Assassin's Creed Valhalla skillfully combines elements of classic parts and recent releases of the series, which became a kind of its rethinking. At certain moments the game evokes nostalgia for the very first Assassin's Creed, at others it feels almost like a tracing of the Odyssey. How good this "cocktail" turned out to be, we tell you in the review.
After the release of Assassin's Creed Syndicate on a popular gaming site, the series has seen a change of vector. Friv2Online Studio switched to a new schedule of releasing games - every two years instead of a year, as it was before, and the plot of the franchise swung far into the past - Ancient Egypt and Greece.
Not everyone liked such innovations. Assassin's Creed Origins and Odyssey were scolded for leaving the history of assassins and ignoring the lore of the universe - the action of both friv games is set in times when the Order did not exist yet - and accused of parasitizing on the name of the series. But also praised: for the larger worlds, a coherent narrative and the introduction of role-playing elements (even with the influence of decisions made on the development of events).
There were many rumors about the next part of the line: according to one of them, the events were transferred to Japan. However, Ubisoft decided to focus on the story of the Vikings, to send gamers to Norway and England, to move the time frame closer to the very first game of the series. As it turned out in the end, Assassin's Creed Valhalla has a lot in common with the original Assassin's Creed - maybe even more so than Origins and Odyssey.
So, from hot, hauntingly sunny Greece, we travel to cold Norway, where our protagonist Eivor lives. Or heroine - this character can be male and female at the player's will, and you can switch between the options at any time, which is plot-driven. I liked the male Eivor better; the female version loses a bit in charisma to both him and Cassandra from Odyssey, but it's a matter of taste - you can try out both variants and decide which one is better.
Eivor is driven by a thirst for revenge: his father was once dishonored and killed by Kjotvi the Cruel, the Jarl of a hostile clan, and now the hero seeks to do the same to him. Having secured the support of his brother Sigurd and King Harald, he gets what he wants, but the price is high - the free warriors must kneel before the king, which contradicts their freedom-loving nature. Unable to accept this course of events, Sigurd and Eivor gather a retinue and set off for England to establish their state in a foreign land.
Despite such a concise description of the plot's setting, it is much broader than that. Only in Norway, the opening location, you will spend several hours: you will get acquainted with the main characters, meet members of the society of the Unseen, which is the forerunner of the Assassin Order, and learn about their opponents - the Order of the Ancients, to which Kjotvi belonged and from which the Templars would later grow; witness mystical events; explore small settlements and large cities; take part in raids; learn the rules of local mini-games, and so on.
In addition, shortly after the story starts, the friv game will bring you back to the present - to the year 2020, where the story of Leila Hassan and her accomplices continues. The heroes are looking for a way to save the Earth, plagued by abnormal occurrences after the 2012 catastrophe. There is a raging coronavirus, the planet is shaken by cataclysms, and Aivor - or rather, his remains, with the help of which Leila and travels to the past through the Animus - becomes a mysterious key to salvation.
It must be said that this time Ubisoft's scriptwriters paid more attention to the lore, unlike the previous installments of the series, which to the uninitiated player could seem completely detached from the Assassin's Creed universe. In "Valhalla" the events of the present day are revealed in more detail, the (almost real) assassins finally return, and the friv game menu has a detailed codex where you can read about characters, clans, territories and other components of the game world. What's more, Eivor even gets a hidden blade (but keeps his ring finger to himself) and learns the leap of faith!
Oh, and overall, the story of the new friv game feels more mature and serious compared to past releases. There is a lot of politics and "gray morality", questions of religion and relationships are raised, alliances are made and broken, kings are deposed and ascend to the throne, and the protagonist and his kin do not look like a positive side - on the contrary: they invade foreign territory and happily slaughter civilians to grab a piece of land.
The raids show it especially brightly: here you and your squad are sailing down the river on a drakkar, singing songs (oh, what gorgeous songs are here, and how often I wanted to linger, not docking at the shore to listen to the chorus of rowers), and a couple of minutes later you are already breaking into the territory of a Christian monastery, killing guards, sometimes hitting and interfering underfoot monks, trampling shrines and taking jewelry.
