Assassin's Creed Shadows review

Assassin's Creed is for magpies. These stealth action adventures constantly dangle some glittering side hustle to distract you from the winding road of the main story. They are "while we're here" games. In town to kill a guy who dishonored your family? OK, but there's a viewpoint nearby, so let's go while we're here. Oh look, there's a wild heron to sketch along the way, let's do that, just while we're here. Hm, squint past the bird and look, a bandit camp full of wood and gunpowder and other useful resources for building your own hideout. Better murder everyone and steal their rocks (while we're here). Assassin's Creed Shadows is another marathon of distraction. A reliably Ubisoftian tourist trap that sequesters you in a hedge maze of history with a packed itinerary and a disregard for the time constraints of adult life. I found the storytelling dull and the combat as sticky-fingered as ever (at least to my grizzled, Sekiro-adoring hands). But it gets a pass from me on the strength of its atmosphere alone, not to mention the commitment to its setting of Sengoku-era Japan, and its impressive (if sometimes overwhelming) scope. Read more

Mar 18, 2025 - 18:04

Assassin's Creed is for magpies. These stealth action adventures constantly dangle some glittering side hustle to distract you from the winding road of the main story. They are "while we're here" games. In town to kill a guy who dishonored your family? OK, but there's a viewpoint nearby, so let's go while we're here. Oh look, there's a wild heron to sketch along the way, let's do that, just while we're here. Hm, squint past the bird and look, a bandit camp full of wood and gunpowder and other useful resources for building your own hideout. Better murder everyone and steal their rocks (while we're here).

Assassin's Creed Shadows is another marathon of distraction. A reliably Ubisoftian tourist trap that sequesters you in a hedge maze of history with a packed itinerary and a disregard for the time constraints of adult life. I found the storytelling dull and the combat as sticky-fingered as ever (at least to my grizzled, Sekiro-adoring hands). But it gets a pass from me on the strength of its atmosphere alone, not to mention the commitment to its setting of Sengoku-era Japan, and its impressive (if sometimes overwhelming) scope.