Assassin's Creed Shadows adding the ability to go prone has prompted a rethink of the series' usual controls

Not all surfaces are now climbable, either.

Assassin's Creed Shadows features a rejig of the series' usual controls due to the addition of being able to go prone.

In a blog published today that goes into detail on Shadows' parkour system, developer Ubisoft noted that the Assassin's Creed franchise's typical crouch and dodge buttons have been swapped.

This change is due to the mapping of the prone ability to the same button as crouch, which now sits on the X button on a standard Xbox controller. Tapping X now makes your character crouch, while holding X will make you go prone.

The ability to dodge, roll, and drop down while parkouring is now mapped to the B button instead.

"In Shadows, dodge has been merged with parkour down mechanics, which unlocks a whole bunch of new parkour moves," Shadows' associate game director Simon Lemay-Comtois said.

"This new mapping also disconnects stance-switch (eg. standing, crouching, prone) from parkour, ensuring you can use any stances without accidentally going down a rooftop when you don't want to."

Many traditional Assassin's Creed parkour moves return as expected, including the ability to perform a recovery roll to reduce impact and noise when landing from height.

The ability to climb down has been augmented by another, flashier, option to perform a directional dodge over a ledge, meanwhile:

If you're high enough to take fall damage, an additional prompt when parkouring downwards will be required. Of course, the franchise's handy hay bales are still present to cushion your fall in certain spots.

Finally, here's a look at Shadows protagonist Naoe demonstrating the new prone position. You can, of course, assassinate enemies while prone. Thus:

One other big change within Shadows is that only some surfaces will be climbable. This is a change to how various recent Assassin's Creed entries have let you scamper all over cliffs and up sheer rock faces, influenced in part by the Shadows' addition of a grappling hook. In short, it means you'll need to look more carefully for surfaces that have physical handholds.

"This is a pretty big deal for us," Lemay-Comtois says. "This means we had to be more thoughtful about creating interesting parkour highways and afforded us more control about where Naoe can go, and where Yasuke can't, making our two playstyles even more contrasted."

Assassin's Creed Shadows will finally arrive on 14th February after last year's high-profile delay. We recently learnt that Naoe has a "Naruto run" and that the game will have a "canon" story option for players who don't like making narrative choices.