Could It Finally Outshine the Living World of The Last of Us?

Despite the controversies, the hype for Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows is at an all-time high. One of the main elements that make Assassin’s Creed games exciting is its immersive open world, and for the first time in the series, Ubisoft has experimented with a unique feature that allowed them to create the open world much more dynamic.

Ubisoft claims that Shadows is the best-looking Assassin’s Creed ever. The console industry is changing drastically as giants like Sony are now focusing more on providing a gaming experience with smoother frame rates and high-fidelity graphics.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Has A Dynamic And Immersive Open World

In an official post on Ubisoft’s website, the studio has revealed what fans can expect from Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ open world. The post revealed that the game will feature dynamic weather that will make the game much more immersive and realistic,

Assassin’s Creed Shadows features distinct seasons, these make the world visually distinct so that the same location can look and feel vastly different depending on the time of year. But the world can change even within those seasons thanks to dynamic weather, meaning that missions have several environmental factors that can all alter your gameplay experience.

The weather will also affect the way the game functions. For example, when a pond is frozen, players cannot use it for cover. If players play a mission during a rainstorm, enemies will not be able to spot their footsteps in the mud. It’s actually these small details that improve the overall gaming experience. Art Director Thierry Dansereau has explained that Ubisoft’s goal was to make a world that looked good but also had an impact on gameplay.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Features Ray-tracing Global Illumination

Ray-tracing global illumination and micro polygons are the two new features that Ubisoft has experimented with. In the past, Assassin’s Creed games had global illumination which was static but with ray-tracing global illumination, light could adapt to environmental changes.

As per Ubisoft, the game is filled with environmental changes: Lights can be turned off and on, doors can be cut down or smashed through, and bamboo trees, market stalls, and fences can all be destroyed, and with ray-tracing global illumination, light with interact with all these changes.

Initially, when Ubisoft revealed the gameplay trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, there was a lot of criticism aimed at the graphics, but it seems like Ubisoft hasn’t left any stone unturned. Thanks to the technical innovations, Ubisoft was able to create a very destructible environment that feels immersive and alive.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set to be released for PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X/S, macOS, and iPadOS on November 15, 2024.