We are mere weeks away from Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and Ubisoft has now released more information regarding the game’s updated parkour mechanics.
As a long-time franchise fan, I’m very excited about the changes. Even if some of those changes might appear as a step backward for newer players, long-time fans like me should be pleased.
Familiar Assassin’s Creed Controls
First off, Ubisoft has explained the basic controls for parkour in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. You can take a look at the input layout below.
As you can see, controls will be largely identical to previous RPG-focused Assassin’s Creed titles. The eagle-eyed among you will notice that crouch and dodge have swapped places. Outside of this change, everything is the same, albeit with some buttons having additional actions mapped to them. For example Naoe’s grappling hook, or the new prone mechanic but more on those later.
The dodge button sounds like it’s going to be used more than ever during parkour with Ubisoft saying:
“In Shadows, dodge has been merged with parkour down mechanics, which unlocks a whole bunch of new parkour moves,” says Simon, Shadows’ Associate Game Director. “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.
Parkouring Through Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Parkour has always been a pillar of the Assassin’s Creed experience but has changed significantly over the years. From the up and down motions being on separate buttons to the one-button climb-anything approach we’ve had recently. If I’m being honest, I like the ease of use of the one-button climb-anything system in recent games. However, this system made the parkour a much less engaging and meaningful part of gameplay. Thankfully, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is looking to make parkour more engaging again.
Gone are the “climb anything you see” days of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, we will only be able to climb places that have handholds for Naoe and Yasuke to make use of.
Speaking of Naoe and Yasuke, Assassin’s Creed Shadows having two playable characters, means added depth to parkour we haven’t seen before. 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.
Functional Changes
In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, we will see the return of parkour up and parkour down. What exactly does that mean? Parkour is technically on one button (A on the Xbox controller as shown in the control scheme image above). Dodge now functions as a parkour-down action while traversing, meaning that parkour is effectively on two buttons again. In theory, this means that we should have a more fluid experience and more options in parkour.
Now that dodge mechanics have been incorporated into the parkour flow, players can dodge near a ledge to smoothly transition into parkour down traversal, allowing for Naoe’s signature acrobatic descents or Yasuke’s heavier drops.
Holding the dodge / parkour down button while moving ensures that your character is dropping to the lowest, safest point below them, and avoids dangerous leaps into the void. Parkour down also allows for low-profile landings, generating minimal sound for a stealthy approach.
Movement Faster Than Ever
Ubisoft Quebec has previously confirmed, that Naoe is the fastest Assassin in the franchise so far. Speaking of being fast, sprinting is now a major part of parkour, it can be combined with dodging to traverse even more quickly. Combining sprinting with dodging is something that only Naoe can do, allowing her to jump over certain blockades or dive out of windows. Yasuke on the other hand seems to default to a shoulder charge when sprinting.
Yasuke is also limited in what areas he can reach while doing parkour. Naoe by contrast has a grappling hook that allows her to reach areas that are otherwise inaccessible.
The Grappling Hook Sounds Fun
It sounds like there is more depth to Naoe’s grappling hook than I expected. Firstly, you can use it to help you climb walls reaching higher ledges, windows, and such. You can even run up walls, and then use the grappling hook to reach ledges that are otherwise too high.
Secondly, you can also use the grappling hook to swing across gaps too big to jump. While swinging, players control both the momentum and direction of the swing. This, in turn, gives players greater control over the velocity of their jumps. I am intrigued to see just how much skill is required to perfect this swing mechanic.
Once you’ve deployed the grappling hook onto a point, players can toggle between vertical ascend mode and hook swing modes by tapping the grappling hook button: Naoe will change her position on the rope to reflect the switch. Does this mean I can hook onto a point climb up a bit and then switch to rope swing and wall run to get over a wall? Just like we saw in one of the game’s first cinematic trailers? Time will tell, but it would be cool.
What we see in the new gameplay clips looks like a big improvement over the other RPG-focused Assassin’s Creed games. I just hope it feels as good as it looks.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC (including Day One on Steam) on February 14th, 2025.
