Andrew Cranwell

I have been playing AC shadows as a long time fan of the series and I am sad to say it’s a bit ‘meh’ - firstly I am lost with the storyline - and keep randomly finding quest items that have little or no context; there are quests that can’t even start (find lord Seji) and so you have to go hunt out the end of the quest to trigger the continuation of it, but right now other than running around trying to kill members of different evil groups, I have no clear idea what is tying it all together and I am just trying to build up enough strength in the characters to face some tough opponent’s - this lack of connection to the story is equally losing my connection to the game so it just feels like a level grind. Take a previous title like the London based syndicate - you end up advocating for the main characters and being more immersed in a strong story; with shadows I don’t have that connection. Even mirage had a stronger theme despite its small scale. The controls also feel less challenging (except for the meditation elements - I keep forgetting the combos 😂) as the system is filling in a little too much; some foes are ridiculously easy to overcome, just roll a couple of times, hit, rinse and repeat and you will wear them down; I prefer previous titles like odyssey (still one of the best of the series in my view) where some fights really feel like an achievement that you had to work hard to get. Travelling around is less enjoyable, it’s swung from too small with mirage to insanely long to get anywhere and do anything with shadows - the auto follow system goes to some ridiculous lengths to get you somewhere and often ends with a ‘no path’! There are positives, the graphics are beautiful, the swaying and lush forests feel incredibly real, the water really responds like water should and there has been good attention to detail, the voice acting is great and the cut scenes well put together. You can’t folder the developers and designers for this. But this isn’t really enough to overcome the story flaws. Every temple feels the same, every castle has the same styling and the small towns and villages feel inconsequential. There are a trillion eagle points because the map is so big and the terrain difficult to cross at times you have to hop between map points with fast travel else you can be walking and riding for ages. The changing of the seasons is clever, but superfluous and the scout system necessary to overcome the extensive travel (if it actually ends up scouting the right point!). I will play this game through because I want to find out if it does eventually come together as a good story that really makes sense with some great connection to the past, but I am not going to leap at it being something I can’t wait to play. 3/5 stars from me.