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An exciting, thrilling, and emotionally charged gameplay trailer has been released for the next installment of the Mega Assassin’s Creed computer game franchise. In Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the stealthy action-adventure video game franchise based on massive 3D open-world gaming environments tells a classic tale of a Viking struggling to find a new home … while throwing deadly parties, epic battles and a community is also created that will flourish.
Embarrassingly mixing historical facts with science fiction, fusing real-world historical narratives with fictional figures, players traditionally portrayed Desmond Miles, an Assassin Initiate today, who hunted down and killed his Templar enemies. But this new installation is titled Valhalla, in which the players assume the role of a Viking named “Eivor” (ay-vor) in a historical context of the late 9th century.
Viking Eivor is looking for a new home in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. ( Ubisoft)
Viking sagas, myths and legends brought to life in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
In the 9th century, Scandinavian sea tribes with sharp steels began to invade Anglo-Saxon England and players are challenged to lead their people in search of new farmland. Commanding stealthy assaults and battles in massive, bloodthirsty battles, in which medieval warriors and knights are surrounded by towering crows, players travel through an ancient semi-mystical landscape decorated with the symbols and icons of ancient Nordic culture. .
The trailer for the new game has just been released (warning – violent content):
The creators of the game, UbiSoft in Montreal, interviewed historian Thierry Noël, who was a content advisor for the Editorial Investigative Unit on Assassins. ’s Creed Valhalla, and was asked “why the Vikings left Scandinavia in the first place”. The historian said that it was in the 9th century that Scandinavians mastered the making and use of candles, allowing them to travel around the world.
Taking advantage of historical reality, in the trailer, the new protagonist Eivor roars a battle cry to the Norse god Odin as hordes of barbarian Viking warriors carry a line of heavily armored medieval knights, and that happened in England, a lot, towards the end of El 9th century. Another historically accurate aspect of the trailer is that it features King Aelfred (Alfred) of Wessex, who was one of the most important historical figures in English history, famous for having repelled Viking invasions and rebuilding modern England.
King Alfred of Wessex also appears in the trailer for the new Assassin’s Creed video game. ( Ubisoft)
A game that oozes with Viking motifs, icons, and symbols
Seeking a second opinion on the quotient of facts and fantasies in this new game, Ancient Origins sent an email to Iain Maclean, founder and director of the Caithness Broch Project, and a master stonemason committed to “preserving, promoting and guaranteeing a lasting legacy for Caithness Archeology, “according to the project website. During the 9th century, this north-eastern Scottish county was a front line in the Viking invasions of northern Britain, and Iain believes the game’s new trailer is “a brutal revelation of what appears to be a spectacular representation of pop culture in the Nordic era. “
When asked if he saw diagnostic Viking symbols, icons, or motifs in the game’s new trailer, Maclean said he saw “Graven warrior idols” inspired by one of Lewis’s chess players, and also “shield motifs allusive to the legendary Talisman. , the Raven banner, famously displayed in the mythical story of Siguard the Stout, a Viking leader mentioned in the Orkney Inga Saga (1192 and 1206 AD), which is a historical account of the history of the Orkney and Shetland islands and their relationships with the rulers of Norway and Scotland.
Maclean noted “Graven Warrior Idols” in the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla trailer. ( Ubisoft)
The historian Thierry Noël told UbiSoft that part of the game is “archaeological and the other part comes from historical sources of that time, from all kinds of chronicles and texts … including the Viking Sagas and myths,” which he recalls were transmitted. through oral traditions. for centuries. And when asked if anything in the investigation surprised him, Thierry Noël said: “Oh, totally. The gap between the reality of Nordic society and the image we have of the reckless Viking was really interesting to me.”
Is a blood-soaked fantasy a healthy introduction to the story?
There is no doubt that the new game will have many features based on everyday life and conquest, in the ancient Nordic culture, but we asked Mr. Maclean what he thinks about things like Vikings who use assassin swords and game elements that they are definitely “no” viking. Iain said it must be difficult for any development team to be strictly accurate when it comes to making a game like this, and while the “historical purists” will be ready to launch the game, even if the weapons and armor are exaggerated versions of artifacts. Nordic, “I don’t think that really matters.”
He also believes that the wrong details should not get in the way of “a freely mixed immersive experience from the long Viking era period.”
But surely a bloody combination of “free” war and war based on history is a poisonous mix for young minds, isn’t it, Mr. Maclean?
“I think the damage caused by this kind of brutal story genre far outweighs the promotional benefits they bring, inspiring a generation to study the period of the game more.” Furthermore, the specialist in Nordic cultures in Britain said that if the game generates a great interest in Nordic heritage, like what happened after the successful History Channel drama series Vikings, “So it can only be a good thing for areas like Caithness, Orkney and Shetland, where the Nordic legacy is still there to be seen and touched.”
The main character of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is a leader of the Nordic clan called Eivor. ( Ubisoft)
Top image: screenshot of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Source: Ubisoft
By Ashley Cowie
