After travelling to the sandy expanses of Ancient Egypt and traversing the lush Mediterranean landscape of Ancient Greece, we’re finally heading north for the snow-capped tundra of Norway. Grab your horns and ready your longships friends- we’re setting sail with the Vikings in Assassin's Creed Valhalla.

Note: This review is spoiler-free.



Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is very much a continuation of the established formula we’ve seen in Origins and Odyssey. This time around you assume the role of Eivor, a Norwegian warrior hardened by their past who sets out with their brother Sigurd to expand their clan to England. Eivor can be male or female depending on your preference, or you can let the game dynamically change between them throughout your playthrough. Layla Hassan also returns as the playable modern-day protagonist, but like previous titles, has very little screen time compared to our new Nordic pals.

Upon your arrival to England, Eivor and the clan will establish a settlement called Ravensthorpe which serves as your home base. This is essentially an upgradable village that you will need to manage and gather resources for in order to build facilities such as a trader shop, blacksmith, and even a tattoo and barber shop. I was initially hesitant upon hearing about this feature due to my lukewarm response to Prosperity in Far Cry: New Dawn, but I am pleased to say that the execution is far better this time around. There is a certain level of satisfaction in building up your home and seeing new characters populate it, and the payoff is having many useful shop owners and amenities available in one safe area. You can also personalize it with decorative elements to make it feel like your own, which is something the interior decorator in me has spent too much time caring about.



For those who were intimidated by Odyssey’s massive map, Valhalla may initially seem more palatable, but don’t be mistaken - this game is huge. While England makes up your main playable area, there are other regions to be explored that compound to make up some beefy playtime. The game has done away with a traditional side quest system in favour of small, colour-coded dots on the map which signify various events - wealth, artifacts, and mysteries. This does a nice job of decluttering your quest log, but when you climb up a tower to unlock map regions and the game highlights just how many of these are scattered around you, you realize that there is still plenty of content to chew on here.

For those who were intimidated by Odyssey’s massive map, Valhalla may initially seem more palatable, but don’t be mistaken - this game is huge.

I do want to praise this quest system change though. Ubisoft games sometimes suffer from a lack of direction and feel artificially bloated, but Valhalla has succeeded in making the game feel more streamlined. There is a general main quest direction to follow and many of the side activities happen during your exploration and not as a distraction to it. World Events are a new feature that act as mini quests that only occur as you come across them, which feels a lot more immersive and organic. There are also far fewer weapon and armour options, favouring unique pieces with set bonuses rather than being spammed with fifty broken bandit swords that inevitably get sold or dismantled.



The level system has seen an overhaul, foregoing the traditional levelling up for an XP-based approach where you earn skill points when your XP metre fills. Each skill point can be used to unlock improvements in the game’s skill tree, a far larger and branching system with hundreds of mini upgrades available. Most of these are simple "+2 to health" or "+5 to melee damage" options, but more prominent abilities are unlocked this way as well, such as the ability to reduce fall damage or chain assassinations. Your level is calculated by the amount of skills allotted, thus giving you control over what attributes to power yourself with. The game’s areas are dictated by power level, so a level 130 area would be roughly designated for players who have assigned 130 skill points - but due to the flexibility of skill assignment, you thankfully aren’t locked out of attempting these areas.



Skills can also be individually or bulk reset at will for zero cost, which is great for changing builds or acquiring skills that are needed on the fly.
Combat has also seen some adjustments. While Eivor is equipped to do the typical melee, ranged, and stealth attack combo, enemies have some more variety this time around. You’ll mostly be facing standard human infantry, but the introduction of elite enemy types adds a new layer to your gameplay.

These enemies are more powerful, have unique attack patterns and weapons to work around, and usually guard things such as chests or need to be killed to obtain keys. I will however say that as you play and level up, these characters become increasingly easy to work around, especially when unlocking powerful combat abilities. So, while not perfectly executed, it is a step in the right direction for removing the monotony of battle. The game also has some epic finishers and combat moves which will satisfy the gory tendencies of the sadists among you (not that you’ll admit it).



Another key change to the gameplay is the introduction of Raids. Eivor and their clan will need to take on large settlements to obtain resources and supplies needed for upgrading Ravensthorpe. These are a nice addition that break the normal questing sequence and actually feel like they make a difference to your game, not just thrown in as an afterthought. These missions are not doable alone, so you will either have to sail up to the shore with your crew or summon them on land with your horn to initiate the raid.



