Recent reviews by Zealot

As some people have pointed out, I only have 1 hour of gameplay on Steam. I refunded the game here and bought a cheap key that I activated on Ubisoft Connect, hence the short playtime here.

I played the game with the Japanese/Portuguese VA (immersive or whatever it was called), with Stealth and Combat difficulty to expert (max difficulty). I didn't finish the game, probably never will, but played a good 40 hours.

Assassin's Creed Shadows delivers impressively on the visual front. The game's ambient design creates an immersive world with notable attention to detail, particularly in the weather system. The wind simulation deserves special recognition, with leaves flowing naturally across landscapes creating a truly dynamic environment.
However, the wildlife implementation feels underdeveloped. Animals appear to exist as mere aesthetic additions rather than integral parts of the ecosystem. The AI governing wildlife behavior is rudimentary at best, with particularly noticeable issues in bird behaviors which abruptly despawn when observed closely, breaking immersion in what is otherwise a visually compelling world.

The open world of Assassin's Creed Shadows quickly becomes tedious despite its visual appeal. The game follows the standard open-world formula that has become all too familiar in the gaming industry - a large map populated with repetitive activities, collectibles, and cookie-cutter side quests. There's little innovation in how players interact with this world, resulting in an experience that feels recycled rather than refreshed.
The map offers beautiful vistas but lacks meaningful discovery or emergent gameplay opportunities that would encourage genuine exploration. Instead, players are guided by the usual array of map markers and checklist activities that have defined open-world games for the past decade. Perhaps the most egregious missed opportunity lies in the game's Eagle Vision mechanic, which highlights interactive elements with blue dots that typically only lead to overheard conversations with no meaningful follow-up. This represents a critical failure to capitalize on what could have been a rich system for player engagement. Unlike games such as Fallout: New Vegas, where the world reveals interconnected relationships and spawn meaningful side quests, Shadows' conversations remain isolated and inconsequential. Players are left frustrated by the promise of interaction that never materializes, when the game could have used these moments to develop characters, unveil new storylines, or create a more dynamic and responsive world where NPCs feel genuinely connected to one another. The kill/spare system could've also been much more meaningful, but I won't expand on it. For those who aren't already enthusiasts of the genre, this approach feels particularly stale and fails to justify the expansive world the developers have created. The game seems content to rely on established design patterns rather than pushing the boundaries of what an open world can offer.

The parkour system, a staple of the Assassin's Creed franchise, performs adequately but lacks the fluidity one might hope for. While movement can feel rewarding when executed properly, certain scenarios become unnecessarily challenging due to control inconsistencies.
The introduction of the grappling hook represents a missed opportunity. While it adds a new dimension to traversal, its implementation feels limited and underutilized. The tool could have revolutionized movement throughout the game but instead serves as an occasional convenience rather than a transformative gameplay element.

Combat represents one of the game's weakest aspects. The system lacks depth and sophistication, often devolving into ability-spamming once cooldowns reset. The flow between different combat actions feels disjointed, particularly evident in the handling of throwable weapons. The game's decision to lock throwable inputs during attack animations prevents players from creating smooth combat combinations, resulting in a staccato fighting experience.
The limited variety of finisher animations becomes repetitive early in the gameplay experience, further emphasizing the combat system's shallow design. Enemy AI during combat scenarios displays basic patterns that pale in comparison to the sophisticated enemy behaviors found in FromSoftware titles for example. The attempt to emulate that style of combat falls noticeably short.
The difficulty scaling presents another significant issue. Higher difficulty settings don't create more intelligent or tactically challenging enemies; instead, they simply reduce player health while inflating enemy health pools. This approach creates artificial rather than meaningful difficulty, resulting in less engaging and rewarding combat encounters.

The stealth system in Assassin's Creed Shadows presents a mixed experience that undermines consistent gameplay. On expert difficulty, the AI detection can be frustratingly inconsistent. Guards sometimes spot you almost instantaneously when traversing rooftops, making what should be a ninja's natural domain surprisingly restrictive. This overly sensitive detection creates tedious trial-and-error sequences that interrupt the flow of gameplay. Conversely, the same AI can display baffling obliviousness in other scenarios, with guards failing to react to assassinations happening mere meters away. On a side note, kudos to the "dynamic" stealth system. Obviously at night, you can stealth easily, and even more by staying in the shadows. But it makes stealth in the day very limited. All these inconsistencies makes it difficult to develop reliable stealth strategies and diminishes what could have been a standout feature in a game set in feudal Japan.

The narrative has its moments of brilliance that stand out from the overall story. Certain scenes and character interactions succeed in creating memorable experiences that briefly elevate the gameplay. However, these high points are isolated within an otherwise unremarkable storyline that fails to maintain consistent quality or emotional impact throughout the experience. The potential for a truly engaging narrative is evident in these stronger moments, making the overall mediocrity of the story all the more disappointing.

