The newest Assassin’s Creed is, if you’ve played earlier parts of the game series, more of the same. Fortunately, this part, which takes place in the Viking age, is again very well put together.
After forays into ancient Egypt and Greece, the latest plays Assassin’s Creed located in several parts of Europe. The protagonist Eivor is a Viking in the ninth century who goes on a warpath in a divided England.
That story is like in a television series. At the start of the game, Eivor just wants to avenge his father’s death, but once he succeeds, the goals shift a bit. There is no question of a great evil or a final boss: this game simply tells you what happens in this Viking life.
Man or woman play
Eivor can be either a man or a woman. Players can switch between the two in the middle of the game, or a special mode can be activated that highlights each character individually. For example, you will not miss a special fight in which only the female Eivor takes part.
The story starts slowly and feels a bit more thoughtful than with previous titles, but at the same time the characters are more superficial. True Assassin’s Creed Odyssey drawn from multiple sides of Greek history, the Vikings are from Valhalla especially killing machines with little nuance. They mainly scream about how much fun war is, which makes it difficult to form a band.
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Open world to explore
Valhalla is just like the previous one Assassin’s Creedtitles an open world game. You can play the main missions to follow the story, but it is also possible to get off the beaten track and complete optional missions. The game is again packed with treasures to find or optional enemies to defeat.
You will also find special mini-games scattered throughout the game. In tavernas, you have to eat as much beer as possible during a drinking game, without your drunken character falling over. In poetry competitions you creatively rhyme to humiliate opponents. It gives the game color and variety in addition to the violent main missions.
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Basically the same game
The differences with previous parts are in the details. For example, Eivor can hold any weapon or even shields in both hands, which allows for more variety in fighting styles. While sneaking it is again possible to hide in groups of people, as was possible in previous games.
But in general this is simply a new one Assassin’s Creedgame. The French Ubisoft is not making big steps here. With Odyssey the basis of the game series has already been refined to a great extent, true Valhalla may now build on.
The lack of innovation does not alter the fact that the overall quality is high. In Valhalla you fight and explore as usual, but that is just fine. Later fights are tricky and exciting, which makes the game more challenging overall.
Faster on new game consoles
Valhalla appears on both the current and the new generation of game consoles. For our review, we already played the game on an Xbox Series X, where the visual differences with similar games on old hardware did not seem very big.
That is presumably to keep the whole in line with the weaker hardware that the game also has to run. Valhalla is made to work on as many platforms as possible without noticeable differences.
The game does run extremely smoothly on the new hardware. During our gaming sessions there was a constant stable refresh rate at a 4K resolution. The loading times are a few seconds, while earlier Assassin’s Creedtitles are notorious for their long wait times.
Conclusion
Ubisoft finds with Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla not re-off the wheel. This is a game that largely builds on the previous two parts, with minor differences on a few points. There is not much wrong with that, because the formula behind that game still feels contemporary and is very strong. This is ‘just’ a new one Assassin’s Creed in the Viking age, where nothing is wrong.