However, herein lies one of my major complaints with the game: bugged raids. The doors and chests containing spoils require Eivor to have someone assist in opening them, which is why these cannot be done solo. However, I ran into the unfortunate issue where every third raid or so, my crew didn’t arrive - they just didn’t feel like it. I would be running around killing enemies waiting for them to join in, only to see my boat at the shore with my clan sitting happily onboard with zero intention to get out and help me. This meant having to fast travel away and come back and start over, lest I stand alone banging against a door for a painful eternity.

This was particularly annoying as fast travel isn’t possible during combat, so I had to run very far away to be able to warp and come back. This sometimes meant a 5-10 minute raid took me 30 minutes due to wasted time. I had one or two occasions where NPCs froze during quests as well, needing a full reload of a previous save, but this was far less frequent. I highly recommend arriving with your clan to avoid time lost until this issue is resolved.



Some fans will be relieved to see that the hidden blade has made its return, along with disguising and blending in with crowds. One of the primary complaints about the new games was the removal of core Assassin features, so this is clearly an attempt to win back that audience. However, I didn’t find it to be as successful as it could have been. Due to Assassin's Creed Valhalla having so many group raids and attacks, stealth falls to the wayside in favour of frantic bloody battles. Your raven (the new version of the eagle from previous titles) isn’t as useful in picking up enemies which made it harder to stealth in solo situations. Many of my fights ended up being face-to-face rather than sneaky unless I used my bow - which somewhat defeats the point of having the hidden blade anyway. This isn’t to say that stealth isn’t doable, but rather doesn’t seem to play as much of a role as I thought it would.

The gameplay and open world is the major drawcard and the story is there to frame it for you.

In terms of the story, it’s more of the same really. The gameplay and open world is the major drawcard and the story is there to frame it for you. I also think many of you will enjoy the "Easter eggs" of English and Nordic myth scattered into the story and quests. The mythology aspect of Origins and Odyssey is what grabbed me in the first place and proved to be a highlight during my playthrough, and meeting exciting characters was a real treat here. The Assassin’s Brotherhood has a bit more presence in Valhalla as well, which will at least please those of you who wondered why these are called Assassin’s Creed games in the first place.



What did disappoint me was the protagonists. Both female and male Eivor came across as one-note, dull characters. While not unlikeable, they are a major step-down from personalities like Odyssey’s Kassandra, which is glaringly obvious if you have played that game recently. Layla Hassan is just as she was before, which is to say she remains one of my least favourite Assassin’s Creed characters to date. I’m just thankful her appearances are minimal because in all honesty, I find her modern storyline to be a hindrance to an otherwise enjoyable trilogy.

Through your adventures you’ll find people wanting to engage in drinking competitions, battle you in medieval rap battles called Flyting, and even get to dash after tattoo designs a la Black Flag’s shanty chases.

Some neat extra goodies have been thrown into Valhalla which greatly added to the experience, and though I will leave some as a surprise, I wanted to take a moment to praise the inclusion of more side activities and mini-games. Through your adventures you’ll find people wanting to engage in drinking competitions, battle you in medieval rap battles called Flyting, and even get to dash after tattoo designs a la Black Flag’s shanty chases. One of my favourites is Orlog, a strategic dice game which may reel in those of you who were taken by The Witcher 3’s Gwent. The world feels more authentically full and alive which made the atmosphere feel real - it’s certainly one of the more enjoyable ancient settings I’ve ever played. Also, you get to pet dogs and cats and you get a giant wolf as a mount, which is all I could ever ask for really.



If you’re a fan of the new Assassin’s Creed formula or just big action games in general, Assassin's Creed Valhalla is probably something you’ll want to add to your wishlist right now. Despite a few hiccups here and there, the game has made some needed improvements and sets itself apart enough to make it worth journeying through. The Ubisoft gameplay loop is a drug, and boy am I happily addicted. It feels good to come from the land of the ice and snow.



*Reviewed on a PC with an i7-9700k and RTX 2080, on Very High graphics @ 1440p, on Default difficulty for all settings. Review code provided by Ubisoft PR.