Ubisoft introduced Assassin’s Creed Shadows and it will be the first time in the series with renewed technology. The game aims to offer players a quality experience by using next-generation technologies such as ray tracing and an improved physics engine.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ trailer gives us our first look at the series’ refreshed technology

Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which released a short CGI trailer in the past weeks, has finally been introduced with a comprehensive gameplay demo. Shadows, the first game in the series exclusively for next-gen consoles, aims to be more advanced than previous games by utilizing current technologies such as ray tracing. First impressions show that the game is a technological leap forward compared to its predecessors.

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One of the most notable innovations is the addition of ray traced global illumination (RTGI) technology. Ubisoft’s Anvil game engine now supports RTGI, resulting in more realistic lighting effects. While the lighting in large areas looks impressive, there were some difficulties in achieving the same effect in smaller environments. Some of the light leaks and lighting details seen indoors during the demo suddenly appear with camera movement, suggesting that this technology is not yet fully optimized.

Another noteworthy detail in the gameplay video is the small-scale destruction effects. In the fight scenes with the Yasuke character, details such as enemies crashing into fruit baskets and scattering the fruit around are visually satisfying. However, these objects do not react physically after they hit the ground, meaning they do not react to player movements. Ubisoft is aiming to improve these new destruction mechanics and it remains to be seen how widespread these effects will be in the final version.

However, the lack of motion blur in the game may have a negative impact on visual fluidity. In past Assassin’s Creed games, at least object-based motion blur was available, giving the game’s action scenes a more cinematic feel. During the demo, the visual experience was also marred by an inconsistent 30fps frame rate. Ubisoft is expected to fix these issues in the final release.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be one of the series’ biggest technological leaps forward. The addition of RTGI and virtualized geometry could positively impact the lighting quality and setup size of the game world.

However, some shortcomings in the overall lighting quality and framerate issues will need to be addressed before the game’s release. What do you think? Please don’t forget to share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.