Assassin’s Creed is as reliable as it is divisive. Despite a litany of recurring complaints, its continued popularity is undeniable. Whether it’s because of the series’ long-running, overarching narrative or the appeal of stepping into meticulously recreated historical worlds, Assassin’s Creed has earned itself a loyal following over the years. The exciting Viking concept of Valhalla was clearly an investment in trying to expand the series’ player base and it’s likely to succeed despite a staggeringly long run-time, unsatisfying button-mashy combat and a shallow story.
Valhalla is the third game since the series went in its current RPG direction beginning with the Egypt-set Origins in 2016. For fans of the ‘old’ Assassin’s Creed hoping for a return to the series’ roots, Valhalla will fall somewhere in the middle. It’s true, some fan favourite elements do return (the Order of Assassin’s, the Hidden Blade, and stealth mechanics to name a few) but they are probably not enough to change the opinion of anyone who fell out of love with the series four years ago when it changed focus.
While the direction of the series may split opinion, the continued historical tourism it offers shouldn’t. Valhalla is primarily set in a breath-taking recreation of Anglo-Saxon England. Like Ancient Greece, Victorian London, and Renaissance Italy before it, it’s fascinating to step into yet another beautiful long-lost world. It’s an opportunity only video games allow, and Assassin’s Creed is still at the top of the mountain when it comes to bringing these historic marvels to life. Unfortunately, the games bloated length does expose repetition in the world’s design. Once you’ve seen five Roman ruins, you’ve seen them all. And the same can be said for fortified towns, rolling hills and open plains. Valhalla would’ve benefited from being smaller in scope. This is something that is blatant throughout. Even at 20 hours in (a third of the overall 60-hour length), the game begins to feel repetitious.
Tales of a Viking
In Valhalla, you play as Eivor. Unlike previous games, where you must choose between two separate male and female characters, Valhalla presents you with three options: a male or female version of Eivor, or both. As it was the default, and assuming that this choice meant you play as both versions equally, I went with the third option (or “Let the Animus decide” as it’s called). Oddly, it’s far from a 50/50 split. For the majority of the time, you’ll play as female Eivor. Male Eivor only kicks in in some of the late Valhalla sections of the game. So, for the bulk of my playthrough I was a female. Luckily, female Eivor is one of the strongest Assassin’s Creed protagonists in years – she’s witty, strong, and loyal. Even so, it’s strange to give the option of both genders and imply it’s an even split when it really isn’t.
After a fairly typical but well written opening sequence, you’re thrust into the world of adult Eivor of the Raven Clan. The opening missions and story in Norway are among the game’s best. Progression feels swift and impactful, with consistant story beats that compel you to keep playing. The battle against Kjotve the Curel (head of a rival Norse clan), the risk of ongoing war, and conflict with King Styrbjorn is engaging stuff and contrasts with the monotony of the game’s middle sections. After a while, Eivor’s brother and Styrbjorn’s son, Sigurd, returns from his travels with two familiar looking companions – Basim and Hytham of the Hidden Ones AKA Assassins. They present Eivor with the Hidden Blade and go about showing her some typical assassination techniques. The whole sequence feels like a homage to the series’ roots – from the look of Basim and Hytham to the return of Assassin’s Creed’s iconic weapon. It’s really enjoyable stuff, especially for people who’ve been playing since the 2007 original.
After some unwelcome political developments in Norway, Sigurd and Eivor decide it’s time for them to leave their homeland and sail for pastures new in England with their crew of loyalists. Once settled in their new home of Ravensthorpe, Sigurd and Eivor plan to expand their power in England by forging alliances throughout the island’s dominant kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia and Wessex.
Sigurd’s wife, Randvi, is the keeper of the clan’s alliance map. Throughout the game, you visit Randvi to pledge yourself to different regions and declare success as and when you clear their respective ‘arcs’. This drives the game’s narrative. Unlike the opening in Norway, this slowly becomes incredibly tedious and borders on a chore. Each region comes with its own story that will take you a few hours to clear. To accompany those stories are swathes of forgettable and interchangeable side characters who come and go seemingly at random. None are given proper time to develop and, as a result, change their opinions, motivations, and personalities at a stupidly fast rate. Once you’ve completed a region, you move onto the next and the cycle begins again just like that. It’s monotonous and might become a real slog for those with limited time on their hands.
While the Viking section of the game is mostly good despite its superfluous nature, the present-day arc is barely passable. The ending is decidedly underwhelming when you consider the 60-hour grind it takes to get there. Rebecca and Shaun (two of Desmond Miles’ allies from the earlier games) return from the outset of Valhalla, but their presence is underexplained and they could be anyone. There are some nice throwbacks to the series’ history but overall the present-day story is well past its expiration date. Nothing highlights this more than the constant references to the 2012 end of the world event that was prophesised back in the first game. The fact we are facing this again just reeks of a story completely out of ideas.
