AC Shadows Animus Hub is Nice First Step in a Long Journey

by

Over the last few years, Ubisoft has openly shared their big plans for the Assassin’s Creed series. Apart from Assassin’s Creed Shadows, we can expect games such as Codename Hexe, Jade, and a new multiplayer experience to arrive soon. Additionally, Ubisoft intends to unify these titles through the Animus Hub. With the launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, players will get an initial glimpse of what this integrated experience might look like.

The latest release in the “Assassin’s Creed” series, titled “Shadows,” introduces the first version of the Animus Hub. This innovative feature consolidates the three previous RPG titles, including “Mirage” and “Shadows,” into a single launcher for easy access. In addition to this, players can expect missions, rewards, and engaging narrative content within the hub. Although it may not revolutionize the franchise, the Animus Hub is shaping up to be quite promising. However, there’s still much work Ubisoft needs to do before the Animus Hub fully realizes its potential.

The Animus Hub Could Change the Way Assassin’s Creed is Played

The Animus Hub is Laying Some Strong Foundations

Upon starting “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” for the first time, gamers are greeted by the Animus Hub. This in-game invention is presented as a real-world product from Abstergo, offering a variety of historical escapades for players to dive into. Presently, these adventures encompass “Origins”, “Odyssey”, “Valhalla”, “Mirage”, and “Shadows”. These games can be immediately initiated from the hub, giving off the impression of a unique franchise launcher. For now, it appears that other parts of this expansive series are not included in this interactive experience, but there may be future updates or additions to come.

In addition to those five game titles, you’ll find three extra elements that offer an extensive variety of gaming experiences. First, there are Projects, which appear to involve the live-service aspects of the Animus Hub. Ubisoft intends to roll out new missions called Anomalies, and these could potentially award players with rewards that seem linked to a battle pass. This pass can be found in another section, the Exchange, which seems exclusive to Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Lastly, there is a trove of narrative content named the Vault, where all the enigmatic Rift cutscenes from Shadows are stored.

There is So Much Work Left for Ubisoft to Do

The Animus Hub appears to hold great promise, but it requires some refinement initially. For instance, currently, only Assassin’s Creed Shadows is accessible via the launch feature. If users wish to play other games within the Hub, they need to have them pre-installed and navigate through that specific game’s opening screens and menus before playing. Furthermore, there seems to be no straightforward method to quickly re-enter the Hub after leaving it without having to restart Shadows every time. However, with Shadows, players can immediately dive into the game upon clicking play on the Animus Hub and effortlessly return to the Hub whenever desired.

Furthermore, a significant portion of the material within the hub primarily concerns Shadows, which makes it rather irrelevant for the other four games in the series. In future editions of Assassin’s Creed, it is expected that content will be added to the Hub, but it should have been available for these previous games as well. Ideally, not just the four other titles, but the entire extensive collection of Assassin’s Creed games should be included. As this is intended to serve as the franchise’s primary platform moving forward, it needs to encompass the entire franchise for a comprehensive user experience.

As a passionate fan, I must admit that while the initial release of this Ubisoft project shows promise, there’s still a lot of untapped potential waiting to be unlocked. Over time, I eagerly anticipate seeing an array of exciting new additions, such as a multiplayer mode, which would truly elevate it beyond its current status. Here’s hoping these enhancements materialize sooner rather than later, transforming it from feeling like the simple launcher for Shadows, into the rich, immersive experience it was intended to be.

Read More

2025-03-23 21:05