Assassin's Creed Shadows: Parkour's Loss Is Stealth's Gain

Summary

AC Shadows enhances stealth gameplay, offering realistic encounters and increased challenge.
AC Shadows limits parkour mechanics for a grounded approach, focusing on stealth.
Enemies are more alert, promoting slow, careful approaches to gameplay in AC Shadows.

While the Assassin's Creed series has long been known for its stealth gameplay, it hasn't always put stealth at the forefront — particularly in its modern era. Since Assassin's Creed Origins, the series has leaned more into open, real-time action than it had previously, largely leaving its iconic stealth system in the dust. However, that is precisely where the latest entry, Assassin's Creed Shadows, shines the brightest, as it has reimagined the series' stealth system to be more fulfilling, engaging, and rewarding than ever before, with more realistic encounters and increased challenge as a result.

Unfortunately, Assassin's Creed Shadows' renewed emphasis on stealth is a bit of a double-edged sword for the game, as it has led to its parkour (another iconic element of the Assassin's Creed series) being severely downgraded. Parkour mechanics are still very much present in Assassin's Creed Shadows, and they have even received some new animations that make it a bit flashier at times. Even so, the parkour is not at all what it once was, though perhaps that can be excused thanks to the refined stealth mechanics the game possesses.

Assassin's Creed Shadows Review

Assassin's Creed Shadows is a spectacular return to form for the franchise, delivering one of the series' more tightly focused historical adventures.

Posts 10

By Matt Karoglou

AC Shadows' Parkour Has Been Reimagined to Prioritize Stealth

AC Shadows Offers Fewer Opportunities for Extensive Parkour

There are still just as many buildings and geographical obstacles to traverse in Assassin's Creed Shadows as there have been in previous installments. The inclusion of traditional Japanese architecture, especially, creates a lot of unique opportunities for parkour. That being said, Assassin's Creed Shadows' parkour mechanics are some of the most grounded to date, primarily due to the game's increased emphasis on stealth gameplay. Rather than encouraging players to go higher, Assassin's Creed Shadows encourages them to remain closer to the ground, with the new prone ability even being evidence of that philosophy.

Enemies on the ground are also more likely to notice players when they're on rooftops in Assassin's Creed Shadows, which is something the series has rarely fully leaned into.

In previous Assassin's Creed games, players have been able to climb just about anything that looks like it has visible handholds. In some installments, players have even been able to climb anything, regardless of whether it looks climbable. Assassin's Creed Shadows, on the other hand, prevents players from climbing everything in sight. Even rock walls that look like they have handholds are often not climbable in Assassin's Creed Shadows. Add to that the inability to accurately discern just how far Naoe or Yasuke will be able to leap when leaving an edge, and Assassin's Creed Shadows has one of the most limited parkour systems in the series to date.

Stealth Is the Best It Has Ever Been in AC Shadows

However, this more grounded approach that Assassin's Creed Shadows takes also means a greater focus on stealth — and that focus has paid off immensely. Stealth in Assassin's Creed Shadows is arguably the best the series has ever been, as it strongly encourages players to move slowly and carefully assess every situation before engaging. Enemies in Assassin's Creed Shadows are more alert and will even pursue players to a greater degree, and it's much more difficult to pull off assassinations on enemies that are already aware of the player's presence in the area.

Assassin's Creed Shadows' renewed emphasis on stealth is a bit of a double-edged sword for the game, as it has led to its parkour being severely downgraded.

This renewed emphasis on stealth is exactly what Assassin's Creed Shadows needed. Even Assassin's Creed Mirage, which was supposed to be a "return to roots" for the series, didn't emphasize stealth to the degree that Assassin's Creed Shadows does, and that really comes down to AC Shadows' stealth-focused design philosophy. With its AI overhaul and new stealth mechanics, Assassin's Creed Shadows soars to the top of the list when it comes to the series' best stealth-focused games, in spite of a downgraded parkour system.

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