Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla Preview – An England Worth Exploring

After my first gameplay demo of Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, I was taken aback. I didn’t think Ubisoft’s next Viking-themed game would be bad, but it felt too similar to the latest games in the franchise. Last week, I had the opportunity to play open world again, this time for about 5 hours. Now I am more impressed and notice the ways Valhalla stands out from Origins and Odyssey.

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla is out November 10 for Xbox Series X / S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. It will be released for PlayStation 5 on the day of its launch, November 12. For many new console owners, Valhalla will be their first experience with this next batch of next-gen consoles. I played my demo through Parsec, a streaming service that allows access to remote computers (like Ubisoft) from my home.

Such a substantial and long demonstration gave me a good understanding of Valhalla. Yes, it still has more in common with those recent Assassin’s Creed games, with many RPGs, than with the stealthier entries of yesteryear. But I found enough differences that keep Valhalla from feeling like a Nordic-themed retread.

Making a king

My demonstration began in the Viking settlement. This is a small space equipped with the type of merchants and facilities that any adventurer would need, such as a blacksmith and a butcher. I was also able to commission a fishery, a place where I can exchange caught fish for useful materials. I could also visit a hairdresser who could change my haircut and tattoos. The settlement includes some customizable areas. In one location, you could choose to play with items like a weapon rack or a Roman statue.

After wandering through the settlement, I went to the longhouse, approached something called an alliance map, and started a new story campaign. They needed me in Ledecestrescire, a county within the kingdom of Mercia. It would help the Vikings there who seek to overthrow the current Mercian king and replace him with one more sympathetic to our species.

Then I went on my boat, which shows one of the great ways Valhalla stands out from its predecessors. While many Assassin’s Creed games feature ships and nautical navigation, they focus on great seas and oceans. Instead, Valhalla makes you navigate through a network of rivers. Using your ship is more about getting around and instead of looking for other ships to shoot down, you can raid settlements near the water.

Above: Ivaar is a little, uh, intense.

Image Credit: Ubisoft

After navigating a bit, I reached Ledecestrescire. For the next few hours, the campaign focused on this region, telling what seemed like an independent story. The basics were simple: replacing the current king with a new one, but it offered ample opportunity for Viking antics. I came to storm a fort, driving a battering ram, while trying to capture the king of Mercia. When he fled, I had to search a town and a local fortress for signs of him.

Ledecestrescire’s story has its own cast of interesting characters, including a bloodthirsty Viking named Ivaar who is at odds with his more secretive brother and the son of the future king, who is uncomfortable at the thought of fighting and killing his own. compatriots. In just a few hours, these characters and more were defined as memorable personalities.

Combat and stealth

My quest to make kings required a lot of bloodshed. Much of this revolved around frontal combat. If you’ve played Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey or Origins, you’ll have a good idea of ​​what to expect here. She uses heavy and light attacks to wound and stun her opponents, and has access to eight cooldown abilities. One has you throwing multiple axes at the closest enemies. Another makes you jump in the air and then hit your weapon. Others focus on your ranged abilities. Once again, you have a bow and arrow, and it is an effective, if uninteresting weapon. Something about drawing a bow in the middle of a close-range fight surrounded by other fighters just doesn’t feel right.

In the past, this type of combat was an afterthought for Assassin’s Creed. The emphasis was on stealth. Ubisoft is trying to make stealth a more prominent part of Valhalla. Once again, you can kill enemies instantly if you manage to attack them off guard.

Still, at least the campaign missions seem to force him to choose a tactic. When besieging the king’s fort, stealth is not really an option. Which, hey, makes sense. This is a game about Vikings, after all. I wouldn’t call them people known for their subtlety. But if you expect Valhalla to be as stealthy as, say, the original Assassin’s Creed, you will be disappointed. However, it still makes the sneaky approach feel more viable than in Odyssey. At least when the game allows you to use stealth.

Above: Home sweet home.

Image Credit: Ubisoft

Exploring England

Speaking of Odyssey, I enjoyed that game more when I focused less on its campaign and spent time exploring. And my long demonstration with Valhalla gave me enough time to deviate from the suggested path.

Anglo-Saxon England has many secrets to uncover, and they make exploring fun and rewarding. Many of the more secluded or protected areas may contain codices, which unlock or enhance those cooldown abilities. You will also come across world events, which are mini adventures or stories that occur all over the open world. In one case, I encountered a woman posing as a damsel trapped in a tower. Later, I found two Viking brothers practicing their assault skills by setting their own house on fire. They are fun distractions that add personality and life to the game world.

Valhalla also makes exploration feel a bit more mysterious. Icons keep showing up on your compass and map when there is some kind of event or landmark near you, but the game doesn’t explain exactly what you’ll find. Instead, the map will tell you that a location has some artifacts, but you won’t know exactly what they are until you find them.

Modified creed

Valhalla will give fans of modern Assassin’s Creed games another storied adventure they’ll enjoy, but it’s making some overtures for older fans of the series. No, Valhalla isn’t exactly like the old stealth-focused Assassin’s Creed titles. But it makes stealth more workable.

It also has a more interesting open world. Browse feels more like, well, exploring and less like checking items off a list.

But Valhalla still feels like an evolution of the Odyssey formula. Considering how successful that game was, it’s hard to blame Ubisoft for that. Still, I found enough in my demo to make Valhalla feel fresh enough. It is not, as I once feared, a simple Viking Odyssey skin.