Assassin’s Creed’s Parkour Has Gone Downhill After Unity

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Despite encountering numerous technical hurdles upon release, Assassin’s Creed Unity remains cherished by fans. This wasn’t solely due to the endearing character of Arno, but primarily because Unity was a groundbreaking installment for the series, outpacing its contemporary technology. Now, however, it seems that the technology has finally caught up.

However, it seems that the parkour system in contemporary Assassin’s Creed games lacks depth. Following the release of Unity, it appears that the gameplay has become less engaging, reduced primarily to navigating ‘up and down’, with little attention given to animation quality.

The Parkour in Unity Is Leagues Better Than Other AC Titles

It’s clear that AC: Unity was adored by all due to its impressive technological prowess. The parkour system had a unique charm to it. Whether it was watching Arno scale walls with elegance or observing him glide across the Parisian rooftops, there was something enchanting about it—a secret artistry that only Ubisoft Montreal could master.

In contemporary Assassin’s Creed games like those featuring Eivor or Kassandra, the wall-jumping animations appear somewhat rigid compared to the smooth transitions observed in modern AC games, where characters seemingly glide from wall to wall without a hitch in the animation sequence, contributing to a more immersive experience.

Unity did that so well.

Ubisoft’s In-House Engine Helped

In terms of animation, Ubisoft’s updated engine, AnvilNext 2.0, outperformed its successor in Ubisoft’s lineup. It was this engine that lent a fluid, parkour-like quality to games like Unity. However, they decided to scale back its capabilities when they recognized it struggled to meet the performance requirements of older generation consoles. Unfortunately, this improvement wasn’t carried over to Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, the game following Unity, where the movement of the Frye siblings was more akin to what we see in contemporary Assassin’s Creed titles.

AnvilNext 2.0 is the engine responsible for crafting Rainbow Six: Siege, a first-person shooter renowned for its exceptional character movement animations. This engine performs exceptionally well in action games and leaves a striking impression in sports titles such as Steep, Ubisoft’s thrilling snowboarding game, where it displays smooth animation sequences beautifully.

In the end, Ubisoft abandoned the attempt to tailor their games for older consoles, instead opting for a return to traditional parkour mechanics and, unfortunately, a lack of elegance or smoothness in games like Odyssey, Origins, and Valhalla.

Ubisoft decided not to continue adapting their games for older generation systems and chose to go back to the classic parkour mechanics. However, these new titles, including Odyssey, Origins, and Valhalla, lacked the finesse or seamlessness that they previously possessed.

The new version of Ubisoft Anvil has arrived, bringing remarkable enhancements to the game’s expansive open world and stunning graphics. This technology will be featured in upcoming Ubisoft games such as Assassin’s Creed: Shadows and the revamped Prince of Persia.

The Parkour Moving Forward

It’s quite noticeable that the animation quality in Unity is significantly better than what we’ve seen in later Assassin’s Creed games. This discrepancy can be attributed to certain compromises made to enhance gameplay smoothness. Following the technical mishap during the launch of Unity, Ubisoft was compelled to reduce animation complexity, which can be disheartening for gamers like me who appreciate a high level of immersion in open-world games.

Looking ahead, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set to introduce an enhanced parkour system. One of the main characters, Naoe, utilizes a grappling hook for traversing high areas, and can also take a prone position – a unique feature yet unseen in any Assassin’s Creed game. Gameplay trailers show her gracefully moving from the shadows and across rooftops, even scaling walls above barriers – a series innovation.

Instead, it appears that despite Yasuke’s powerful, straightforward combat style, he may share parkour abilities like Eivor and Kassandra, as suggested by the gameplay previews.

In terms of suggestions for improvement, asking for enhanced parkour abilities in an Assassin’s Creed game might appear as a minor detail, but it’s actually a cherished aspect that fans (including myself) are fond of within the series. This franchise revolves around assassins navigating rooftops, slipping through walls, and performing various actions to evade adversaries. At its heart, it’s a stealth game, and it would be unfortunate if the parkour mechanics in contemporary Assassin’s Creed games fell behind the standards set by Unity.

I’m optimistic that the parkour system in Assassin’s Creed: Shadows will be impressive given that current-generation consoles are powerful enough to handle it smoothly.

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2025-03-13 18:42