Assassin’s Creed Unity had it bad, huh? Yet fans still love it despite the many technical issues that came with it. It wasn’t just because Arno was a beloved protagonist; it was mainly because Assassin’s Creed Unity was truly ahead of its time for the series, and the technology couldn’t keep up back then. Until now…
But why is the parkour system in modern Assassin’s Creed games so bland? Everything went downhill after Unity, reducing the experience to a simple ‘go up and down’ with no effort put into the animations.
The Parkour in Unity Is Leagues Better Than Other AC Titles
It goes without saying that everyone loved AC: Unity because of how technologically impressive it was. The parkour system had a certain oomph to it. From how Arno gracefully climbed walls to the way he slid down the Parisian rooftops, there was something special about it—some black magic that only Ubisoft Montreal could deliver.
Where is the slick animation in modern AC games where your character seamlessly jumps from wall to wall without the animation breaking? In newer Assassin’s Creed titles, Eivor and Kassandra have stiff animations when climbing walls and jumping off ledges. There’s a noticeable break in their movement that removes the realism.
Unity did that so well.
Ubisoft’s In-House Engine Helped
Ubisoft’s in-house engine, AnvilNext 2.0, was superior to the newer version of Ubisoft Anvil animation-wise. It gave Unity that graceful parkour movement. However, they toned it down when they realized the engine couldn’t keep up with the demands of old-gen consoles. This was missing in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, the next game after Unity, where the Frye siblings moved similarly to what we see in modern AC titles.
click to enlarge
+ 2AnvilNext 2.0 was also the engine used to create Rainbow Six: Siege, which boasts some of the best movement animations in a first-person shooter. It excels in action games and shines in sports games like Steep, Ubisoft’s extreme snowboarding game that beautifully showcases fluid animations.
Eventually, Ubisoft gave up trying to adapt to old-gen systems and reverted to standard parkour mechanics without any grace or fluidity in their next games, Odyssey, Origins, and Valhalla.
The latest iteration of Ubisoft Anvil is already here, and it’s doing wonders for the game’s open world and impressive visual design. It’s used in upcoming Ubisoft titles, including Assassin’s Creed Shadows and the Prince of Persia Remake.
The Parkour Moving Forward
There’s a clear gap between Unity’s animation quality and the downgrade seen in future Assassin’s Creed titles. This technical issue stems from sacrifices made to ensure smoother gameplay. After Unity’s botched technical launch, Ubisoft had to scale down the animations, disappointing for someone like me who values immersion in an open-world game.
So, what now? With Assassin’s Creed Shadows on the horizon, we already see an improved parkour system. Naoe, one of the protagonists, wields a grappling hook to reach high places and can go prone, something no Assassin’s Creed game has done before. In the gameplay trailers, we’ve seen her move nimbly from the shadows and across rooftops, even climbing above walls—a series first.
click to enlarge + 2However, Yasuke, the Samurai with a brute playstyle, will likely have parkour mechanics similar to Eivor and Kassandra, as shown in the gameplay trailers.
It may seem like a minor nitpick to demand better parkour in an Assassin’s Creed game, but it’s one of the core features that fans (including me) love about the series. This game is about assassins climbing rooftops, shimmying through walls, and doing whatever it takes to hide from enemies. It’s a stealth game at its core, and it would be a disservice to see such dated parkour mechanics in modern Assassin's Creed titles when Unity set the bar so high.
But I strongly hope that Assassin’s Creed: Shadows’ parkour can deliver now that the modern-gen consoles can already keep up with it.
For more articles like this, take a look at our Features and Assassin's Creed page.