Assassin's Creed Shadows 'looks like a different game' on PS5 Pro
Sony's PS5 Pro makes a huge difference in Assassin's Creed Shadows
😮 Assassin's Creed Shadows looks significantly different on PS5 Pro due to real-time global illumination
👏 The PS5 Pro version features per-pixel RTGI, making the game world more true-to-life
🤷♂️ Despite improvements, the PS5 Pro version shares image quality issues with the standard PS5 version
👉 Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been well-received for its visuals and mechanics but criticized for its story and repetitive gameplay
It's fair to say that some PS5 Pro enhanced games have been underwhelming. Most offer granular improvements to resolution or frame rate, but – unless you're zooming in and doing side-by-side comparisons – the differences are mostly negligible.
However, that isn't the case with Assassin's Creed Shadows. According to the tech experts at Digital Foundry, Assassin's Creed Shadows "looks like a different game" on PS5 Pro. And there's no denying that's the case.
Thanks to the implementation of ray-traced global illumination on Sony's more powerful system, there's a dramatic leap in lighting quality between the two versions of the game. On the standard PlayStation 5, the game looks almost last-gen when it comes to lighting, and lacks various effects such as light bursting through when opening a door.
As Digital Foundry's Oliver Mackenzie puts it, per-pixel RTGI on PS5 Pro "totally transforms the game" and the entire world feels "more true-to-life" due to the "generational divide in lighting fidelity". In contrast, the PS5 version looks "overly flat".
Unfortunately, it isn't a complete victory for the PS5 Pro version of Assassin's Creed Shadows. The game suffers from the same image quality issues as the standard PlayStation 5 version of the game. These issues include pixel crawling, blocky patterns on moving edges, and poorly upscaled transparency effects.
Strangely, Assassin's Creed Shadows on PS5 Pro doesn't use PSSR, Sony's proprietary upscaling tech. Instead, the developer has chosen to stick with Temporal Anti-Aliasing, or TAA, which leads to mixed results.
Ubisoft has hinted that PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution will come to Assassin's Creed Shadows, though it's unclear when that might be. There's also a chance the PSSR implementation could exhibit problems of its own, something we've seen in games like Silent Hill 2 and Star Wars: Jedi Survivor. We could also see Sony implement its version of FSR 4 in the future, as the Japanese company admitted it could replace PSSR in 2026.
PS5 Pro also can't offer a completely locked 60fps experience. It's also lacking ray traced reflections in Performance mode. Still, the PS5 Pro's performance mode is noticeably superior to what the PlayStation 5 can offer, which will please gamers who shelled out $699.99 for Sony's souped up machine.
It helps that Ubisoft's latest entry in its popular series has been generally well-received. In our Assassin's Creed Shadows review roundup, critics praised its visually stunning open-world depiction of feudal Japan, refined stealth mechanics, and the compelling dual-protagonist dynamic. However, the lackluster story, repetitive gameplay mechanics, and open-world bloat were criticized.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is out now on PS5, PS5 Pro, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.