Contradictory Combat
There is an inherent contradiction at the heart of Valhalla. Vikings were not assassins. They were brutal, violent warriors who fought their enemies with upfront rage. This makes it somewhat perplexing that Ubisoft chose this game to refocus on some of the stealth elements that made the series so popular. Even more confusing is the decision to marry this with a combat system that doesn’t lend itself to strategic stealth at all. It’s a shame that after all these years, the stealth mechanics are still largely the same as they were in 2007. Metal Gear Solid V was an incredible example of stealth successfully integrated into an open world. Valhalla is essentially the opposite. Stealth is underdeveloped, clunky and always harder than tackling enemies head on.
Combat in Valhalla has three elements – melee, ranged and abilities. Melee combat is initially fun but frustratingly one-dimensional considering the touted ability to dual wield any two weapons in the game. Yes, you can do that – equip two axes, an axe and a sword, an axe and a shield, or hell, two shields – it’s just that it never really feels any different. You might assume, as I did, that the left and right shoulder buttons would control the weapon in each hand, but they don’t. Instead, R1 and R2 deal light and heavy attacks, respectively. L1 is parry, unless you hold it with certain weapons equipped when it instead triggers a two-handed fury attack. L2 pulls out your bow. This configuration means little thought needs to go into the weapons you equip in each hand. Whatever you equip, you’ll just be mashing R2 to easily down your considerably weaker foes.
Ranged attacks function as more of a support mechanism than a combat approach in themselves. There are several different bows available but they all function similarly. The excitement in Valhalla’s combat system comes from the range of different abilities that you unlock by finding collectibles scattered throughout the world. They add needed variety and style to what is an otherwise unremarkable combat system. While I can see the idea behind the current button-mash style approach, it lacks the cinematic ‘wow’ factor of the old system and feels progressively worse the longer you play.
Grinding Your Axe
The loot system in Valhalla has been revised with weapons and armour now significantly harder to come by than in Odyssey. Gone are the tonnes of junk loot that you would periodically ditch to clear out your cluttered inventory. The selection is much tighter now, almost to a fault. You won’t spend any time clearing your inventory because there is extraordinarily little to find. Nowhere is this more evident than in the armour selection. While this system is certainly an improvement over Odyssey, it is arguably too far the other way and makes the game feel unrewarding.
The skill tree has also been revised for Valhalla. It now branches into three primary areas: ranged, melee and stealth, each of which are comprised of different ‘nodes’. These are either stat or skill nodes and contribute to your overall power level. Stat nodes are marginal stat increases that seem to be scattered throughout the skill tree at random. Ranged stat nodes appear in the melee section, for example. It doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense and is honestly quite boring – there’s no fun in tiny stat increases. I often found myself forgetting to check the skill tree for this very reason.
Thankfully, there’s the skill nodes in there, too. These do make a noticeable difference and can be chosen to suit your play style. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to get every skill (or even the ones you might want) in a single playthrough without having to reset the skill tree. This is because much of it is initially obscured, so you can’t plan the root you want to take. But this begs the question – if you can just reset the skill tree, why obscure it in the first place? The whole system mirrors the tedium found elsewhere in the game.
As you progress and grow so will your settlement. Based in the central kingdom of Mercia, Ravesnthorpe serves as the Raven Clan’s base of operations in England. It’s an interesting idea and one I found quite motivating throughout my playthrough. To level up your settlement, you need resources, and to gather those resources you need to complete raids. Hop on your longboat, sail down river, burn down a monastery or slaughter a small town, and you should have enough to build yourself a nice tattoo shop or a stable. Docking your boat as Eivor blows her horn, before charging into a town with her crew of men, is exhilarating and makes up for some of the laborious story missions. Raids can feel directionless and sometimes anti-climatic (often as you scramble around to find a key or entry point to get that last bit of loot) but mostly they are great fun. There is, however, a clear dichotomy between the likeable Eivor we see forging alliances across England and the one who happily slaughters a small town’s umpteen guards. Disappointingly, the morality of this goes entirely unexplored meaning the whole raid-to-grow-your-settlement loop lacks any narrative depth.
Final Verdict
It is undeniable there is a lot of fun and beautiful history to be found in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. From the strong opening in Norway to fierce raids in England, the first third of the game delivers a pretty great experience. Looking at the alliance map from the comfort of your growing settlement fills you with excitement for where the game will take you next. And initially, journeying across Anglo-Saxon England is a thrilling and rewarding experience. Regrettably, the longer you indulge yourself in the world the more apparent its faults become. The combat is a blur of R2 mashed fury, the story is a sea of unremarkable side characters, and the progression is immaterial. It is a shame because with a more detailed direction and smaller scope, Valhalla could have been so much more. Even if it is some decent Viking fun.
Final Score: 7/10
Copy of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was provided by Ubisoft for this review.
Version played: PS4
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