[Music] [Music] Assassin's Creed Shadows marks a very special milestone in the series as the first entry developed with a total focus on PlayStation 5 Xbox series machines and PC it's a bold transition with a clear payoff in its technology one that finally puts last gen PS4 and Xbox One console support aside to allow Shadows the full provision of anvil engines latest features firstly lighting and Shadow accuracy is greatly improved via a new though still optional R traced Global illumination setting while rate traced Reflections are also possible on PC and PS5 Pro procedural we simulation for
wind rain and fog are also now integrated into the world design and lastly we have more exhaustive use of world destruction physics all combined the more complex nature of Shadows world is beyond what was possible in 2023 is crossgen release Assassin's Creed Mirage and it gives us the evolutionary jump I've long been hoping to see from the [Music] series developer Ubisoft Quebec debus all of this with shadows feudal Japan setting except to enjoy every new feature to get the socalled nextg Assassin's Creed experience it's necessary to pick the right hardware and Graphics mode digital foundry's
own Oliver mckenzi will be dissecting the PS5 Pro upgrades in a future video so stay tuned for that in this tech review though I'm tackling the Basse consoles the regular PS5 Xbox series X and S models the first question being does the four terlop Xbox series s still hand in a decent experience on its single 30fps mode or are there trade-offs to consider and out of the three modes available to Xbox series X and PS5 the 60fps performance 40 FPS balanced and 30 FPS quality options which is the ideal way to play let's find out
the new tech of the anval engine deserves a moment in the spotlight after all on console and PC this is the first series entry to officially adopt R racing and it has a huge impact on the presentation of its world for PS5 series X and s in particular we get RT Global illumination adding richer more realistic ambient light bounce and shading alas while R traced Reflections are also included in Shadows they are reserved for the PC release and PS5 pro mean meaning we resort to the screen space method for Reflections on the base consoles rtgi
though is in place on all formats though there is another catch to consider specifically it only engages globally across the entire explorable map on PS5 and series X using their 30 FPS quality and 40 FPS balanced modes on the 60fps performance mode however we switch to ubisoft's Classic baked GI method as also used in AC Valhalla and Mirage the exception to this is The Hideout area which enables rtgi regardless of your selected mode but will also always run at 30 frames per second as for Xbox series s rtgi only appears in this same very limited
capacity in The Hideout area but never Beyond it to show that all important rate tracing upgrade let's C Series X in action for a game with such a diversity in weather States multiple season changes plus destructible environments Shadows world is more Dynamic than any Assassin's Creed game before it the domino effect being that the realtime Ray traced approach has an advantage in being more adaptable it better simulates light and Shadow interactions across a constantly changing environment while the older baked GI method of the 60fps performance mode must still rely on pre-calculated lighting States for each
season Outdoors then the impact is clear to see the rtgi of the quality mode adds richer more detailed pockets of shade between objects like these clay pots the ox carts and vegetation likewise you'll notice it in the depth of shading on character faces in daylight and especially the Interiors of shops where the baked GI method struggles to match up finally you'll also to see an allround improvement in lighting diffused light bounce from nearby colored scenery has an impact on the world helping to realistically lighten shaded patches on the ground with an appropriate [Music] Hue ubisoft's
classic baked GI method is still respectable but has clear limitations also sadly all of these limits apply to the series S release across the main world in the the same manner as the 60fps performance modes on series X and PS5 it overs saturates certain details with color in an attempt to match up to the rtgi lighting while interiors and up close character detail lack the same shading depth the other catch is that Series S only runs at 30 frames per second so there's really no performance upside to missing out here and it's the worst of
Both Worlds compared to the series X options as a kind of consolation The Hideout area which is a small customizable sandbox that lets us decorate and plant buildings as we like does engage rtgi on Series S it's possible to enjoy it there but for the rest of the game the reality is that Series S runs at a third of the compute power of the series X which has a KnockOn effect for its features it's a huge win for series X and PS5 then and while the lack of R Trace Reflections is a shame the rtgi
