It’s hard to overstate how gorgeous a scene can be when the various lighting and weather effects systems are all working in unison. The rolling green hills of England, cut up by iconic stone walls, are a ready canvas for the rays of light that pierce through the muggy cloud cover, casting shadows that slowly roll across the landscape. The snow-blanketed tundras and mountainous ranges of Norway are breathtaking, especially at night as the aurora illuminates the sky above. As I played it on the Xbox Series X, running 4K resolution and 60 frames per second, it may be the most beautiful Assassin’s Creed world yet certainly the most satisfying to sit back and watch. And no matter where you are, it’s absolutely stunning. But that’s the business of eighth-century England, I suppose.Ī World Separated by an OceanValhalla’s vast interpretation of The Dark Ages of Britain is massive, and when coupled with a significant portion of Norway, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla presents a staggeringly large playground through which you ply your trade. I’ve found myself thinking about that decision ever since. My judgment was accepted and the consequences were swiftly doled out, and that was that. If the person I accused was guilty, Valhalla never gave me more clarity, and the uncertainty seems very intentional. To be honest, I’m not sure I was right I still don’t know. The resulting few hours of investigation brought me to the end of the road, and I made the best decision based on the available information I had. One particular instance found me helping the leader of a nearby shire – regions within the four kingdoms (no hobbits) – who had discovered a traitor in her inner circle and charged me with rooting them out because she loved each one of them as family and couldn’t trust herself to see past their lies. This is a dirty, dingy world where life is cheap and nearly everyone is scratching and clawing to gain power – or to keep it – regardless of who gets burned along the way. There are moments throughout where the griefstriken, bittersweet, and just plain bitter resolutions reminded me of The Witcher 3’s Bloody Baron delivery.
“Even so, the siblings’ quest for wealth, glory, and power throughout England is darker, sadder, and more grounded than the tones of the past few games had led me to expect. That sets the stage for your arrival in England as you settle the land and forge alliances to protect and expand your fledgling homestead against the chaos and political dust storm of warring factions across England’s four kingdoms: Mercia, East Anglia, Northumbria, and Wessex. From those starting moments, the table is set and soon you and your brother Sigurd are off on a grand adventure to England, a land ripe with wealth and glory, and already well-integrated with Danes and Norse from years of Viking invasion and conquest.
You have to put up with some new progression system ideas that don’t quite deliver, and an abundance of bugs, but there’s a staggering number of things to do, explore, and discover in and around Valhalla’s more atmospheric storytelling.Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s story follows Eivor, a male or female Norse Viking who grows up with a chip on their shoulder and vengeance in their heart after some particularly dastardly events in the opening cinematic. It’s been an impressive showcase for the Xbox Series X (and presumably the PlayStation 5, but Ubisoft only gave us access to the Xbox version ahead of launch), playing in 4K and a near-constant 60 frames per second. Though Ubisoft has dug up some of its stealth-action roots to make that style more appealing, Valhalla’s focus is on the absolutely massive recreation of Dark Ages England, brought to life with stunning beauty and a level of detail I’ve rarely seen. Like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Origins before it, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla continues the series trajectory into a full-fledged open-world RPG.
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