When the wind sweeps through the landscapes of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the game springs to life in an extraordinary way. Leaves are lifted into the air, grass sways rhythmically, and you can even see Naoe’s hair flutter gently. This superb rendering brings the game’s seasonal and weather mechanics to vivid life. Now, here’s an interesting tidbit: in a chat with Digital Foundry, some of the game’s rendering experts revealed that this “wind” we’re all taken with isn’t actual wind; it’s an invisible fluid simulation.
Yes, you’ve heard that right! The realistic wind effects come from fluid dynamics seamlessly integrated into the game, a technique used in many video games to create convincing atmospheres. Games like God of War and Dwarf Fortress have implemented similar technology, so naturally, it fits perfectly here as well.
Ubisoft has named this clever system Atmos, designed to mirror the game’s seasonal theme. As Naoe’s tale of vengeance unfolds against two timelines, the weather moves with her journey. Picture yourself trudging through a snow-covered landscape in Japan one moment, then dashing across lush, vibrant fields the next, as the seasons change right in front of you. Eventually, players gain the ability to switch seasons at will.
Thanks to the new ray-traced lighting effects, Assassin’s Creed Shadows stands out as one of the visually spectacular games you can find today. For someone like me, it’s the first time ray tracing has felt indispensable in crafting moods and enriching storytelling within a game. Digital Foundry delves into the nitty-gritty in their video, but essentially, by integrating ray tracing into existing technology, the game lights scenes more accurately. When inside buildings, shoji radiate a warm glow, and outside, objects cast deeper shadows where sunlight can’t penetrate. Without ray tracing, all this contrast diminishes, leaving a less vibrant world behind. The experts at Digital Foundry have even described this as a “generational divide in lighting fidelity.”
Assassin’s Creed Shadows might just persuade you to upgrade to a PlayStation 5 Pro or invest in a gaming PC with a 50-series Nvidia card. This beast can handle 60 frames per second with ray tracing turned on and will soon support Sony’s PSSR upscaling technology with a planned update. On a PC with DLSS and Frame Generation, like an RTX 4070 or newer, hitting 60 fps is a breeze.
You’ll appreciate all that processing power because it’s not just about stunning lighting. The interactive elements, like cutting through bamboo and the dance of the wind, elevate the game’s tactile feedback, reminiscent of the magic found in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Assassin’s Creed Shadows pushes boundaries, not purely for hyper-realism, but to craft an immersive world that feels genuinely alive.
