At long last, after a four-month wait that felt endless, “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” is set to debut on March 20th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. This is the first installment in the series to delve into Feudal Japan, specifically the late Sengoku era when Oda Nobunaga was ascending to power. The game introduces not one but two protagonists – Naoe and Yasuke – while boasting notable enhancements to the Anvil engine’s lighting and environmental destruction capabilities.
Although it looked promising, earlier demonstrations seemed a bit unpolished, causing doubts about meeting the initial November release date. Fortunately, the delay provided an opportunity for substantial improvements. The high-quality environment and Shadows’ artistic style are now particularly noticeable. To clearly illustrate the differences, we compared the visual quality and performance between the PS5 and PC versions, focusing on various modes. Now, let’s delve into the details without any more delay.
What’s New?
In the game “Assassin’s Creed Shadows,” the world design is incredibly detailed, particularly in its meticulous portrayal of Japan. This attention to detail extends even to the rooftops of various architectural structures. The complexity of this game is so profound that its director, Charles Benoit, stated to IGN that it was “likely the most complex thing I’ve ever worked with,” surpassing even the intricacies found in “Assassin’s Creed Odyssey” and “Syndicate.” Specific programming and animations were developed to ensure a seamless experience.
The devastation of the environment is quite striking too. At first glance, you could see the destruction of stalls selling vegetables and fruits, their contents spilling out effortlessly onto the ground. Yet, even at the beginning, it’s quite gratifying to watch Yasuke fight and send his opponents crashing through wooden containers, some splintering as they pass through while others topple over due to the impact. The way objects are cut based on the angle of the sword is realistic, which is impressive. However, there are occasional odd interactions, such as when an ally slices the top off a barrel and sees it fall to the ground, but it seems unusual when another piece appears to hop before landing on top.
Absolutely, it also includes ray-traced global illumination and ray tracing, which are advancements over past GI implementations. As the seasons change, lighting and shadow quality in scenes undergo dramatic transformations. The inclusion of Atmos is particularly striking due to its dynamic clouds and weather system based on physics. This results in smooth transitions between rainy and clear conditions. While the rain itself is acceptable, watching raindrops splash onto the ground, horses, and characters is a breathtaking spectacle on PC.
Strolling through Iga Province, taking in the surrounding landscapes gracefully dancing with the wind, or spending time in a misty locale that gradually lifts as the sunlight emerges, can be incredibly captivating.
Test Build Specs and Settings
On our desktop computer, we played “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” using an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X CPU, Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti GPU, 64 GB DDR4 RAM, and an NVMe SSD PCIe 4.0. We adjusted most settings to ‘Very High’ and enabled ‘Ultra High’ for a select few options such as Light Source Quality, at a 4K resolution. The upscaler was set to automatic mode with dynamic resolution activated.
The rendering technique used here is advanced ray-tracing, which simulates global illumination for both diffuse and specular reflections. The quality of ray-tracing and Bounding Volume Hierarchy (BVH) was maximized to the highest setting. This results in a detailed character and hair, where each strand can be clearly seen. Even finer details like wrinkles and pores are distinguishable.
PC Performance
Sure thing, let’s rephrase that for a more natural and easy-to-understand style: Absolutely, the performance is a key concern, particularly on PC platforms, and here’s the scoop: It’s mostly satisfactory. Occasionally, there are moments of stuttering when transitioning from the map screen. While exploring Nanbansen, we noticed the frame rate fluctuated between 55 to 60 frames per second while moving around and observing different landscapes and uncharted Points of Interest. However, it drops to approximately 50 to 52 frames per second when submerged and swimming. Fortunately, it quickly recovers and returns to the range of 55 to 60 as soon as you exit the water and start running or engaging in combat.
Despite potential future improvements, the game is already quite impressive given its graphics settings and ray tracing quality. Loading times for fast travel on PC are remarkably swift, with a trip to Nanbansen taking approximately nine seconds.
PS5 Modes
The PlayStation 5 delivers well in terms of visuals, but there are some conditions to consider. It consistently provides a 2160p resolution across its three operating modes, maintaining a smooth performance at 60 frames per second. Notably, it uses Selective Ray Tracing, meaning only the location called “The Hideout” gets enhanced global illumination for diffuse lighting. In Quality Mode, the game runs at 30 frames per second with Standard Ray Tracing, ensuring consistent lighting throughout the entire game world. Lastly, Balanced Mode resembles Quality Mode but operates at 40 frames per second and demands a display with either 120 or 240 Hz refresh rate and HDMI 2.1 connectivity.
When it comes to providing intricate details, Quality Mode really shines. For instance, Naoe’s hair appears to bounce naturally as she walks and the global illumination and shadows are crisp. The water reflections also look quite good, particularly during fights like the initial 1v1 fight against an Oda Brute, and the frame rate remains fairly consistent.
Although Performance Mode may not be as high definition, it maintains a strong appearance while keeping its promise of 60 frames per second. Occasionally, there might be some minor pop-in, particularly with foliage and its shadows, but the overall rendering distance is quite impressive. The lighting and shadow quality are somewhat reduced, yet they still appear fairly good.
The Balanced Mode on the PS5 may appear to give you the optimal blend of features, but it draws attention to a significant problem – the image quality. It could be due to an issue with the upscaler or perhaps the resolution adjusting dynamically to maintain smooth performance, particularly in crowded scenes. Interestingly, the visuals seem much improved during one-on-one battles, but two other perplexing issues arise during gameplay.
One issue is the occasional removal of minor assets at the bottom right corner (often for vegetation), which can seem out of place once you notice it. Another problem is a strange blurring in particular character areas, particularly during fights. This stands out significantly in Performance Mode and looks unappealing. However, there’s a positive point: load times are quite good across all modes, with Performance Mode loading in under 10 seconds, around 11 seconds in Balanced mode, and less than 14 seconds in Quality Mode when quickly traveling to Nanbansen.
PC vs PS5 Quality Mode
Without a doubt, the PC edition surpasses the PS5 version. While the PS5 version boasts impressive graphics in Quality Mode with its Global Illumination, shadows, and steady performance, it falls short when compared to the PC version, which excels in all three aspects and delivers superior image quality. During cutscenes and gameplay on consoles, there’s a noticeable disparity in graphical quality, but this difference is almost imperceptible on PC, providing an exquisite visual experience.
Conclusion
The PC version of “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” truly shines, outperforming even the PS5 version despite facing certain unique challenges. With an abundance of customizable options and delivering on its promised innovations, it offers a visually stunning and technically sound gameplay experience. Immersing oneself in the late Sengoku era or diving into a fresh stealth action adventure, the graphics are among the series’ finest.
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2025-03-19 20:42