Returning to the plot, Ubisoft has competently distinguished between the main and secondary quests. The former are part of a large-scale story, which intertwines the work of finding a new home, the hunt for members of the Order of the Ancients and mystical episodes involving Scandinavian gods and mythical characters. The script contains a number of fresh choices, and following the protagonist's adventures is interesting - I found Eivor's adventures more exciting than Bayek's journey and Alexios/Cassandra's protracted revenge.
The latter are short sketches in the vein of random encounters from Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto V or side quests from The Witcher 3, with attention to detail and humor. Unlike the "sidequests" from previous installments in the lineup, those in Valhalla are more varied and unique, without the tiresome "give-and-take" quests.
Secondary missions are completed in a couple or three minutes (they're not even logged in the quest log) and are filled with jokes and funny situations. In one such mission, I had to set a house on fire to help a couple rekindle their passion - it brought back memories of raids during which they indulged in lovemaking. In another mission, Eivor tried to anger a newly converted Christian, and in a third, he fought a bald old man in a yellow robe who can knock you off your feet with a single kick. And this is not the only reference - the attentive player will definitely find hints to, for example, Portal and other popular works.
And such tasks are not treated as quests in modern RPGs. On the contrary, they evoke memories of classic games that did not register every character's every move. Here you have to find solutions on your own, not guided by hints and markers. This applies to the main quests as well, where there are even detective investigations with the possibility of pointing out the wrong suspect and bearing the burden of responsibility for a mistake.
For example, in the chain of quests to find the traitor, I had to spend a lot of time studying the evidence (at some points "detective vision" is activated and Eivor reconstructs the sequence of events like Batman from Arkham Origins / Knight), interviewing witnesses, thoroughly exploring the neighborhood, fighting with bandits, so that in the end, having compared the facts, to find the villain - and he turned out to be not the one you might have thought at the beginning of the investigation.
In between tasks in Assassin's Creed Valhalla there is also something to do. The world is open for exploration right from the start, and there are plenty of points of interest to be found. Traditionally for the series, the map is revealed by synchronizing on towers; Eivor also uses his raven to survey the area and display places to look out for.
Such locations are marked with different colors. Blue - side quests, altars for offerings, Animus anomalies (spatial puzzles), legendary beasts, opponents for fluting (the same "rap battle", a simple mini-game, for the victory in which Eivor pumps charisma, which opens new options in dialogues) and other activities.
Yellow color indicates treasures: ingots of valuable metals used to improve equipment, items of equipment (unlike in "Odyssey", in "Valhalla" elements of armor and weapons do not fall into the inventory by the dozens, and for the best copies you will have to hunt hard), books of abilities. To get to the treasure, you usually need to solve a puzzle - for example, to find a way to get into the building where the desired value is located.
Finally, white is used to mark various artifacts: treasure maps, fragments of Viking legends, opals needed to buy special items from merchants, flying sheets with fragments of tattoos for Eivor; the latter must be chased on rooftops and trees, just like in the early Assassin's Creed series.
And that's not all the leisure options. The Zealots roam the world - dangerous warriors, with whom you can fight, and among the inhabitants of England are hidden members of the Order. In the cities you can trade, show your skills in fluting, participate in a drinking contest and challenge your opponents to a dice friv game with complex rules and a variety of tactics.
In addition, there's also a settlement to develop. By organizing raids, Vikings extract resources for the construction of buildings, the list of which is quite extensive. The forge will give you access to improved equipment, the cartographer's house will allow you to buy maps of places with valuable resources and items, in the barracks you can create and equip warriors for your squad (in addition, your fighters will appear in the worlds of other players who can hire them, for which you will receive a small income), the tattoo artist will help you change your appearance, the house of Völva will open the way to amazing visions, and so on.
As the village grows, its level increases, new people appear in it and give you various tasks. It is not necessary to level it up (in general, in Assassin's Creed Valhalla you can ignore all side activities and move only on the main storyline), but it is desirable, taking into account the bonuses that it gives. If you want to develop the settlement to the maximum, sixth level, you will have to loot more than one monastery.
The world map of "Valhalla" is divided into regions, each of them has a certain level of influence. In some regions you can travel freely, in others it is better not to get in at first. The friv game does not put such serious restrictions on the level of the character, as it was in "Odyssey", but still in some locations it is better to come with good equipment and a high index of power.
