Assassin's Creed Shadows is bringing back double assassinations for the first time in 9 years, and there's a weird lore theory as to why

Assassin's Creed Shadows brings back the classic double assassination feature, absent since Assassin's Creed Syndicate, allowing players to take out two enemies at once using the Shinobi protagonist Naoe's Hidden Blade and Tanto. This long-awaited ability adds a new layer of stealth gameplay, making Shadows a promising addition to the franchise.

Assassin's Creed Shadows is resurrecting an ability not seen in Ubisoft's series for nearly a decade: the double assassination. 

The 'double assassination' ability used to be a key feature in the older Assassin's Creed games, starting out in Assassin's Creed 2 in 2009, and stretching all the way to Assassin's Creed Syndicate in 2015. Ever since then though, it's been conspicuously absent from Ubisoft's series, leaving players in the likes of Assassin's Creed Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla with the ability to merely assassinate one enemy at a time.

That's all changing with Assassin's Creed Shadows. A blog post on Ubisoft's website delves into the stealthy workings of Shinobi protagonist Naoe, revealing her abilities to hide underwater, see through thick fog, and eliminate enemies from a distance with a kunai. "Depending on her weapons, she can assassinate enemies in unique ways, and perform double assassinations with her Hidden Blade and tanto," the blog post adds.

This means the double assassination is officially back in the Assassin's Creed series for the first time since Syndicate in 2015. Dual protagonists Evie and Jacob Frye were the last mainline Assassins able to take out two enemies at once, but now Naoe is stepping into that role too - which makes a lot of sense, considering stealth is her whole deal as a Shinobi. 

Curiously, I stumbled across one Reddit post wondering why Ubisoft eliminated the double assassination technique from the series. One commenter reasons that because original protagonist Altair created the technique, every game that takes place prior to the first Assassin's Creed wouldn't feature double assassinations, while Assassins after Altair's time in the Middle East would have the ability thanks to the former master.

It's a pretty sound theory, albeit it requiring a little suspension of disbelief along the way. Assassin's Creed Shadows is out on November 15, and you can read our full Assassin's Creed Shadows preview for our impressions of the same mission played out from both Naoe and Yasuke's points of view. 

*Take a look over our upcoming Ubisoft games guide for an overview of all the new games the developer currently has in the pipeline. *