Ubisoft teases Assassin's Creed Shadows parkour with ninja-like traversal and a grappling hook
Assassin's Creed Shadows revolves around two very different protagonists: Yasuke, the hulking samurai, and Naoe, the nimble, light-footed shinobi. As a result of the dual protagonists, Ubisoft has opted to focus on Naoe when it comes to parkour and traversal, somewhat forcing players to use both characters in different scenarios throughout the game.
For starters, and likely the biggest change for existing Assassin's Creed players, Ubisoft has opted to switch up the button mapping, swapping crouch and dodge button maps and merging dodge with “parkour down”. While it seems like a minor change, the new control scheme supposedly enables players to go from dodging directly into parkour, and it has enabled Ubisoft to implement a new prone stance for combat.
Assassin's Creed games are usually better enjoyed with a controller, like the 8BitDo Ultimate 2C wireless controller with Hall-effect joysticks and triggers (curr. only $32.98 on Amazon).
It looks as though Ubisoft is trying to inject some pseudo realism into Assassin's Creed Shadows by separating the two main characters' parkour abilities. In short, Naoe, the shinobi, will be significantly more mobile and agile than Yasuke. Not only is this an attempt at representing reality somewhat more accurately — a heavily armoured samurai is obviously going to be less agile and have less mobility training than a shinobi — it could also add a tactical twist to the game.
During the Assassin's Creed Shadows parkour deep dive, Ubisoft mostly focussed on the mobility and parkour moves available to Naoe, as opposed to Yasuke, who got his time in the limelight during an earlier combat deep dive.
In addition to Naoe's increased agility allowing her to jump higher and further and more quickly and easily climb up walls, and traverse rooftops than her samurai counterpart, Naoe also has a grappling hook, unlocking vertical ascents that are otherwise impossible. Naoe also has a recovery roll, which softens and quietens hard landings, making stealthy approaches more viable. Naoe can also use her sprint dodge to get over smaller objects quickly in an extended dive roll manoeuvre.
Parkour and traversal aren't limited to the rooftops and urban environments, though. In Shadows, players will be able to explore natural environments, where they will find different surfaces they can climb up, parkour over, and wall run on.
The parkour in Assassin's Creed Shadows seems to be poised to improve combat and stealth as much as it is designed for traversal and exploration. This is exemplified perfectly by the different assassination styles that will be available to players using parkour moves, like the prone assassination shown off during the earlier stealth deep dive and the various drop assassinations that are possible.
Assassin's Creed Shadows officially launches on February 14, 2025 on Steam, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5. This is one of the first modern games that Ubisoft plans to launch to console and PC simultaneously, and the gaming giant has committed to launching more titles the same way, likely as a way to increase the game's reach right at the outset.
