What really stands out to me, though,
is how much better Valhalla is at
telling an engaging story that twists
and turns according to my decisions.
Valhalla does a great
job of introducing
characters, concepts,
and themes, and then
forcing me to decide
how Eivor, the main
character, relates to
them. When one of
my beloved clansmen
betrayed me and tried
to take my life, I had no choice but
to kill them in self defence. But I
agonised for almost a full minute over
whether to let them grasp their axe
with their dying breath or kick it
away, denying them entrance into
Valhalla. I had come to love this
character and their betrayal was
upsetting, but does that justify
denying them an eternity in heaven?RAGNARÖKIN’
Set during the Viking invasion of
England, the story follows Eivor andher adoptive brother Sigurd, two
fierce Norse warriors chasing glory.
Like Odyssey, Eivor can be played as
either a man or a woman, but what’s
great is you can now
switch between them
freely to test which one
suits you instead of
being locked into that
choice from the outset.
Whichever Eivor you
play as, the story
unfolds in mostly the
same way. Sigurd was
supposed to be made a local king, but
the unification of Norway under King
Harald leaves him two choices: bend
the knee or leave. Unwilling to give
up his dream of ruling, Sigurd
convinces Eivor and much of his clan
to abandon Norway and sail to
England so they can violently carve
out a new future for themselves.
The anchor of this story is my
settlement, called Ravensthorpe,
which expands slowly over time as I
gather new resources and construct
new buildings. Like Dutch’s camp inRed Dead Redemption 2, the
settlement is a home base that I
return to frequently in between
quests. New buildings unlock new
upgrades, like a forge so I can
enhance my equipment or a brewery
so I can host feasts that give me a
temporary buff to my stats. As the
settlement expands, it draws new
characters, sidequests and even the
opportunity for romance.
Most of the story is concerned
with what’s happening outside the
borders of my settlement, however.
In order to cement a permanent
place in England, Eivor and Sigurd
have to negotiate alliances with the
various Viking tribes (and the
occasional Saxon king). This is all
centred around an Alliance Map,
where I choose which region I want
to venture to, participating in a
somewhat self-enclosed series of
quests to win the favour of whichever
faction happens to be there.
It takes a while before it all starts
to come together, but Ubisoft does
a great job juxtaposing my
relationships with Sigurd and the
rest of the Raven clan with the much
more epic sagas as I wage war on
Picts with the legendary Halfdan
Ragnarrson, establish puppet kings
with Ivar the Boneless, or trade
veiled threats with Aelfred, King of
Wessex. All the while, dialogue
choices poke and prod the rigidity of
Norse culture and traditions with
surprising nuance. It’s hard to explain
without spoiling specific moments,
but Valhalla has some wickedly
knotted moral conundrums. There
were a dozen or more times I stared
at dialogue choices, completely
stumped over which option was the
right one to go for.RANSACKED
There are still some moments where
Valhalla feels like a bad Game of
Thrones episode, though. Entire
armies show up undetected at a
moments notice, and characters will
inexplicably change sides in a conflict
just to reveal they’re actually a part ofNEED TO KNOW
WHAT IS IT?
An enormous
Viking RPG
EXPECT TO PAY
£50
DEVELOPER
Ubisoft
PUBLISHER
In-house
REVIEWED ON
i7 8700, RTX 2070,
16GB RAM
MULTIPLAYER
No
LINK
assassinscreed.comAs the
settlement
expands, it
draws new
charactersM
y favourite Assassin’s Creed is now Assassin’s Creed
Valhalla, which is saying something considering it’s a
series that spans 23 games. It builds on the already
excellent RPG foundations laid by Origins and Odyssey,
but with meaningful improvements that iron out many
of the frustrations I had with both games. Case in point: not once during
the 60-hour story was I told to stop and level up a bunch before I could
take on the next quest. That also means Ubisoft isn’t selling optional
experience boosts, either. Thank God.VIKING INVASION
ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA is the best
Assassin’s Creed to date. By Steven Messner
SKILLING IN THE NAME OF
Some must-have abilities you should get from the skill tree
HEAVY DUAL
WIELD
Dual-wield
two-handed
weapons to take
on the hordes.ADVANCED
ASSASSINATION
Instantly
assassinate
higher-level enemies
after a simple QTE.BREAKFALL
Automatically
roll when falling
from big
heights, reducing
your damage.COUNTER ROLL
Let’s you counter
unblockable attacks
by getting behind
your enemy so you
can stab them.Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
REVIEW