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Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Approach to Viewpoints Should Carry Over to Another Ubisoft Franchise

 February 1, 2025 0 Likes 1 Views
Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Approach to Viewpoints Should Carry Over to Another Ubisoft Franchise

Summary

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows is revamping the Viewpoint system to counter open-world criticism faced by Ubisoft games.
  • The Far Cry series shifted from radio towers to natural map discovery, but introducing Viewpoints from AC Shadows could blend both methods.
  • Repurposing radio towers in Far Cry with AC Shadows’ Viewpoint mechanics could balance rewarding exploration and parkour gameplay, evolving the open-world formula.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows has certainly been going through it since its reveal, but that hasn’t stopped it from trucking along with a renewed aim to be more of what players want in an Assassin’s Creed title. Despite facing numerous delays, each one has allowed Ubisoft more time to refine Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ gameplay, as well as prime opportunities for the developer to earn back the trust of fans, especially as it reveals more and more about Shadows‘ gameplay and story.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows has already outlined several changes that it is making to the series’ formula, including a more realistic approach to Assassin’s Creed‘s iconic parkour system. One of these changes involves Viewpoints, which have long served as an opportunity for players to reveal portions of a game’s map, as well as any activities and notable locations present in those areas. Regardless of the role Viewpoints have played in the series up to this point, however, AC Shadows is turning the system on its head in hopes to counter the open-world criticism Ubisoft has been facing for quite some time. Now, that same approach should carry over to another major Ubisoft franchise — Far Cry.

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Assassin’s Creed Shadow’s Viewpoints Should Influence the Far Cry Franchise

Map Discovery in the Far Cry Series Has Evolved Over Time

Historically, Ubisoft’s Far Cry series has used structures like Assassin’s Creed‘s Viewpoints as a way to reveal portions of the map. For example, in two of Far Cry‘s more notable titles, Far Cry 3 and Far Cry 4, climbable radio towers were used in a similar way to Viewpoints in Assassin’s Creed. After climbing said towers, a region of the map would be revealed, along with any noteworthy locations, collectibles, NPCs, etc. While this method worked for some time, it didn’t take long for it to feel repetitive and unrewarding, to the point that Far Cry 5 had to lean into the criticism of Ubisoft’s obsession with radio towers by making a joke about it.

Regardless of the role Viewpoints have played in the series up to this point, AC Shadows is turning the system on its head in hopes to counter the open-world criticism Ubisoft has been facing for quite some time.

In response to that criticism, both Far Cry 5 and Far Cry 6 left the series’ radio towers behind in favor of a more organic exploration system. Far Cry 5, for example, encouraged exploration through natural landmarks and interactions with NPCs in order to reveal map details. The map would then naturally reveal itself as players explored the world, thereby adding to the reward of discovery. Far Cry 6 continued that trend, with players discovering points of interest through engagement with the environment and certain missions. While this new system has done fairly well for the series, it still succumbed to Ubisoft’s infamous open-world model and was therefore largely ignored.

Far Cry Implementing AC Shadow’s Viewpoint Approach Would Allow It to Bring Back Radio Towers

Despite the criticism they have received, there remains a case for Far Cry to bring back radio towers, especially if it were to adopt Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ approach to Viewpoints. While Viewpoints in the AC series have always been used to reveal portions of the map, they have been reimagined in AC Shadows to enhance player immersion and exploration. Specifically, climbing a Viewpoint in AC Shadows now allows players to manually observe their surroundings and tag nearby points of interest. In other words, rather than removing Viewpoints as Far Cry removed radio towers, AC Shadows simply repurposes them.

Parkour is not only an Assassin’s Creed staple, but a Far Cry staple as well. This is where the reintroduction of radio towers to the series would come in, as they were not only used as a method for players to reveal the map but also as an opportunity for them to engage in more parkour gameplay. Then, rather than revealing portions of the map as they have before, AC Shadows‘ approach to Viewpoints could be implemented instead, allowing players to identify points of interest from the top of a radio tower instead of simply revealing the map and everything it contains.

This method would potentially prevent future Far Cry games from relying too heavily on radio towers, and it would effectively blend the vision of Far Cry 5 and Far Cry 6 with one of the series’ earliest recurring elements.

By repurposing radio towers in Far Cry with Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ new Viewpoint mechanics, future Far Cry titles could strike a balance between the rewarding exploration introduced in recent entries and the parkour-focused gameplay of earlier installments. This approach would not only honor the series’ roots but also give players a more immersive way to uncover the map. Balancing nostalgia with forward-moving innovation, Far Cry could evolve its open-world formula into something that feels fresh and purposeful — a change that has needed to happen for quite some time.

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