The upcomingAssassin’s Creed Shadowsis rumored to bring back one seldom used feature from theAssassin’s Creedfranchise: a co-op mode. WhileShadowshas been delayed to February 2025 and the co-op mode is rumored to have been in development before the delay, this new feature is already expected to be released sometime postShadows’ launch. Details on this mode, Codenamed LEAGUE, are slim, but Ubisoft could be basingAssassin’s Creed Shadowsco-op mode on its previousAssassin’s Creedgame to feature the mode,Assassin’s Creed Unity, for better and for worse.
The History of Assassin’s Creed Multiplayer Systems
Assassin’s Creedfrom its inception was designed to be a single-player game, focusing on players covertly exploring historical settings as they search for their targets. This remainedAssassin’s Creed’s core gameplay experience only ever so briefly as the third mainline game in the series,Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, was the first to introduce a multiplayer modein the franchise. Here, players embodied present-day Abstergo Templars who entered the Animus to train in assassination scenarios, to become acquainted with delving into genetic memory and to gain skills for eliminating modern-day Assassins. This system of multiplayer appeared in every succeedingAssassin’s Creedgame up untilAssassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag.
Assassin’s Creed Unitysaw the series’ traditional multiplayer be thrown away to be replaced with a simpler co-op mode.Unity’s marketing appeared to showcase this mode, particularly with the game’s cover featuring four Assassins and its TV Spot trailer which displayed dozens of Assassins running around 18th century France. EvenAssassin’s CreedUnity’s E3 2014 Co-Op Demoillustrated a seamless integration of four-player co-op withinUnity’s campaign.
What Assassin’s Creed Shadows Should Take From Unity’s Co-Op Mode
While the traditional free-for-all matches of traditionalAssassin’s Creedmultiplayer disappeared withUnity, the game still offered players to play with random people in co-op matchmaking. This allowed players to still experience co-op missions even if their friends were offline and Ubisoft should strive to include some form of co-op matchmaking inShadows. No matter players’ levels or skill inUnity, the co-op feature allowedeach player to showcase their own custom Assassin in multiplayerinstead of being simple Arno clones. In this sense, one co-op mission could feature an Assassin wearing Altair’s outfit, one wearing Edward’s outfit, and another wearing a customized yellow-dyed attire.Shadowsshould still allow players’ customized Naoe or Yasuke to appear in co-op sessions.
What Assassin’s Creed Shadows Shouldn’t Take from Unity’s Co-Op Mode
DespiteAssassin’s Creed Unity’s promising marketing, several flaws in its co-op mode appeared from the get-go and persisted throughout the game’s lifetime. For one, each player in co-op played as their own unique copy of Arno rather than other distinct Assassin characters as depicted inUnity’s trailers and cover art. Additionally, players could not explore France’s open world or play through the main sequences in co-op. Instead, co-op was limited to a few short missions and heists whose stories barely impactedUnity’s main campaign, and rewards primarily resulted in money to purchase other cosmetics. On top of that, co-op matches often resulted in glitches such as players getting stuck in areas while waiting to be revived.
Unity’s co-op was a fun but flawed experiment that Ubisoft immediately abandoned, withUnitybeing the last mainlineAssassin’s Creedgame to feature multiplayer to date. IfShadowsdoes incorporate a co-op mode post-launch, Ubisoft should strive to ensure the mode is properly tested and polished to avoid frustrating glitchesUnity’s co-op displayed.Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ co-op modeshould offer more unique and desirable rewards to better encourage players to try out the mode in the first place. Additionally,Assassin’s Creed Shadowsshould allow players to play through the entire game in co-op rather than a select few missions. This could finally make the dream of playing through anAssassin’s Creedgame’s story cooperatively in full a reality.
Only five mainlineAssassin’s Creedgames have had multiplayer systems so far, includingAssassin’s Creed: Brotherhood,Assassin’s Creed Revelations,Assassin’s Creed 3,Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, andAssassin’s Creed Unity.