The implementation of a cash shop and battle pass system represents one of the most disappointing aspects of Assassin's Creed Shadows. In a full-priced AAA title, locking cosmetic content behind additional paywalls feels exploitative rather than supportive of the player experience. While cosmetic rewards earned through gameplay challenges could have provided meaningful progression and extended engagement with the game world, the decision to gate these items behind timed availability and additional purchases is simply shameful. This approach prioritizes additional revenue streams over player satisfaction and stands in stark contrast to the artistic ambitions displayed in the game's environmental design. The monetization strategy ultimately tarnishes what goodwill the game manages to build through its stronger elements.

Assassin's Creed Shadows presents a visually striking world with impressive environmental details. However, the game struggles with underdeveloped AI, a formulaic open world design, merely adequate parkour mechanics, underutilized traversal innovations, and a particularly disappointing combat system that lacks fluidity and depth. Combined with a narrative that shows flashes of promise but ultimately underwhelms, these shortcomings result in a mediocre gaming experience that fails to fully capitalize on its promising elements.

Best early access game I've ever played. Very little bugs, pretty smooth experience. Some balance changes needs to be done here and there but it's really a great experience from the get-go. The artistic direction is spot-on, the bestiary is varied, classes are fun and diverse.

It's a solid 8/10 already and will likely impose itself as THE hack'n'slash reference for years to come.

It's euro, it's jank, and we love it. Can't wait for a better mod support that will bring this game to the top.

Boring and uninspired slop

Counter-Strike stands as the pinnacle of FPS gaming, unrivaled in its purity and enduring appeal. Unlike most FPS games, which clutter their gameplay with constantly shifting metas, intrusive battle passes, and a ridiculous array of abilities, CS keeps it simple: just a few weapons, some nades, and pure skill. No bullcrap. Its core concept—simple to understand—ensures that gameplay remains eternally engaging and rewarding. Counter-Strike isn't just another FPS; it's the gold standard, the timeless masterpiece that makes other games look like they're trying too hard. With its strategic depth, dedicated community, and unwavering quality, CS remains the definitive reference point in the genre.

Runs like ♥♥♥♥.

This game is insanely catchy and fun to play. Very addictive though be careful ! Oh also made by a solo dev, cheers !

TLDR : The gameplay loop falls short really quickly. Game looks like an UE5 preset with some quick work on it. QOL is not there, most mechanics are clunky (you know, the ones that are not part of the 3rd person shooter preset of Unreal Engine), the AI is barebones and bugs a lot. I sincerely don't understand the hype.



It looks like a low production asset-flip game, and I can't believe people are buying into it. You can almost see how the game was made to be a quick "dev something OK'ish and ship it". Everything feels half-baked. Animations are low-tier, custom mechanics are low-tier (the climbing, the mounting, the base-building, the AI... basically everything except what UE5 offers as a preset), models that aren't asset store are most likely AI generated and bland/soulless. The gameplay loop is utterly boring meaning you'll see everything the game has to offer in 3 hours.

It's basically :

- Walk and catch the same pals you already captured 10 times over and over again (boring)
- Dungeons (which are ALL THE SAME - boring and bland)
- Build base, automate tasks and farm resources (which is not working as expected most of the time - AI will get stuck, will just not work correctly, etc - boring)
- Tower boss (boring because the combat is just bland. Tower bosses (or even world bosses) are stat checks, and you literally just shoot - dodge - shoot - dodge endlessly, use your Pal skills from time to time - which sometimes are just plain bugged btw)

Rinse and repeat.

I'm really mind blown at how people are buying into this **** when it's also clear considering the studio's previous title that the game could very much stay in EA forever with nothing much added.

In the end, people complain that video games are of less quality nowadays. Well let me tell you, you're not gonna stop studios creating this type of **** if people buy into it, play it a month, get bored and forget, again and again.

Game is VERY POORLY optimized on PC, would wait for a bit as of now.

PS : Update manually the DLSS.dll of the game for a little improvement.

TLDR : C'est d'la merde

-Le levelling est chiant à crever, aucun challenge, va ici, tue 10 mobs, rends la quête.
-50000 monnaies différentes ,des menus imbuvables, on est envahis par des notifications de partout, c'est chiant.
-Le jeu est interdit en Belgique, pourquoi à votre avis ?
-Le gameplay n'a rien de foncièrement mauvais, mais n'a rien d'incroyable non plus. Le pvp est même un peu mou.
-Ah bah parce que pour min/max son perso, t'es obligé de passer par le cash-shop et du casino RNG.

Si vous voulez y jouer de manière casual, sans dépenser un rond et que vous accrochez au jeu, grand bien vous fasse.
Sinon passez votre chemin.