allows for a much grander payoff for Assassin's Creed Shadows World [Music] design another major Anvil engine upgrade is in its physics ubisoft's efforts are extensive in this aspect for Shadows helping to inject some much needed energy into the game's Landscapes riding to your next mission you'll spot a procedural weather system called Atmos generating clouds overhead in in a dynamic manner paired with that is wind simulation using fluid dynamics to create everything from light gusts to gals impacting the forests treay Blossom petals and even the direction of rainfall in the process and to top that off
there's a widespread use of Destruction physics now in towns for example it's possible to smash most objects decorating the market stalls or even slice through fabric with the tear line matching your Kat's Arc also another neat touch I noticed is that while sneaking through long grass each grass blade flattens in a persistent manner as you crawl through it's all seriously impressive stuff and makes the world feel more tangible interactive to a degree that wasn't possible with the cross gen Assassin's Creeds before it given Shadows open world is filled with these complex Hills valleys and large
settlements Ubisoft has gone to Great Lengths to also optimize its terrain streaming to that end a a new virtualized geometry system is added to Anvil engine similar in principle to Unreal Engine 5's nanite allowing geometry across a scene to gradually subdivide into smaller polygonal meshes the further it appears in the distance it's a cost-saving measure but one that seamless and lets Ubisoft Quebec's artists build out its world without resorting to more obvious LOD steps [Music] all of these Technologies are included on PS5 and series X alongside the weather and destruction physics though there is one
Omission on series s a new hair strand physics setting as seen on PC enables on PS5 and series X permanently on their quality and balanced modes it's a beautiful addition that affects most characters sporting Tresses of some kind individual strands of hair like on our Shinobi heroin Nae animate dynamically each one interacting with a neighboring strand of hair as she pivots while wind simulation has an impact too the catch however is that the 60fps performance mode reverts to a simplified card system for each hair tuft where the more complex strand physics model only re-engages for
The Hideout area and in cutcenes and once again Series S misses out on this feature entirely on its single mode Series S runs with the basic hair setting those strand physics do appear of course in pre-rendered cinematics in a three-way comparison between performance balanced and quality modes it's clear that rtgi and hair physics are the main factors to consider they are the big features you stand to gain or lose depending now there are a few other differences not least of which is the native resolution per mode since there are admittedly quite a few variables here
I've put everything into one table to make it easy to digest the key point being that series X and PS5 run at between 1080P and 162p on their quality modes which takes a hit to a lower range of 810p to 1440p on the performance mode the 40 FPS balanced mode meanwhile runs at a narrower range of 900p to 1440p in my testing which marginally avoids the lowest low of the performance mode in that case we do keep the rtgi and hair strand physics at least making it a pretty good compromise all of these modes upscale
to a final 4K image using what appears to be ubisoft's in-house temporal anti- lising upsampling as for Xbox series s the cut backs run deep as you might expect Series S runs at a dynamic range of 720p to 1080p natively before being upscaled to 162p and the target image with an obvious KnockOn effect to image [Music] quality beyond the native resolutions there are a few other differences to consider taking series X in example though this applies to PS5 equally you'll notice Shadow quality is dropped a setting on the performance mode beyond that texture quality draw
distances and all the physics based extras added to Anvil are identical regardless of which mode you pick it perhaps goes without saying that PS5 and series X are matched visually and taking the 30fps quality mode in example there's really nothing to split the two the resolution setups and graphic settings are an exact match more curious though are the series s downgrades we've seen the limited rtgi the chopped hair physics and the lower resolution bounds on series A already it also only runs at 30 frames per second but there are a few other cutbacks worth touching
on firstly there's lower quality texture Assets in place across the environment where the fine fabric on clothing for example takes a noticeable hit compared to series X it runs with lower quality shadows 2o in line with the 60fps performance mode setting on the other consoles thankfully Beyond this Ubisoft presents Shadows world at a matching quality on Series S with broad views resolving the exact same level of detail for virtual Acres ahead on to Performance testing and the quality mode justifies a focus first given it's offering a wealth of new Anvil engine features I'm also glad
