Assassin's Creed Shadows: How the Animus Hub's Anomalies…

A consistent fixture of the Assassin’s Creed franchise is the Animus. For Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the Animus will form the backbone of a new franchise system called the Animus Hub. Previously known as Codename Infinity, the service will act as a one-stop shop for future Assassin’s Creed content, including the new take on Anomalies.

The Best War Games spoke to Animus Hub’s content director Ben Swinden about the ways the Hub will be used in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, specifically how the Anomalies will present themselves in the new title.

Assassin's Creed Shadows Animus Hub Explained

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Initially known by its codename 'Infinity,' the Animus Hub has finally been explained by Ubisoft, including details about its purpose and features.

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By Josh Cotts

Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Anomalies

Anomalies are nothing new. In Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Layla "stepped" into the Viking age herself and solved puzzles connected to audio logs from Loki and Aletheia. The Animus anomalies in Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be very different, however, according to Swinden.

"They will be different from what you saw in Valhalla, for example. With the launch of AC Shadows, Anomalies provide new weekly quests rooted in the historical setting, leveraging core gameplay systems you’ll play as Naoe or Yasuke. These quests will give you new reasons to explore the world and fight challenging enemies in locations spread throughout Feudal Japan."

That’s a striking difference from how anomalies were presented in AC Valhalla. Rather than playing the present-day person using the Animus to explore puzzles, this time it will be Naoe and Yasuke facing what sounds to be far more varied challenges across Japan. Anomalies offer a distinct challenge to recover Data Fragments, which will advance Projects in the Animus Hub. The Fragments are used to decode Encrypted Data Files, which will advance the narrative of the modern-day Assassin’s Creed story.

The Animus Hub will also serve as a means to continue the present-day storyline in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. The Animus Ego and Dark Animus will be explored in the storyline, which will be explored alongside The Guide. What that exactly means remains to be seen for now. At launch, it will also have the ability to act as a launcher for Origins, Odyssey, Valhalla, and Mirage as well as Shadows, though players will need those games installed to use Animus Hub as a launcher. Moreover, Shadows and the games that will come after it will feature integration with Animus Hub, like Anomalies in Shadows.

Working through all these challenges will reward players with gear, resources, and items connected to the broader narrative of Assassin’s Creed. Most importantly, everything within the Animus Hub will be free to players.

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