Assassin's Creed Valhalla - Hands-on Preview

PCGamesN went hands-on with Assassin's Creed Valhalla.

Early into the demo I embark on a raid to defeat a rival Danish clan and liberate Oswald ahead of the wedding. Raids are an evolution of Odyssey's Conquest Battles, large-scale brawls between two armies, but with siege-like stages that give the battle some much needed direction and urgency. Raids are pure cinema, as you scythe your way through what feels like an entire army, ballistas and archers raining fire down from above while a battering ram drums away in the background.

After freeing Oswald and attending his wedding I'm free to explore a sizable chunk of the East Anglia region, from ancient woodlands in deep Norfolk, to the coast around Great Yarmouth. Whether galloping down damp, muddy lanes on horseback or coursing through the rivers in your longship - the crew belting out skaldic songs as they go - East Anglia is a pleasure to explore.

Dense woodlands, thickets, and no shortage of fog lend the landscape an air of mystery. Thick oak trees are draped in moss and lichen, the forest floor is illuminated by wildflowers like the bright white wood anemone and the mauve hue of columbine. In a call back to Assassin's Creed III, you can navigate portions of the forest through a network of gnarled branches. As the forest opens up into heathland, fern thickets create helpful pockets for stalking wildlife, while protruding alder and elm trees offer vantage points.

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More information.

Since I'm from a neighbouring region (Nottingham) I know East Anglia well. I wonder if I'll be as annoyed by this as I am about nearly every Robin Hood adaptation. I'm hoping the geography will be correct at least.

Humm I hoped they had tuned down the Abstergo immersion breaking jumps but apparently not.. I know they are part of the 'story' *coughs* but they are really annoying.

https://www.pcgamer.com/assassins-cr…g-in-november/

2 days before Cyberpunk 2077 release? That's quite bold.

By the time I finish CP2077, this game will be on sale.

I’ve skimmed some articles and watched a bit of videos on this but really I don’t need to see anymore as this is a guaranteed day 1 purchase from me.

Ubisoft has earned my trust ( that doesn’t roll off the tongue very easily) with this franchise. I really like the direction they’re going in.

Edit— responding to the posting of the release date by Joxer. I’ll definitely be playing this before 2077. If 2077 were 3rd person instead of a FPS it would be a harder decision.

I wasn't very excited about this initially because I'm sick of Vikings and I just played a bunch of AC: Odyssey a couple of months ago. But the more I hear (and see), the more interested am I. It sounds like this AC will have actual, honest to God exploration, not just ticking camps and forts off the map in between doing main missions. I've wanted more variety from AC for a while.

Watch Dogs: Legion also sounds very interesting to me, and that's coming out on October 29th. So basically Oct-Nov has become the crowded release window I once thought March-April would be.

Originally Posted by JFarrell71
I've wanted more variety from AC for a while.

That's pretty much been the problem with the series since day 1. I personally got tired of buying every iteration, which marked off another year and some tiny incremental change. The last game I checked in with was Origins for $20, and I was again unimpressed by the molasses-in-summer progress. Wake me when they finally get there.

Originally Posted by joxer
https://www.pcgamer.com/assassins-cr…g-in-november/


By the time I finish CP2077, this game will be on sale.

One lesson I learned is to wait a year or two to play the complete version. I'm being serious as Ubisoft will probably have DLC expansions for two years at least.

Originally Posted by JFarrell71
I wasn't very excited about this initially because I'm sick of Vikings and I just played a bunch of AC: Odyssey a couple of months ago. But the more I hear (and see), the more interested am I. It sounds like this AC will have actual, honest to God exploration, not just ticking camps and forts off the map in between doing main missions. I've wanted more variety from AC for a while.

I watched all the leaked videos and can honestly say this version is basically more of an RPG then Odyssey. I was worried because it's a different developer but not now.

Originally Posted by JFarrell71
Watch Dogs: Legion also sounds very interesting to me, and that's coming out on October 29th. So basically Oct-Nov has become the crowded release window I once thought March-April would be.

Never liked playing any of the Watchdog games but hey glad you enjoy them.

Here are the official videos released today.

Originally Posted by Capt. Huggy Face
That's pretty much been the problem with the series since day 1. I personally got tired of buying every iteration, which marked off another year and some tiny incremental change. The last game I checked in with was Origins for $20, and I was again unimpressed by the molasses-in-summer progress. Wake me when they finally get there.

Really, I thought origins and odyssey were quite a change from pre-origins.

That is an ugly, ugly woman in all of the pics. Looks like a dude with makeup on. Well, I assume it's female. Hope I can port the gal from Odyssey over

Might pick it up on sale somewhere down the line, but this takes a backseat to several other game for me and isn't even close to Cyberpunk 2077 as far as how much I'm anticipating.

Looks boring af like the previous 2

Originally Posted by porcozaur
Looks boring af like the previous 2

Well then good for me as I hated the old Assassin Creed formula.

Historically correct? They all look more like the typical Barbarian-Vikings from Fantasy flicks than actual Vikings, but that's rule of cool for you ;-) Anyway, I will play it some day, without a doubt, but probably not after I'm done with Cyberpunk. Made the mistake of letting games half-played lying around before…

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
Well then good for me as I hated the old Assassin Creed formula.

Same here. And if it's really more of an RPG than Odyssey, I'm really looking forward to it. (Although I'll miss the great mediterranean landscape.)

Think I'll play CP77 first.

Originally Posted by crpgnut
That is an ugly, ugly woman in all of the pics. Looks like a dude with makeup on. Well, I assume it's female. Hope I can port the gal from Odyssey over

To each his own. She looks quite good in my eyes.
However I guess "she has better things to do" than to appeal to some random internet guys.

Originally Posted by joxer
https://www.pcgamer.com/assassins-cr…g-in-november/


By the time I finish CP2077, this game will be on sale.

To me is the exact oposite, I don't like CP77 so I'll be playing Valhalla NG+ when CP goes on sale

Can't wait to have my own Last Kingdom adventures, sadly doesn't seem there will be big battles…. with shieldwalls and chavalry…. well bannerlord covers that part but the story is crap….

Why can't we have the best of valhalla and from bannerlod in one single game

BTW nobody seems to mention the fact that there are several decisions in the short portion we saw, we can kill Rue, or spare him, if we spare he comes back and we can let Oswald fight him, but he will surely die, and we will lose an ally, but he is already married with the heathen girl, so that may still prove useful…. don't know, but I see lots of paths for a cool story if they do this right, and I like it.

Just imagine this insteractions in the whole map

Originally Posted by Reiga
Why can't we have the best of valhalla and from bannerlod in one single game.

I know that feeling. Lost count of how many games I thought that way. Anyway you can probably blame the budget required, and Ubisoft is after a different target audience.

One day maybe but there is a Mount and Blade Warband mod for Last Kingdom.

Link - https://www.moddb.com/mods/the-last-kingdom

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
I know that feeling. Lost count of how many games I thought that way. Anyway you can probably blame the budget required, and Ubisoft is after a different target audience.

One day maybe but there is a Mount and Blade Warband mod for Last Kingdom.

Link - https://www.moddb.com/mods/the-last-kingdom

OOOH, there is hope one day we will see a Last Kingdom mod for Bannerlord, because now I think I can't touch warband never again…