor make it a great choice for any missions where you plan to charge straight through the front door and fight to the finish. If you prefer to kill quietly from rooftops and shadows, Naoe is your protagonist of choice: a Japanese ninja who prioritizes stealth and maneuverability.

Many missions will give you a choice of how to start and, except in a few cases, you'll have to stick with that choice until completion. This means you won't be able to start a quest playing as Naoe, sneaking around and trying to kill enemies, but then immediately switch to Yasuke when you're spotted and surrounded by enemies. (When in free-roaming areas outside of missions, you can switch by simply pausing the game and holding X.)

By doing so, both characters can hold their own in the opposite playstyle, it will just be much more difficult. Typically, Assassin's Creed characters of the past could perform both playstyles well, so it's an interesting choice to split the playstyle powers between two protagonists and force the player to weigh their chances against the style of game they prefer.

This contrast came into play in a big way in the last mission we played, where our heroes had to break into the castle and fight the corrupt lord inside. I originally started this mission as Yasuke, but found the fight through the front gate too challenging. After the failed attempt, I switched to Naoe and quickly climbed a wall (something Yasuke can't do) and avoided fighting all together. What would have taken me probably 20 minutes of melee combat and used up all my health regens was now stealth bypassed in two minutes without any hassle.

However, as the mission continued, I now had to fight my way through the corridors inside to the boss to the top. Instead of trying to sneak through these narrow hallways full of enemies, I switched to Yasuke and fought them. It was a fun change of pace.

At this point in the game I had two of Yasuke's abilities unlocked, which are used by holding RT and pressing one of the controller's face buttons (similar to previous character action games like Spider-Man). The first ability was a very cool, lightning fast whip that caused the screen to go black and white for a second as I made contact with the enemy, while the second was a massive, powerful punch that would send my opponent comically far away. the air. I loved using both and often used them to cut my way through groups of enemies.

Both characters can call on support allies to help out during missions, which act as fighting game assists to help in difficult situations. These allies can be manned, equipped and upgraded back at your base and are used as a distraction while you try to sneak around or even help out when facing several enemies at once. I had two that I had available for use: a powerful woman who specialized in pushing and knocking opponents down, and a sadder guy who tried to shoot the target and then use a smoke bomb to retreat.

Another form of support is Scouts, who come into play when you're trying to locate more information about your mission. Ubisoft says they've taken a “guide, don't tell” approach to quests in Shadows; subsequently, several of my missions didn't come with a marker on my map to head to. Instead, it will give me hints about the area or building I need to explore to learn more. During my review, I had access to five scouts (and it wasn't clear how I could get more) that I could place anywhere on the map and they would detect points of interest. Pairing the hints and scouts together should reveal the point I need to move towards to continue my quest.

From there you can head to your destination or press left on the D pad to turn on the path finder, a transparent line that will direct you like a GPS. However, the game won't hold your hand for every objective. There's a heavy emphasis on observation: holding the left trigger will cause your character to focus and the camera to zoom in slightly. This will allow you to highlight enemies (which reveals their health and makes them visible through walls) and also highlights loot to collect or objectives you're looking for. It's obvious early on that rushing blindly into these missions will make things much more difficult than finding a vantage point and surveying the area first (another reason why I often preferred starting a mission with Naoe).

During my review, I didn't get a good sense of the overarching story these characters are working their way through. The prologue suggested some motivation for their team, but the large mystery box remained hidden. However, longtime fans of Assassin's Creed will be wondering if the Animus, a narrative device that allows modern humans to revisit and play as their heroic ancestors from the past in these strange eras, is making a return. In short, yes – in something called the Animus Ego. Unfortunately, we got very little time with this meta-story component, but I can tell you that, once again, there are hacks and bugs and something sinister going on behind the scenes of the seemingly vibrant Animus project.

I'm extremely excited to play more of Assassin's Creed Shadows. Like someone who loves The Ghost of Tsushimathe feudal Japanese setting turns me on easily. The wait isn't that long as the game will be released for PlayStation, Xbox and PC on March 30.