Discover the Secret Technique Behind Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Realistic Wind Effects

When you step into the world of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, every breeze tells a story. As the wind sweeps across the landscape, leaves lift into the sky, the grass moves gracefully, and Naoe’s hair dances with the gusts. It’s a breathtaking effect that enhances the game’s dynamic seasonal changes and weather patterns. Interestingly, as revealed in a Digital Foundry conversation with the game’s rendering engineers, this wind isn’t wind at all—it’s an invisible fluid simulation.

That’s right, the convincing wind effects are crafted from fluid dynamics moving through the game environment. This innovative technique, well-known in gaming circles, has been used to create realistic effects in diverse titles like God of War and Dwarf Fortress. So, it’s perfectly at home here.

The Ubisoft team has christened this intricate weather system ‘Atmos,’ and it was designed to complement the game’s seasonal motifs. Naoe’s journey of vengeance sees both her life and the seasons oscillating through time. One moment, you find yourself trudging through the snowy Japanese countryside. Blink, and now you’re sprinting through lush fields, as the snow melts away. As you progress, you even gain the power to alter the seasons at will.

Paired with its cutting-edge ray-traced lighting, Assassin’s Creed Shadows might just be one of the most visually stunning games available today. For the first time, in my experience, ray tracing feels essential—it deeply enhances the atmosphere and story immersion. While Digital Foundry’s analysis covers the technical specifics, essentially, the game uses ray tracing alongside older tech to illuminate scenes with more precision. Step inside a building and see shoji screens glow, walk outdoors and notice shadows cast where sunlight doesn’t reach. Without ray tracing, the contrast disappears, making the world feel dull. Digital Foundry’s team aptly calls this shift a “generational divide in lighting fidelity.”

This game serves as a persuasive reason to consider upgrading to a PlayStation 5 Pro or a high-end gaming PC equipped with a 50-series Nvidia graphics card. The PlayStation 5 Pro keeps everything running smoothly at 60 frames per second, even with ray tracing activated, and there’s an upcoming update to fully integrate Sony’s PSSR upscaling tech. Meanwhile, PC players will find DLSS and Frame Generation enabling smooth performance at 60 fps on an RTX 4070 or newer.

Taking advantage of all that processing power pays off in more ways than one. It’s not just the game’s lighting that shines but also the interactive elements—like slicing through bamboo or feeling the wind’s touch—that elevate the tactile experience. Much like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Assassin’s Creed Shadows uses modern tech not just for sheer realism, but to create a vibrant world that feels truly alive.