Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Claws of Awaji Promises a Metal Gear Solid-Style Stealth Showdown

Ubisoft is preparing to release Claws of Awaji, the first major expansion for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and it’s clear the studio knows most players have already sunk dozens, if not hundreds, of hours into the main game. Content director Simon Arsenault from Ubisoft Bordeaux openly admits that after 50, 70, or even 100 hours, fans need something new to keep them invested.

And while Claws of Awaji won’t reinvent the wheel, it introduces some inventive twists, most notably a stealth-heavy boss fight clearly inspired by Metal Gear Solid.

The expansion drops on September 16, and early previews suggest Ubisoft is deliberately focusing on unique set pieces rather than padding the experience with repetitive content. One standout is the fight against Nowaki (called Awaki in some previews), a master of disguise and one of the four primary villains of Awaji. This encounter takes place in an eerie forest arena where straw decoys blend seamlessly with the real threat. Every wrong move forces you to reset the hunt, while Nowaki stalks you with a deadly teppo rifle from the shadows. To find her, players must rely on subtle audio cues – her taunts echoing through the trees – and close-range Eagle Vision. The sequence feels deliberately tense, evoking the DNA of stealth classics like Metal Gear Solid 3’s Fear fight, Quiet’s sniper duel in Metal Gear Solid V, and the disorienting cat-and-mouse showdowns in Dishonored.

This encounter captures the heart of Awaji’s design: isolation, tension, and danger. Arsenault explains that the island setting was chosen to amplify these feelings. “We liked the idea of natural boundaries all around,” he says. “The seclusion creates tension. When you step onto their island, it’s no longer your world – it’s theirs.” That sense of intrusion and unease runs throughout the expansion, reinforced by the game’s four antagonists: Kimura Yukari, the vengeful daughter of a slain Templar; her ruthless bodyguard Imagawa Tomeji; their calculating spymaster Yasuhira; and Nowaki, the masked trickster who blurs the line between predator and prey. Each antagonist is designed to bring a unique challenge, ensuring boss battles don’t blend together.

But it’s not just bosses that try to shake things up. Ubisoft has layered in smaller but meaningful tweaks to the core Shadows systems. One new wrinkle is the scouting mechanic. In the base game, sending scouts was routine – safe, reliable, and usually the best option. In Awaji, however, using scouts risks tipping off locals, making them hostile before you even arrive. It’s a clever subversion: a familiar system suddenly carries new consequences. Players now face dilemmas – scout and risk hostility, or fly blind and improvise? It’s this kind of subtle disruption that Ubisoft hopes will jolt long-time fans out of autopilot.

Other additions include the bo staff, a new weapon with its own skill tree, and expanded abilities for existing playstyles. Civilians and merchants, once predictable NPCs, may now turn on you unexpectedly. These small twists don’t fundamentally alter the structure of Shadows, but they break routine enough to make veteran players rethink strategies they thought they’d mastered. Arsenault calls it “spinning the formula,” offering situations where expectations are subverted in ways both surprising and strategic.

Beyond gameplay, Claws of Awaji also promises to move the story forward, tying off lingering narrative threads from Shadows. The expansion continues the journey of Naoe and Yasuke, digging deeper into Naoe’s personal search for her mother and unraveling the mysteries hinted at in the main game’s finale. According to Arsenault, development saw several shifts in narrative focus, but the ultimate goal was to deliver closure while leaving space for new intrigue.

What makes Awaji intriguing isn’t its length – clocking in at around 10 hours – but its focus on intensity. Ubisoft clearly isn’t trying to overwhelm players with another 50-hour commitment. Instead, the studio is banking on concentrated, memorable moments that bring something new to the formula without alienating those fatigued by endless DLC cycles. The stealth boss fight against Nowaki is the poster child for this approach: atmospheric, tense, and reminiscent of iconic stealth duels that shaped gaming history. It’s an invitation for longtime fans to return, if only to experience a clash unlike anything seen in the series before.

Of course, reactions from players remain mixed. Some fans feel worn out after years of expansions in the series, citing Valhalla’s bloated post-launch support as a breaking point. Others see Claws of Awaji as Ubisoft finally acknowledging the need for focused, distinctive content rather than sheer volume. Whether this will be enough to rekindle enthusiasm among disillusioned fans remains to be seen, but Ubisoft seems determined to make this expansion less about repetition and more about atmosphere, tension, and creative design choices.

As the release date looms, the key question is whether Claws of Awaji can balance nostalgia with innovation. By blending Assassin’s Creed’s familiar stealth-action DNA with inspiration from other genre-defining stealth experiences, Ubisoft Bordeaux may have found a way to surprise even the most seasoned players. For those who thought they’d seen it all, Nowaki’s forest duel might just be reason enough to step back into the shadows.