Ubisoft says Assassin’s Creed Shadows will have fewer “hand-held” map icons, and more player-led exploration

Shadows of Assassin’s Creed is – assuming it doesn’t get delayed a third time – almost upon us, and as it nears its March release, Ubisoft continues its series of in-depth reviews highlighting some of the ways in which this latest entry in the series will break 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 card marker factory.

In his latest blog postUbisoft says Assassin’s Creed Shadows makes “major changes and additions” to exploration in order to “foster a unique feeling of discovery” as players travel through the world. The goal, he explains, is to move away from an overabundance of “hand-held” icons and map markers toward an open world where information is “the key (and) a form of reward “. So, rather than immediately being inundated with points of interest, players will have to discover and obtain information – either directly, through their spies, or through NPCs during their travels.

The world map, for example, will initially only display region names and vague hints depicting potential key locations, with more details revealed as players explore regions, sub-regions, and regions. local monuments. Notably, players will eventually gain scouts who can be sent out to reveal a more precise location of quest 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, syncing no longer reveals a jumble of map icons over a large area, but instead reveals nearby key points of interest that can be manually labeled and added to the compass. Ubisoft says the goal is to give players “a more intentional and active way to find their next adventure.”

Likewise, the classic eagle companion has now been abandoned and players will instead need to find a good vantage point to observe their surroundings and plan their approach, manually searching for and marking valuable items, enemies, etc.

Also new are the safe houses – known as “kakurega” – that players can acquire. These provide “safe” fast travel points (discovered viewpoints also unlock fast travel, but these are often found in dangerous enemy areas), as well as other useful functions. Players can, for example, refill rations, tools and ammo; access their equipment stash; manage and accept contracts; replenish scouts and manage allies who can be summoned for help.

Elsewhere in Ubisoft’s update, mention is made of the Assassin’s Creed Shadows objective table – a version of the visual quest log previously seen in Mirage, which expands to show new targets and objectives as you go. as more characters and challenges are encountered. Or rather, it reveals clues pointing to the location of new opportunities, which players must piece together to get more specific directions – unless they want their scouts to do the heavy lifting for them.

Ubisoft also highlights Shadows’ Pathfinder tool, which – given the inclusion of more inaccessible landscapes this time – is intended to help players avoid false shortcuts that would increase their travel time. When a quest is followed and its location is 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 indicating the shortest path to the destination of a player.

Some additional details about the exploration can be found in The latest article from the Ubisoft blog – and if that’s intrigued you enough, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is now set to launch on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC on March 20. Ubisoft recently further delayed the release of the game (it was previously scheduled for February 14) to explore potential sales options.