Ubisoft Releases Assassin’s Creed Shadows Stealth Gameplay Overview

As the release date for Assassin’s Creed Shadows looms ever closer, Ubisoft has begun to drop details about the upcoming title, with a new post detailing the Stealth gameplay that players can expect from diving into this title. Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set to release on February 14, 2025, after Ubisoft announced that they will be delaying the game from its original release date of November 15, 2024. However, in September, Ubisoft announced that although the game’s features are padded out how they wanted, they are going to delay the release to polish the game further after Star Wars Outlaws suffered from a poor release in August.

The stealth gameplay overview focuses primarily on Naoe, one of the two protagonists available in the game. One of the main features in the stealth gameplay is the Observe mechanic, which both Naoe and Yasuke have access to. This allows you to identify targets as well as tagging and monitoring enemies. This feature was available in previous games but wasn’t as detailed. “The new Observer mechanic is at the core of the Assassin’s Creed Shadows experience. When in doubt, take a pause, observe the world around you, and only then should you decide what your next move should be,” says Simon Lemay-Comtois, Associate Game Director.

The blog post showcases many different features of how stealth works in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, with small clips that showcase each element.

Naoe doesn’t just have to rely on movement and being stealthy to get out of situations, as she has four tools that she can use to help her get away from a sticky situation or to secure a kill on a target. This includes Smoke Bombs, Shinobi Bells, Kunai, and Shuriken. All of them relate to the stealth mechanic in some way. For example, Shinobi Bells create noise, and you can throw them somewhere to alert enemies to the bell rather than to your presence. Kunai can be used for one-shot kills if you are good with your aim. Shuriken can stun enemies and cause distractions if thrown into an environment. The Smoke bombs are self explanatory, and the blog post provides a glimpse into the action of how Naoe can use these tools to better the situation.

“Naoe is our smallest Assassin to date. And she uses that to her advantage: she can squeeze through tiny wall cracks, and she can hide inside small storage spaces and boxes in order to get the drop on her enemies,” says Lemay-Comtois.

When it comes to stealth, this is primarily an option that is given to Naoe, although Yasuke does have a couple of options if you want to avoid direct combat. Overall, it seems that the stealth system in Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been well thought out, with tools to use at your disposal as well as a progression system that can allow you to tunnel vision skills for your stealth or abilities.