Revolutionizing Gameplay: Assassin’s Creed Shadows and the New Adaptive Controls

Assassin’s Creed Shadows introduces a reconfiguration of the series’ typical controls due to the introduction of the ability to go prone.

In a blog released today that elaborates on Shadows’ parkour design, developer Ubisoft revealed that the franchise’s usual crouch and dodge controls have been altered.

This change is attributed to the assignment of the prone feature to the same button as crouch, which has now been placed on the X button on an older Xbox controller. Pressing X enables your character to crouch, while holding it will allow you to go prone.

The capability to dodge, roll, and drop down while performing parkour is now assigned to the B button as well.

“In Shadows, the dodge function has been integrated with parkour down mechanics, which opens up a multitude of new parkour maneuvers,” said Simon Lemay-Comtois, Shadows’ associate game director.

“This new configuration also separates stance-switch (e.g., standing, crouching, prone) from parkour, making sure you can utilize any stance without unintentionally dropping from a rooftop when it’s not your intention.”

Many previous parkour moves from prior Assassin’s Creed games make a return as expected, including the ability to execute a recovery roll to reduce damage and noise upon landing from heights.

The ability to descend has been enhanced with an additional, more dramatic option to perform a directional dodge over edges.

Once you find yourself high enough to sustain drop damage, an additional prompt while parkouring downwards will likely be necessary. After all, the franchise’s familiar hay bales remain available to cushion your fall in specific locations.

Finally, here’s a glimpse of Shadows’ main character Naoe showcasing the new prone feature. You can, of course, eliminate enemies while in the prone position. Thus:

Another significant change in Shadows is that only certain surfaces will be climbable. This marks a departure from previous Assassin’s Creed titles that allowed traversal over cliffs and up steep rock faces, partly influenced by Shadows’ introduction of a grappling hook. In summary, it means you’ll need to search more carefully for climbable surfaces.