Putting the Animus Puzzle Pieces Together Ahead of Valhalla:
With less than three months to go before the release of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, this is a great period to heat up your 8th generation console, your PC or your Stadia account and to replay Origins and Odyssey. Before you assume the role of Eivor and you start exploring the Kingdom of England, you have the last chance to fully explore the combined 210 square kilometres of ancient Egypt and ancient Greece. Taking a completionist approach for these two games can add up to around 150 hours of gameplay, so the stories of Bayek, Alexios and Kassandra will definitely keep you busy until the 17th of November.
About AC Valhalla
Unlike Origins and Odyssey, which are set in the BC period of history, Valhalla is set in 873 AD and during the Viking invasion of the old English Kingdom. As a player, you will control Eivor and his/her eagle Synin, and you will fight enemies in cities like York, London and Winchester. The mechanics of the game are similar to the gameplay mechanics of previous AC titles, as the developers have decided to replicate the best bits from games like Odyssey and Black Flag. The area you will get to explore is not as big as that in Black Flag, but it is almost as big as the one that players explored in Odyssey.
Just like Odyssey, Valhalla will feature conquest battles, but it will sadly not have gladiator battles like those you get to play in Crete. Nevertheless, for players who want to get some gladiator action, there is always the option of playing the gladiator slots from Slots Heaven, which are based on the story of general Maximus. Back to the Viking invasion and to 9th century England, Eivor will challenge powerful enemies, complete mercenary contracts and help those in need. During the hero’s journey, Eivor will find and use legendary and exotic equipment based on the legends of Norse and English history.
Valhalla is a typical AAA action RPG, consisting of all those elements, which give a title a lot of main-game and post-game value. Gameplay videos have already leaked, and thousands of Assassin’s Creed fans already have an idea of what to expect from Valhalla. The biggest disappointment for the majority of players is that the Valhalla story is not set in Scandinavia. It is a Viking story after all so many would have preferred to explore the fjords and different locations of old Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
Connection to Previous AC Titles
Even though Eivor is the main character in Valhalla, the game moves back and forth between the Viking mercenary and former Abstergo member Layla Hassan. The young scientist will once again try to put the puzzle pieces together and to find the link connecting Eivor and previous AC heroes. The connection specifics will, of course, be discovered during the game and it is certain that players will obsess over every single detail to find out how a Viking in England connects to a mercenary in Greece and a ranger in Egypt.
It took more than two years to complete the development of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and the game is expected to be one of 2020’s best-selling titles. Ubisoft executives are hoping to see Valhalla sell over 10 million copies, considering that Odyssey had no problem reaching that mark in a very short period of time. It is after all the studio’s first game to feature on so many video game environments, as it will be available on 8th generation consoles, PCs, Stadia, PS5 and Xbox Series X.