Assassin’s Creed Shadows is getting a much-needed parkour update

Ubisoft today revealed the year one update roadmap for open world weather-appreciate-em-up Assassin’s Creed Shadows. It includes a steady drip feed of new quest and story updates, some fan requested features like NG+, and a few additional quality of life bits. However! None of this matters. Shoo, less important details. The real headline here is that the series built around making jumping between rooftops feel good is making jumping between rooftops feel even better. Excellent news.

I’ll admit that this is probably a very personal thing, but I’m often left confused watching Ubisoft pour energy into dozens of supplementary features over the years, while seemingly neglecting what I see as Assassin’s Creed’s core fantasy. The parkour traversal that felt so key to the series’ identity in the early years has gradually turned into a frictionless, ho-hum means of traversal, absent all the thrills and creativity it has the potential to offer. Make climbing on things fun, and everything else falls into place, say I.

The first update is coming in May, where Ubi say they’ll be adding “often-requested height-gaining back-ejects, fully re-animated height-gaining side-ejects, and a brand-new parkour move called the Vertical Ledge Jump, allowing both characters to jump and grab onto awnings and lower overhangs – a move that is particularly handy when wall-runs are not an option”. They’ll also be adding “more little parkour tricks” and tweak over the year.

There are plenty of other bits on the roadmap, too, including a higher difficulty setting and other regular community feedback updates. It’s nice to listen to fans, even if I can’t help picturing The Simpsons’ Itchy and Scratchy focus group whenever a developer goes to these sort of community-appeasing lengths.