Is Assassin’s Creed Shadows worth the pre-order investment? Dive into the details of bonuses, and why cautious gamers may want to hold off.

Ah, pre-order bonuses: those exclusive rewards that developers dangle in front of the gamers to entice them. You know the drill now: sign up early, get the game, and suddenly you are ‘blessed’ with bonus missions, some in-game currency, or even exclusive gear if you went for that higher tier.

The game has a lot to prove. | Image Credit: Ubisoft

Sounds enticing, right? Well, let’s hold on for a minute. As exciting as the offers for Assassin’s Creed Shadows may seem, the reality of these exclusive perks is a bit more complicated than Ubisoft might have you believe.

Sure, its the much anticipated AC game set in Japan, but does the hefty price tag actually justify the cost of Shadows?

Assassin’s Creed Shadows pre-order deals: Is it worth it?

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Let’s break down the pre-order offers first (which can only be received before March 20th) and see what we’ve got here. For the standard edition, priced at $69.99, players will receive access to a bonus mission called Thrown to the Dogs, and the free Claws of Awaji DLC expansion.

For the Deluxe edition, priced at $89.99, players get all of the above, plus the Sekiryu Dual Pack (including gear and weapon sets for both Naoe and Yasuke), a unique Sekiryu Beast mount, and the Sekiryu Hideout Pack. For good measures, we get 5 Mastery points.

At first glance, these rewards are enticing. Who doesn’t want to receive a bonus mission, extra gear that will give you a powerful start (allowing you to breeze through early content), and an over 10-hour DLC expansion? But when you think about it, the value of these benefits starts to crumble.

Why? Assassin’s Creed Shadows still has a lot to prove. The game’s reputation, even after its delays, remains a mixed bag. Sure, it looks much better now, thanks to the multiple pushback that allowed the developers time to fine-tune it.

This fine-tuning shows that the game wasn’t ready in the first place. Even if we ignore that fiasco, considering Ubisoft’s history of releasing buggy games and recent failure, would you trust Shadows to have a flawless launch and pre-order experience?

The high price of incomplete releases

The studio needs to rebuild its reputation with Shadows. | Image Credit: Ubisoft

Let’s talk about the broader issue with AAA games today. Many of these games are released with glaring bugs, missing features, and a series of fixes required before the game reaches the state it was originally advertised and priced for.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows was also on track to follow this trend, and it still might. So, a game that launches with day-one patches and a long list of fixes should not be priced at $70, let alone $90 for an edition that offers extra things like in-game gear and extra content.

In this context, it’s hard to justify the hefty price tag. However, the reality is, if you’re a die-hard Assassin’s Creed fan and you are going to dive into Shadows, the pre-order bonuses, especially the Claws of Awaji DLC expansion are a nice addition.

For other players who just want to experience stealth gameplay and Japan in a new light, the risk is just too great. Simply wait for the reviews and then decide whether you want to commit or not.

In the end, Ubisoft needs to do more than just polish a game, it needs to prove that it can deliver on promises. That’s something players should be cautious about paying upfront. In that regard, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be the test.