Assassin's Creed Shadows' new Parkour system has a physics-based grappling hook

Since the delay of Assassin's Creed Shadows, Ubisoft has been slowly putting out detailed blog posts regarding various features of the upcoming action stealth entry in the long-running franchise. Following deep dives about the stealth philosophy and the samurai and shinobi combat elements, today the developer gave a look at the freshened-up parkour system being used in Shadows.

The simple Parkour Up button is making a return in Assassin's Creed Shadows, letting players step on the "gas pedal" to climb up a structure as fast as possible. As expected, the game's shinobi protagonist, Naoe, is much more nimble than Yasuke, letting her jump further and climb higher than the samurai protagonist.

"There are two main ways to parkour down" says Associate Game Director Simon, describing the opposite action "The classic way is to press the dodge / parkour down button near a ledge without directional input: your character will climb down and hold that ledge in climbing position. The second—and flashier way—is to perform a directional dodge over that ledge, which launches a variety of acrobatic transitions. "

Other than just for getting around faster, sprinting is a useful getaway or catchup mechanic for both protagonists. However, once again, the armored-up Yasuke has a disadvantage in this space.

Aside from being faster, Naoe also has the new Spring Dodge ability that lets her leap over and clear objects in a single dive-roll action. While doing this, she will dodge any incoming projectiles too, offering plenty of action-movie-like getaways.

Meanwhile, Yasuke's sprint is much more destructive, letting him automatically shoulder charge and bash through destructible objects that would have blocked Naoe.

Naoe's movement is also amplified by her use of the grappling hook, which is now a physics-based system. "Any proper shinobi game needs its grappling hook." says Simon. "We worked hard to ensure that the physics of our grappling hook make it a natural part extension of Naoe's overall parkour flow, allowing her to climb and swing with grace and ease."

The grapple lets Naoe quickly ascend to high ledges, swing from grapple points to cross gaps, and even wall run using it.

Ubisoft is also putting in some advanced parkour moves this time, though only for Naoe. This includes directional dodges while being prone, wall run jumps, and even a stealthy and stylish way to jump off ledges by doing a flip.

The developer added that while most of Assassin's Creed Shadows' terrain and buildings will be climbable, surfaces without handholds will not be accessible to either character, keeping some gameplay elements balanced.

"This is a pretty big deal for us," says Simon. "This means we had to be more thoughtful about creating interesting parkour highways and afforded us more control about where Naoe can go, and where Yasuke can't, making our two playstyles even more contrasted."