to say it's well optimized in targeting 30 frames per second from the very opening Siege on the eager Province to the rapid open world roaming on Horseback with Nai it's broadly a locked 30 on both PS5 and series X the added demands of rtgi and the new hair physics aren't an issue here the only snag I can see is actually a byproduct of using Dynamic resolution scaling again going from 1080p to 162p much like other recent Assassin's Creed titles using DRS this does at times cause drops where the rendering load changes rapidly so for example
tilting the camera Skyward and then abrupt rly down to complex scenery gives the renderer only a moment to adjust the pixel structure alas in that window there will be dropped frames it happens so rarely outside of these forced moments though with battles only occasionally showing a few odd dropped frames at points as the camera pans around other than that it's a robust 30 FPS experience on both machines [Music] of course 30 FPS might be a compromise too far for some to enjoy Assassin's Creed Shadows raid tracing and that's where the Balan mode shines for those
equipped with a 120 HZ display the balanced mode unlocks in the menus for 40 FPS gameplay instead the resolution range drops but the rtgi and hair physics are intact for all aspects of gameplay and it's highly recommended we're getting a mostly locked 40 frames per second albeit with a similar catch to the quality mode in that on occasion sudden camera movements catch the DRS offguard PS5 and series X are well optimized for this mode otherwise besides the triggering of a few dropped frames the one additional catch to this mode is that The Hideout area and
cutcenes will still switch to a 30 FPS cap in fact walking up this mountain path to The Hideout causes this frame rate change in real time 40 down to 30 and back again as you pass an invisible threshold it's unclear how well this area might have held up at the usual 40 FPS but at least for all gameplay elsewhere we're getting an extra 10 frames per [Music] second rounding out is of course the performance mode where there's no denying the advantage of a 60 frames per second update in terms of controller response especially while timing
reposts in combat it's a hugely option to have we're at a Crossroads though as is so often the case this generation between getting Cutting Edge features at 30 FPS all missing out at 60 and sadly it's hard to take the sense that we're losing a lot of what makes Shadows a next generation of assin Creed game while using this mode in terms of its delivery at 60 FPS at least PS5 and series X hold well at the Target most of the time but be warned that it is the mode most prone to drops dramatic camera
swings will trigger brief lurches into the mid-50s more frequently thankfully these kinds of drops are easily covered by vrr technology if your display supports it also once again cutcenes and The Hideout area continue to switch to 30 FPS in this mode which is all the more jarring coming from a 60fps [Music] baseline finally we have the series s version with its single means of play play at 30 FPS you'd hope the limited use of rtgi axed hair physics and its significant resolution cut would qualify it for a tight lock for a majority of the time
it does admittedly hold up well but the reality is that there are more noticeable sub30 drops than for example the 30 FPS quality mode on series X it's not a deal breaker but battles and cut scenes are slightly more prone to dips under the line unsurprisingly it's in these moments that the 720p native resolution the lower balance of its DRS appears most obviously hence it makes sense that there is no 40 FPS balance mode on Series S after all it's already seemingly at its limit at 30 though at the very least it holds at the
Target well in The Hideout area with rtgi engaged [Music] there Assassin's Creed Shadows is the series most exciting new entry in years with PS5 and series X at last showing off their metal via new Anvil engine features simply put the more physics-based R Trace nature of its feudal era Japan setting is the absolute star of the show this year the drawback is that we're forced to decide between three modes a Hobson's choice that either grants 60fps gameplay or a more exciting Suite of visual upgrades at 30 or 40 FPS looking purely at the base consoles
here I'd recommend the 40 FPS mode if possible to demonstrate where the series technology is headed as for the series s version the situation is less impressive it's the closest we may see to a last gen rendition of the game in many ways the cut resolution the lower texture quality Shadows limited rtgi and removed hair strand physics plus that 30 FPS cap are all hard pills to swallow the adventure is otherwise intact but perhaps it does not service the generational leap that Shadows is trying to offer here still with all that being said Ubisoft Quebec
deserves praise for putting out a game with such clear technical ambition married to an undeniably compelling setting having reviewed a great many Assassin's Creed games for digital Foundry over the last 14 years Shadows is a real highlight and above all shows the promising direction that the series as a whole is now headed in that about wraps up this tech review though if you did enjoy this video feel free to like or subscribe and don't forget to hit that Bell for instant notifications as any new video lands to get a highquality version of this video and
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