Assassin’s Creed Shadows is (assuming it’s not delayed for the third time) almost upon us, and in the lead-up to its March release, Ubisoft is continuing its series of deep dives highlighting some of the ways this latest entry in the series. be breaking with tradition. And this time, it’s the turn of exploration, which promises to be a little more player-driven and a little less like an explosion in a map marker factory.
In its latest blog post, Ubisoft says Assassin’s Creed Shadows makes “significant changes and additions” to exploration to “encourage a unique sense of discovery” as players traverse the world. The goal, he explains, is to move away from an overabundance of icons and hand-holding map markers and toward an open world where information is “key.” [and] a form of reward.” As such, rather than immediately being showered with points of interest, players will need to discover and obtain information, either directly, through their spies, or through NPCs on their travels.
The world map, for example, will initially only show region names and vague illustrative hints of possible key locations, with more details revealed as players explore regions, subregions, and local landmarks. In particular, players will eventually get scouts that can be sent in advance to reveal more precise locations for mission objectives.
One of Assassin’s Creed’s most iconic exploration features is also getting an overhaul, with viewpoints (aka sync points) now behaving a little differently. In Shadows, Sync no longer uncovers a bunch of map icons over a large area, but rather reveals nearby key points of interest that can be manually tagged and added to the compass. Ubisoft says the goal is to give players a “more intentional and active way to find their next adventure.”
Similarly, the classic companion eagle has now been scrapped and players will need to find a good vantage point to observe the surrounding area and plan their approach, manually searching for and tagging valuable items, enemies, etc.
Also new are safe houses, known as “kakurega”, that players can purchase. These provide “safe” fast travel points (discovered points of view also unlock fast travel, but are frequently in dangerous enemy zones), as well as other useful features. Players can, for example, refill rations, tools, and ammunition; access your equipment stash; manage and accept contracts; replenish scouts and manage allies who can be summoned for help.
Elsewhere in Ubisoft’s update, there is mention of Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Objective Board, a version of the visual mission log previously seen in Mirage, which expands to show new objectives as more characters and challenges are encountered. Or rather, it reveals clues that point to the location of new opportunities, which players must gather to get more specific directions, unless they want their scouts to do the hard work for them.
Ubisoft is also highlighting Shadows’ Pathfinder tool, which, given the inclusion of harder-to-climb stages this time around, is intended to help players avoid false shortcuts that would increase their travel time. When a mission is tracked and its location revealed (or when players manually place a marker on the map), Pathfinder can be deployed on horseback to draw an overlaid white line on the ground showing the shortest route to a player’s destination. .
Some more exploration details can be found in Ubisoft’s latest blog post, and if that left you intrigued enough, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will launch for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC on March 20. Ubisoft recently delayed the game‘s release once again (it was previously scheduled for February 14) while it explores possible sales options.