Ubisoft overhauls Assassin’s Creed stealth with Splinter Cell mechanics

Assassin's Creed has leaned further and further towards action-oriented gameplay over the years. With Assassin's Creed Shadows, Ubisoft is overhauling stealth mechanics, and you'll be able to assassinate targets with one hit again, much like the older games.

In a new blog post, Shadows Associate Game Director, Simon Lemay-Comtois, explains the key areas of improvement for Stealth in Assassin's Creed Shadows, saying:

“First, the most obvious change for AC players will be the lack of a companion eagle allowing you to scout ahead and map out an entire location. In Shadows, players must rely on their main character's own senses and engage enemies in a more tactical moment-to-moment manner.”

Both of the game's main characters have access to the Observe skill, which allows you to quickly identify and tag targets within view, as well as highlight loot chests. The shinobi, Naoe, has a second skill, Eagle Vision, which works exactly how it did in the classic Assassin's Creed games.

Assassin's Creed is also borrowing a mechanic from Ubisoft's original stealth series, Splinter Cell. For the first time in Assassin's Creed, you'll now be able to hide in shadows, becoming invisible to enemies. This means maps will have more dynamic hiding spots, particularly at night time. You will also be able to crouch to sneak as Naoe and both characters (Naoe and Yasuke) can go prone to further hide. These are also stealth abilities that Ubisoft got right decades ago with Splinter Cell, which many consider to be one of the best stealth games ever made.

Some enemies in the game will be strong enough to withstand an assassination attempt, or even deny an assassination attempt entirely. However, a menu option can be toggled for one-hit assassinations on all enemies if that is what you prefer.

Assassin's Creed Shadows is due to release in February 2025, following a several-month delay.

KitGuru Says: Reading this blog post is quite funny, as each mechanic is clearly borrowed directly from the Splinter Cell games. Hopefully someday, Ubisoft finally brings Sam Fisher back into the spotlight.

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