Assassin's Creed Shadows will give you the option to switch on guaranteed one-shot assassinations, Ubisoft has confirmed.
For some context, in pre-Origins Assassin's Creed games, if you managed to position yourself behind or above an enemy target unseen and you performed an assassination, that target became not alive. However, when the series grew out of its stealth-action roots and took on more RPG elements, it stopped guaranteeing one-shot assassinations, instead going off of your level, stats, and your enemy's health bar.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla was the first game in the series to allow you to toggle on guaranteed assassinations in the settings menu, and now Ubisoft has confirmed that Shadows is doing the same thing.
"You can trigger the 'one-shot assassination' feature in the game options, which allows you to assassinate all enemies regardless of their health bar," reads a note in a new Ubisoft writeup on Shadows' progression.
As an oldie who started playing Assassin's Creed with 2010's Brotherhood, I'll be among the many to switch on this feature as soon as I have the opportunity. Forget the stunning recreations of historical cities and massive open worlds; I play Assassin's Creed to merk unsuspecting enemies. Don't get me wrong, spartan kicking people off cliffs in Odyssey is highly satisfying, but it's not a replacement for blade-based assassinations.
By default, how much damage you inflict on enemies in Shadows will be determined by the level of your gear and your skills and abilities. You'll also be able to use the color of enemies' health bars to determine whether your assassination attempt will be successful or not, with white signaling a guaranteed assassination, yellow meaning "some damage" will be dealt, and red meaning the attack will be "denied."
A month from launch, Ubisoft confirms "players have accessed Assassin's Creed Shadows ahead of its official release," advises you "stay in the shadows" to avoid spoilers.
