Category: Video Games

Assassin’s Creed Shadows has officially arrived. This is a huge moment for the Assassin’s Creed franchise and to ensure you don’t miss a thing about Shadows, we’ve gathered everything you need to know about the new game all in one place.

Check out our Assassin’s Creed Shadows review, performance reviews, IGN’s extensive Wiki guide that will help you through any challenge, and more. For anything you need Shadows-related, we have you covered. There’s so much to explore and learn in each section.

Assassin’s Creed Review

Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been a long time coming and we think it’s pretty great. Jarret Green, the author behind our Assassin’s Creed Shadows review considers it a worthy entry to the franchise:

“Assassin’s Creed Shadows takes a flashing blade to the series’ established norms, trimming them to a more precise form in lieu of chopping them down outright,” Green wrote. “Combat is aggressive and requires more intentional parrying and skill management than in the past, and exploring the gorgeous provinces of Sengoku-period Japan is encouraged thanks to the revamped map that deemphasizes collecting icons and checking off lists.

“Naoe and Yasuke are well-realized and memorable protagonists, even though most of the story they drive follows pretty predictable paths. Both have unique playstyles that bolster each other’s weaknesses, but they are ultimately imbalanced by the fact that you can make use of the stealth and exploration skills of the master shinobi far more than the superhuman strength of the samurai.

“This isn’t the Assassin’s Creed that will change the minds of folks that never connected with the series before, but for those of us with lots of hours logged in the Animus, the sum of Shadows’ parts provide a refreshing realignment of the series that you should not skip.”

Assassin’s Creed Shadows – Things to Do First

Assassin’s Creed games are BIG and feature many different gameplay systems and choices of where to go. This can be sometimes be overwhelming, so we thought we’d help out by offering a list of things you should focus on doing first when you start the journey of Naoe and Yasuke.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Walkthrough

As you make your way through the game, be sure to check out our Assassin’s Creed Shadows guide. You’ll be able to find the answer to any question you have about the game, and we’ll continue to refine and add to the guide in the coming days to ensure it is the one-stop-shop for everything you need to have the best time.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Map

Games like Assassin’s Creed Shadows are filled with so many things to do, and we’ve created a map so you can keep track of every location, collectible, activity, treasure, and so much more. You can even make your own notes, markers, and checklists to help make this map yours.

IGN Sword Expert Reacts to Assassin’s Creed Shadows

While we love providing game help and critical reviews of the newest titles, we also love testing out a game’s authenticity. Come check out this video of sword expert Matt Easton reacting to Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ weapons and combat to see if it passes or fails.

How to Play the Assassin’s Creed Games in Chronological Order

It may be hard to believe, but Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the 14th mainline entry of the franchise that began back in 2007. If you’d like to know how Assassin’s Creed Shadows fits in to the timeline of the franchise or which games you should play before jumping into Feudal Japan, we have the perfect guide for you.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows – PS5/Series X/S Tech Review – A Big Visual Leap For the Series

It can be tough to know where to play a game like Assassin’s Creed Shadows as we all want the best experience possible. Luckily, our friends at Digital Foundry have put this new game to the test. Head on over to Digital Foundry to see how Assassin’s Creed Shadows performs on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S and why they think it is a “big visual leap for the series.”

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Delivers One of the Most Substantial PS5 Pro Upgrades We’ve Seen

Is it worth it to upgrade to a PS5 Pro? Our colleagues at Eurogamer break down why Assassin’s Creed Shadows “delivers one of the most substantial PS5 Pro upgrades” they’ve ever seen.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ New Anvil Engine Features Impress on PS5 and Series X

With Assassin’s Creed Shadows leaving PS4 and Xbox One behind, Ubisoft was able to leverage the power of the PS5 and Xbox Series X to make a much better experience for players with current hardware. To learn exactly how much better it has made things, check out Eurogamer’s piece on how Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ new Anvil engine features impress on PS5 and Xbox Series X.

Even With Required Ray Tracing, Assassin’s Creed Shadows Is Blockbuster PC Performance Done Right

We know PC players love playing the latest games with the best possible settings and the team at Rock Paper Shotgun tells us “how Assassin’s Creed Shadows is “blockbuster PC performance done right.”

Running Across Assassin’s Creed Shadow’s Entire Map

And just for fun, here’s a video of Naoe running across the entire Assassin’s Creed Shadows map in the fall – captured on Xbox Series X using performance mode.

