Ubisoft just released a detailed breakdown of Assassin’s Creed Shadows parkour system

Assassin’s Creed Shadows still has a few weeks to go until release, but to help pass the time Ubisoft has released a detailed breakdown of their new parkour system, explained by Simon, who is Shadow’s Associate Game Director. You can check out the full breakdown here or read below for a few details:

In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, players can expect to reconnect with the staple experience of being an Assassin, leaping effortlessly across rooftops, surfing the high ground of the crowded streets of Kyoto, and scaling the towering Tenshu of Osaka Castle… In short, Naoe is a true parkour master, possessing unmatched speed and agility that adapts to the various landscapes of Feudal Japan.

Beyond city exploration, players can also infiltrate Japanese castles – incredibly dangerous fortresses filled with challenges and opportunities for parkour. Dominating with their towering Tenshu and protected by a network of intimidating concentric stone walls, castle grounds host many climbable and well-guarded buildings such as warehouses, barracks, and watchtowers. 

In contrast, the game also features hidden parkour paths in nature that offer a different kind of experience. These narrow paths in beautiful landscapes will include tree and rock climbing and, of course, extra grappling hook swinging.

In this article, we will focus on highlighting some of the new moves and mechanics developed to enhance parkour.

During development of AC Shadows, the team implemented a variety of enhancements for parkour, including new animations, prone movement, and a physics-based grappling hook. Numerous refinements were also brought to existing mechanics, such as the updated input mappings and the revamped parkour down system.

Let’s dive in!

CONTROL BASICS – NEW INPUT MAPPING

Returning players will notice adjustments made to the control scheme compared to the most recent Assassin Creed entries, as the crouch and the dodge button have traded places. This simple-yet-crucial change marks an important iteration: the addition of the prone stance and the inclusion of dodge mechanics that lead directly into parkour.

“In Shadows, dodge has been merged with parkour down mechanics, which unlocks a whole bunch of new parkour moves,” says Simon. “This new mapping also disconnects stance-switch (e.g. standing, crouching, prone) from parkour, ensuring you can use any stances without accidentally going down a rooftop when you don’t want to.”

Some of these new moves performed with the dodge button include acrobatic dodges over railings, out-of-windows jumps, or new silent drop-downs.

PARKOUR ESSENTIALS – PARKOUR UP

Parkour up has been a staple of the series for a long time, and Shadows is no exception. Holding the parkour up button while moving will make either Naoe or Yasuke reach for the highest / furthest point they can. This can mean running up a wall to grab a handhold, jumping across a large gap between two rooftops, or leaping as far as they can into the void, hoping for the best.

Each character has their own capabilities in parkour, although Naoe can always jump further and reach higher than Yasuke, who is generally slower when navigating rooftops.

More tactical planning comes into play as well, as parkour up is considered high-profile and generates a fair amount of sound when climbing, jumping, and landing. Stealthy shinobis should use it carefully in guarded areas, or else they will be spotted much faster.

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