In a post on their website, Ubisoft today posted an in depth look at Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ parkour system. Releasing on Valentine’s day, Shadows is the perfect Valentines day gift. The parkour system is just the cherry on top. Infiltrating Japanese castles, exploring Kyoto and Osaka, what more could you want?
As a veteran of the Assassin’s Creed series, I’m always curious to see how each entry mixes up the movement system. Shadows aims to bring some new features to enhance parkour. Along with that, each character in Shadows brings their own strengths and weaknesses when moving through the environment.
Parkour Up & Down All Day
Referred to as “parkour up and parkour down,” players are able to press and hold up to make the character climb. Holding down makes them, you guessed it…move down. While this feature has been in previous entries, Shadows aims to mix it up with Naoe being able to jump farther and higher, along with moving faster in general. But Ubisoft warns that these buttons are not like a gas pedal in a driving game. Understanding when to use these moves will maximize your parkour flow and speed. Parkour down has been merge with the dodge which Ubisoft promises opens up new parkour moves.
In case you happen to accidentally leap off a rooftop. you can utilize a recovery roll right when you land. This mechanic allows Naoe to soften the impact of her fall.
Running, Automation, Stances
Ubisoft claims that Naoe is the fastest assassins so far in the franchise. While Yasuke is a tad slower, but tankier character. Naoe is uniquely able to perform a sprint dodge. This “triggers an extended dive-roll” which she can use to hurdle small obstacles in her way such as crates and fences. The sprint dodge also is useful when escaping enemies!
While sprinting, Naoe is able to automatically pass over obstacles without any input from the player. However, this move does not provide the same dodge benefits that sprint dodge does. With enemies being able to shoot or hit the player while performing an automatic passover.
Yasuke, on the other hand, is able to automatically shoulder bash through destructible walls and other objects. Yasuke can also perform the automatic passover, but at a much slower pace. Being crouched in full sprint allows the characters to perform a slide. Going prone while sprinting causes the character to dolphin dive!
I’m Batman
There’s a grappling hook. Yep. Have you ever played a game where a grappling hook wasn’t fun to use? Nope. The grappling hook in Shadows looks to be an awesome addition to your assassin’s move set and parkour momentum.
Naoe is able to use her grappling her to vertically ascend any rooftop to perfectly position herself for a nice assassination off a roof. In addition, she is able to use the grappling hook like a rope swing to cross large gaps. Players are able to switch between grappling hook mode and rope swing mode while using either form. Finally, players will be able to use the grappling hook to perform a wall run.
Hardcore Parkour!
In the post, Ubisoft details some “advanced parkour moves” that players will be able to perform. These include
- Stance Dodges
- Directional dodges allowing players to roll in any direction or dive prone. Naoe is able to perform assassinations prone as showcased in the video below.
- Wall Run Eject
- Tapping the parkour button at the height of a wall run ejects Naoe
- Backward Dodge
- Naoe leaps off the current structure perfectly positioned for a stealth kill. This move is used while in parkour down.
As a longtime fan of the series, parkour has felt stale for a while. The features showcased for Shadows finally look like they will make parkour exciting and stylish again. I’m excited to accidentally leap off buildings to my death again when the game releases on February 14, 2025.
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