In the world of AAA games, Assassins Creed is one of the biggest titles developed by gaming giant Ubisoft which has made itself a name in the gaming world for a collection of open-world games. Ubisoft is known for titles like Watchdogs, Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed and all of which depend on massive open-world maps that the player could explore, complete missions, play side quests, gather knowledge about the ancient world, etc. One of the latest instalments in the Assassin’s Creed franchise is Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Set in years 872-878 AD, the game recounts a fictional story during the Viking expansion into the British Isles. Here the player plays as a Viking raider who attempts to establish a new Viking clan in England in the meantime gets involved in the centuries-old conflict between the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order, where the former fights for peace and liberty and the latter desires peace through control.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla delivers hard on the visual aspect. The characters in this game are well-developed having their motivations and struggles. From the beginning, we are hit hard by the death of the parents of the main character, Eivor Varinsdottir also known as the Wolf kissed by a rival clan. Ubisoft delivers the best graphics in this game. The level of effort they paid to details is visible. Every time you play this game you feel as if you are inside the game. It’s a bit of a feast for the eyes as it features crisp scenery, wonderful weather effects, and detailed scenes. Whenever you go visit the countryside in this game you will be in awe of it. The cattle grazing in the field or the village folks going about doing their daily chores. Each frame of the countryside can be used as wallpaper. For the graphic detail, I would give this game a solid 5/5.
Moving on from graphics to the combat system I could say that it is immersive but could use some work as I do like the skills and abilities which diverge from the hack-and-slash feel at the start of the game which takes a turn after playing for a while and balances the RPG aspect, making it thoroughly enjoyable. There are a variety of weapons that one could use for the play style that suits individual play style from assault to stealth, like Hammers, Swords, Axes, Spears, Bows, etc. After doing tons of side quests, I was able to get Excalibur and Mjolnir, two of the landmark weapons in the game which provide a great competitive edge. I would give the combat element in the game 4/5 since it gets repetitive once you have played for 10-12 hour and you have to find new and unique ways of delivering the fatal blow
The mission system and side quest tracker have been greatly improved from previous Assassin’s Creed games which makes it more manageable and enjoyable and essentially provides you with countless hours of gameplay. The story develops well going through the various events during the Viking Expansion with the various conflicts between the main character and the Templars, who have taken hold in the British Isles. So the storyline/quest system gets a 5/5.
All things considered, I would rate this game 4.5/5 in all. The game is brilliant, the raids are fun and action-packed, some side missions have had me laugh out loud, also some choices make you question your moral compass. Perhaps the only downside would be some of the minor bugs I have encountered during gameplay. However, I wouldn’t let this discourage anyone else as patches are released often that address key issues leading me to believe the majority of these issues will eventually go or at least improve. Moreover, a number of DLCs have been released since the game’s release like Wrath of the Druids, Dawn of Ragnarok, The Seige of Paris which adds a lot more to this already fun adventure, and all these DLCs add to the already vast historic story that the base game provides and add other events that took place during that era.