Power is the sum of Avor's skills, which are given out for completing quests and gaining experience. Skill points are invested in constellations, conventionally divided into three branches - melee, stealth and ranged.
Moving along the branches of constellations, you spend points on smaller "stars" that contain passive bonuses (for example, increased stun power or increase in damage from stealth attacks) and larger "stars" that open various skills - for example, the ability to trample an enemy knocked down or get a "last chance" at a critically low level of health.
The pumping system in Assassin's Creed Valhalla reminded me of Path of Exile - there are a lot of constellations with skills here, and points can be reset and redistributed at any time, so you can try different directions of character development.
Active abilities, in turn, can be obtained while exploring the world by finding special books. After reading such a book, Aivor will learn a new technique and will be able to put it into the quick access box. Abilities fall into the categories of melee and ranged combat, and are activated due to the adrenaline that the hero accumulates in battle. This time, unfortunately, there was no Spartan kick, which helped me out in Odyssey, but there are some interesting attacks: for example, in a fit of rage the protagonist can throw the enemy to the ground and shower him with a hail of blows or throw a few axes at the surrounding fighters.
The combat system has not changed much compared to the previous installment, but it has become richer. The hero alternates between weak and strong blows, uses a bow and abilities, can dodge, block and counterattack.
Now you can take a weapon in each hand in any combination - axe and shield, two shields, hammer and sword and so on. Vulnerable points appeared on the bodies of enemies: if you hit one with an arrow, you can seriously weaken him or even stun him and take his life in one blow. Eivor has a stamina bar, so you can't endlessly deliver powerful blows or dodge. Health does not regenerate by itself: you need to have a stock of provisions or look for bushes with edible berries.
In addition, social stealth is back: you can blend in with the crowd, blend in with your surroundings, as well as hide in haystacks and attract guards by whistling. This gives you more freedom to complete quests, and flexible settings will allow you to make enemies more or less vigilant, adjust the complexity of battles and exploration of the world.
After the tiresome brightness of Greece, where I've spent over a hundred hours, fickle England feels like a breath of fresh air. Autumn forests beckon with golden foliage, majestic fortresses call to reveal their secrets, and gloomy marshes hide death in the mist. The architecture is breathtaking, and if you want a change of scenery, you can return to snowy Norway at any time, or go to a mystical world. No doubt I liked the temples of Athens, but the streets of Lunden seemed more inviting.
However, not everything is so smooth in the new lands: the problems of Assassin's Creed Valhalla are worth mentioning. Unfortunately, there were a lot of bugs, from small ones, like characters getting stuck in objects, to serious ones - for example, at some point I lost the ability to loot monasteries, which was cured only by restarting the game.
On the base PS4, the friv game runs well most of the time, but in large-scale battles (and there are quite a few of them, and they are much better framerate than in Odyssey) there were some serious drops in frames per second in some places. The voices of the main characters are perfectly matched, but the secondary characters can't boast of that.
Many of these problems will be solved by patches, but you may encounter some of them at launch. To be fair, this is the bane of all open-world games - it's not easy to make a huge number of objects and scenarios work together without bugs.
As for microtransactions - the friv game has a store where you can purchase materials, money, treasure location maps, unique tattoos, horse and raven guises, ship skins, and other cosmetic items for Helix credits.
You can buy credits for real money and get them for completing quests, but I see no reason to spend on microtransactions: resources to improve equipment are easily obtained without grind, valuables are easy to find without special maps, and you can't even boast of exclusive skins. Whether to buy donated currency or not is up to everyone, but in Valhalla, as in other Ubisoft games, you can comfortably stay without looking in the in-game store.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla looks like a legitimate evolution of the series. The developers have taken the best from the many releases in the lineup, from the very first to the most recent, and added a few new elements.
At its core, it's still Assassin's Creed, and you'll get the same emotions from this game that the previous installments gave you. Still, the franchise is evolving, and it's nice to see it moving in the right direction.
The adventures of Eivor continue, and I can't wait to get back to England again to close out all the points of interest. It will take quite a while, but I certainly won't regret the hours spent.