How Assassin’s Creed Valhalla fixed the series fight

The fight is what made me pick the first few of Assassin’s Creed games. Surrounded by enemies, waiting to attack them, and then facing one death after another was an easy pleasure. Then Ubisoft started trying too hard.

Some complications were probably necessary. Easy reversals of previous games when already wearing thin Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag Came out in 2013. By that time the series was found in ancient Egypt Genesis Four years later, Change was needed. But when Ubisoft renewed its combat system in the battle of 2017 Creed Origins of Assassin And then I improved on the system Odyssey, He never quite managed to find an identity the way it was in the first few games. In Assassin Creed Valhalla, Although, It looks like Ubisoft finally figured out how to make fighting fun once again.

Image: Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft

The main catalyst for ValhallaImproved combat is the setting of the game. The noble warriors of the previous two games of ancient Greece and Egypt, from their cautious duel, Valhalla It’s about the Vikings. That means axes and broadswords with heavy swings and huge arcs. It also means that the fight should be fierce, fast and brutal.

In Odyssey And Genesis, The combat was slow and either strategic or boring, depending on who you asked. Those games follow the complex swordplay of the Vicher series, and the peri-timing of Rolling Dodge, ield-heavy blocks, and Frosoftware’s Soulslike games.

All those elements still exist Valhalla, But they are made simple and placed in a large system that looks unique. I can still block the attacks of my enemies or roll out like a falling ax, but these are not well-trained Greek warriors with impressive ieldal. Enemies in Valhalla Most are infantry, carrying wooden shields and swords that they have never used. And, to make a Viking warrior fit, I don’t have to wait for the perfect moment to strike: breaking a wooden shawl is always an option, and usually the best.

Breaking down the enemy with all the vigor of the Vikings sounds like it will turn every fight into a button-mushing frenzy, but Valhalla It handles much more depth and challenge than that. One way to make the fight so much easier is to have a sharp number of enemies on you. Valhalla There are some of the biggest battles ever seen in the Essence Creed game.

Image: Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft

Raids on villages and forts are an exercise that often spreads over vast areas hundreds of meters long. Buildings burn down and archers sway diagonally through the rainstorm, while the wooden doors of the sheep are slammed shut. And behind those doors are dozens and dozens of soldiers, all ready for battle.

Where previous Assassin’s Creed games had small tidy battles with careful dodging and blocking, Valhalla Substitute in raw chaos. Enemy Jing is a split-second reaction that carefully predicts the attacks of one enemy or another. At one point during the initial raid, I overtook my fellow Vikings and threw myself in the middle of about 20 enemies. Arrows were flying everywhere, swords were pounding on my back, and I had to constantly move and dodge, or I had to grab a wandering ax. It’s not that it’s more or less difficult than combat Odyssey Or Genesis; It’s a different, easier kind of challenge.

Over the years, the games have made really good money in the rarity of “real” melee combat, where similarly matched fighters wait to be exposed in the defense of their opponents. It definitely seemed like it Creed Origins of Assassin And Odyssey Were going for. But a few games manage to express the cinematic thrill of being the best warrior on the crowded battlefield, easily tearing down dozens of enemies. When I was in the roll Valhalla, I felt like the Viking version of Aerogorn, cutting down the ORCS army in Lord the Rings. I will knock an English defender to the ground, then put an ax behind me on the enemy behind me, then advance into the rest of the army without losing a bit. There it is Valhalla It is the best, and where it finds a whole new identity for the cult of Assassin.