IGN has confirmed that Ubisoft has quietly prepared a day-one patch for Assassin’s Creed Shadows that makes a number of important changes, including to temples and shrines.

Ubisoft provided IGN with the patch notes for this update, which the company confirmed were not included in any public announcement.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows day-one patch notes:

This update brings various improvements and fixes, including:

• Players no longer getting stuck inside movable objects after dodging forward and interacting with them in kofuns
• Fix for procedural weapons being removed incorrectly when selling items
• Adjustments to prevent players from going out of bounds when proning against objects
• Improved horse navigation, reducing issues with turning and blocked paths
• Lighting adjustments for cave, kofun, and architectural entrances/exits
• Fixes for cloth clipping on Yasuke’s outfits (while riding) and Naoe’s outfits (while crouching)
• Citizens without weapons no longer bleed when attacked, reducing unintended blood spill in temples/shrines
• Tables and racks in temples/shrines are now indestructible (Some objects like drums or bowls can still be broken as they are generic ones present everywhere in the world) (Tables are still dynamic objects, so players can still move/push them).

The headline here is a change to tables and racks in temples and shrines, which are now indestructible in the Feudal Japan-set game. Ubisoft told IGN the day-one patch is for all players and not Japan-specific, but it’s hard to see this change in particular being anything but a response to the controversy surrounding the game in the country.

Yesterday, March 19, Shigeru Ishiba, the Prime Minister of Japan, responded to a question about Assassin’s Creed Shadows during an official government conference meeting.

The Assassin’s Creed Shadows question was asked by Japanese politician and member of the House of Councillors of Japan, Hiroyuki Kada. Kada, who will campaign for re-election this summer, said:

“I fear that allowing players to attack and destroy real-world locations in the game without permission could encourage similar behavior in real life. Shrine officials and local residents are also worried about this. Of course, freedom of expression must be respected, but acts that demean local cultures should be avoided.”

Prime Minister Ishiba responded:

“How to address this legally is something we need to discuss with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Defacing a shrine is out of the question – it is an insult to the nation itself. When the Self-Defense Forces were deployed to Samawah, Iraq, we ensured they studied Islamic customs beforehand. Respecting the culture and religion of a country is fundamental, and we must make it clear that we will not simply accept acts that disregard them.”

The shrine being “defaced” in pre-release Assassin’s Creed Shadows gameplay videos is Itatehyozu Shrine in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, which is within Kada’s constituency. He said that he had consulted with representatives of the shrine, who confirmed that Ubisoft did not seek their permission to show the shrine and use its name in the game.

While Masaki Ogushi (Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry) responded that government agencies will work together to handle matters “if the shrine seeks consultation,” in a work of artistic expression Ubisoft would probably be clear legally to use the shrine under the Constitution of Japan.

Responses from both ministers were vague at best and seem unlikely to result in any particular action, especially as Ubisoft appears to have addressed these concerns proactively with this day-one patch.

The patch does not appear to be live in-game yet, based on IGN’s tests.

Irrespective of the game’s success or otherwise in Japan, there is enormous pressure on Assassin’s Creed Shadows to do well for Ubisoft globally after a number of delays and the sales failure of last year’s Star Wars Outlaws. Indeed, Ubisoft has suffered a number of high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations in the run up to Assassin’s Creed shadows’ release.

IGN’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows review returned an 8/10. We said: “By sharpening the edges of its existing systems, Assassin’s Creed Shadows creates one of the best versions of the open-world style it’s been honing for the last decade.”

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

A new Ark: Survival Evolved expansion trailer from publisher Snail Games has been resoundingly condemned by the Ark community for being filled with evidence of appalling generative AI imagery.

The trailer was released in the wake of Snail Games’ GDC announcement of its “in-house developed new expansion map, Ark: Aquatica”. The studio describes the expansion as a non-canonical side story to Ark in “an ambitious underwater setting featuring 95% of gameplay taking place beneath the surface.”

“This is disgusting and you should be ashamed of yourselves,” wrote Irish YouTuber Syntac in response to the trailer. This statement from the popular Ark-oriented video creator, who has over 1.9 million subscribers, is currently the top comment on the Ark: Aquatica trailer.

Comments from other viewers are unanimously and similarly negative, decrying the trailer as “pathetic” and “embarrassing.” The trailer is rife with traces of AI slop, including schooling fish blurring in and out of existence, a hideously deformed hand clutching a spear gun, a levitating octopus floating in front of a shipwreck that doesn’t know whether it’s a rock or not, human feet that morph into floppy flippers, and more.